Tamar Myers, Assault and Pepper

Assault and Pepper

Tamar Myers

NAL, Feb 2005, $19.95, 227 pp.

ISBN: 0451213947

Magdalena Yoder looks forward to the Beechy Grove Mennonite Church annual chili supper cook-off but her anticipation turns to horror when her beloved Reverend Schrock dies after sampling one of the dishes. His widow is convinced that he was murdered and that someone put peanut butter, which everyone knows he was allergic to, in one of the dishes. Magdalena doesn't want to believe that someone hated the preacher enough to kill him but she agrees to investigate the case even if she doesn't like the widow.

To her surprise, her brother in law Hernia's chief of police "Melvin the Mantis" tells her he's quit his job and he wants her to investigate the case because after testing products, it was found that peanut butter was in one of the chili dishes. After talking to various people, she finds that the Reverend Schrock was not the saint she thought he was. His crimes included embezzlement, bigamy, spousal abuse, his refusal to perform a marriage ceremony and much more. When Magdalena gets close to unveiling the perpetrator, he kidnaps her friend and cook and wants to exchange her for one million dollars in getaway money.

Readers are going to want to buy ASSAULT AND PEPPER just to find out who the killer is. Nobody will guess the person's identity and it will come as a total shock to fans who have read this charming and delightful cozy series. Tamar Myers has changed the entire direction of the series' storyline keeping it fresh and original. This reviewer will definitely want to read the next book in the series to see in what direction the author takes her heroine next.

Harriet Klausner