"Charming and delightful cozy"

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 include 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 what direction the author takes her heroine next.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 28, 2005

Summary

At the annual church chili supper, Reverend Schrock falls face down into his bowl. It seems someone put peanut butter in the chili, knowing full well that he was allergic. As Pennsylvania Dutch Innkeeper Magdalena Yoder investigates, she finds plenty of people who wanted the reverend dead, including a serial monogamist with a grudge and a wrongly-accused man whom the reverend testified against. As more motives emerge, Magdalena struggles to find the truth amidst evidence that is all too quickly becoming a five-alarm frenzy.