This series has always been an entertaining and enjoyable one, but this novel is not nearly as good as some of the previous tales. I know there is a plot in there somewhere, but sometimes you can’t find it for all the alliterative dialogue. Some of it was witty, but more often, I just wanted to get on with the story. It was too much Magdalena, and no, I never thought I would find myself saying that, and not enough of the “supporting cast.” And Magdalena’s dialogue never seemed to stop. Not enough action, too much dialogue, and a bare bones mystery let me down. Still, fans of this series will want to read this story, but if you are new to the series, read one of the earlier ones. This mystery won’t make a fan of you. ( )

Magdalena Portulacca Yoder Rosen is back in a new book set at her Pennsylvania Mennonite Bed and Breakfast. Soon after the book opens, Ramat Sreym, a character from a previous one in the series, appears on the scene, but not for long. When she was a guest in the B & B, she observed the community rather closely, then wrote a tell-all, exaggerate somewhat best seller about the people. She was invited back, before the locals had read the book, to judge the annual pie baking contest. Before she could declare the winner, she landed on her face in Magdalena’s Peach Pie, totally dead. The cause of death was poison and the new police chief, Toy Graham, asked Magdalena to talk to the townspeople to help him find the killer.
Magdalena talks to a lot of the community members, the questions about Sreym are superficial. The main emphasis of the book is an introduction of the characters, some of whom are not actually on the scene, and light references to incidents in previous books in the series. Perhaps that is because this book was published in England and the United States and appears to be introducing new readers to the series. It includes comments about England, especially food and language, as well as Myers’ traditional sneaky ribald comments.
Myers enjoys words and twisting them to get interesting, off-beat meanings. Among my favorites: “Then with all the authority bestowed upon me vis-a-vis the status of a pretend police woman, a counterfeit cop and an invertebrate investigator (I have been called spineless, mind you)....” “Like every female, everywhere, she had been born knowing how to manipulate her father. (Surely, this is the reason why the word ‘manipulate’ begins with the word man.)”
There is a bit of repetition, (“Mennonites of Amish derivation feel more guilt than Catholics and Jews combined....” and the deaths of her parents) something I don’t remember from her other books.
There are four pie recipes.
As a long-time Tamar Myers fan, I was disappointed in THE DEATH OF PIE. I hope it encourages new readers to check some of the previous books in the series to flesh out some of the tidbits. For example, she briefly mentions her first marriage but doesn’t mention the hilarious wedding cake story. I wish it had included endnotes or footnotes specifying which previous book carried the entire referenced incident. I hope she is back to her wonderful stories in future books. ( )