Hell Hath No Curry

Three days before he's due to tie the knot with Priscilla Livengood, eligible bachelor Cornelious Weaver suffers a massive heart attack-in another woman's bed. The scandal is about as good as television for the insular citizens of Hernia, Pennsylvania, and it gets even spicier when the coroner's report reveals possible foul play: Cornelious's curry was spiked with a stimulant. As the mystery heats up, Magdalena discovers that the old adage about women scorned may be truer than she thought.From Publishers WeeklyIn Myers's over-the-top 15th crime caper starring Amish-Mennonite sleuth and innkeeper Magdalena Yoder (after 2006's Grape Expectations), the corpse du jour is the once-handsome scoundrel Cornelius Weaver, who may have been murdered by any one of seven women—his lovers. Familiar cast members provide the usual foils to Magdalena's running (and often very tired) jokes and too-breezy banter as she worries about her looks and upcoming mixed faith marriage to Dr. Gabriel Rosen more than she does about her investigation of Cornelius's killer. The thin plot is so improbable and haphazard, it's a relief but no great surprise when Magdalena closes that case and solves another murder as well. Cornelius's death-by-painkiller-laced Indian dish inspires the curry-themed recipes sandwiched between chapters. Maybe it's time to close the kitchen and order takeout? (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. About the AuthorTamar Myers, who is of Mennonite background, is the author of the Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries and the Den of Antiquity series.