In Myer's disappointing 14th mystery to star Mennonite hotelier Magdalena Yoder (after 2005's Assault and Pepper
), Felicia Bacchustelli, a long-legged glamour-puss, arrives in Hernia, Pa., and announces plans to open a spa that will put Magdalena's PennDutch Inn out of business. When Felicia gets herself murdered, Magdalena is suspect "numero uno"—so to save her own hide and satisfy her endless curiosity, our heroine sets out to finger the real killer. Magdalena has never seemed more annoying, or her penchant for attracting sexy bachelors never more perplexing. The recipes shoehorned between chapters are superfluous. And when the real killer confesses, the solution seems improbable rather than surprising. (Feb.)
