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Amish sleuth's pie is deadly in atmospheric whodunit
BOOK REVIEW
Sunday, February 05, 2006
BY MARY O. BRADLEY
Of The Patriot-News
Writer Barbara Workinger has forsaken Pennsylvania for the Pacific Northwest, but the relocation has not dimmed her skill at writing another enjoyable novel about Hannah Miller, a feisty Amish grandmother and amateur sleuth.
Hannah is a world-class quilter and pie baker who teams with her formerly Amish granddaughter, Caroline, to solve murders in Lancaster County.
Workinger introduced Hannah, 70, fondly known as Granny Hanny, in her first novel, "In Dutch Again." Hannah hones her analytical mind and learns about modern crime-solving techniques by reading mysteries borrowed from the local library.
The new novel, "Shoofly Pie to Die -- A Granny Hanny Amish Country Mystery" (AuthorHouse, $19.95), finds Hannah and Caroline, a lawyer, busy with preparations for Caroline's remarriage to her estranged non-Amish husband, Stephen.
The wedding is only two weeks away, but planning takes a back seat to sleuthing when Denny Brody, the richest and meanest man in Chelsea Twp., dies after eating one of Hannah's shoofly pies at the Best-Stoltzfus Auction House. When tests determine the pie was laced with cyanide, Hannah finds herself under the scrutiny of the township's incompetent police chief, Kiel Benton.
Spring is in the air in the quiet Pennsylvania Dutch countryside, but secrets simmer and more deaths follow, putting Hannah and Caroline in danger. Mystery, humor and engaging characters are the key ingredients in this tasty regional whodunit.
Workinger is a former research journalist and antiques dealer who has an interest in quilting. She lived in Derry Twp. before she and her husband moved to suburban Portland, Ore., to be near their adult children.
MARY O. BRADLEY: 255-8147
or mbradley@patriot-news.com
Copyright 2006 The Patriot-News. Used with permission.
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