Magdallena has married the Gabester and is on her honeymoon only to be interrupted by her mother-in-law and a phone call from the local police department. Apparently former police chief Melvin has escaped form prison all this during the first annual Hernia Holstein judging contest. This is the start of the book and many twists and turns and ice cream recipes insue. ( )

This was a fun story to read. The comments about religion were amusing at time but also worth some thought. The book included lots of yummy looking recipes for ice cream. This is the first of the series I have read. I will look for more to read as relief from some of the heavy books I sometimes read. For instance, I just finished a book on the Bataan Death March and the Rwandan genocide. I needed something to cheer me up. ( )

This is book 16 in the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series and the first one I've read. For the most part it can be read as a stand alone, I didn't feel that I was missing any info that would have made the book better. The books has a few ice cream recipes in it which seemed strange to me because I thought the recipes in culinary mysteries were somehow related to the story, but they sounded yummy and I can't wait to try some of them. As for the story, it was a good enough to keep me reading but I soon got tired of Magdalena's blathering throughout the book. It was just to much. Was it enough to keep me from reading another in this series? No. I really loved the characters and the mix of personalities and would definitely like to read the rest of this series. ( )

Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder is thrilled that a cow competition has come to Hernia - her inn is booked solid. She's not so thrilled that her ex-brother-in-law, murderer Melvin Stoltzfus, has escaped from prison. When her good friend Doc Shafor is hit over the head and badly injured, she's sure Melvin is to blame and wants to find him fast. She also has other mysteries to solve like the disappearance of her beloved husband Gabe and her "daughter" Allison. She's also been having fainting spells and feeling sick to her stomach lately. On top of all that, her cousin Freni has now decided to tell Mags some long kept secrets that will change her life. No wonder Mags isn't feeling well!

"As the World Churns" is a very humorous if somewhat light cozy mystery. There's actually not much mystery - no one is killed, the disappearance of Gabe and Allison happens fairly late in the book, and even Melvin's disappearance barely figures into the overall plot of the book. But there are a couple of reasons to read this book, especially for long time fans of the series. The first is the laugh out loud humor in the book. All the books in the series are funny, but author Tamar Myers outdoes herself in this one - this is one of the funniest books in the series with very funny jokes, puns, plays on words, etc. on almost every page. As usual, Myers populates the book with eccentric characters starting with Mags herself, her sister Susannah (who is not in the book enough), her cousin and best friend Freni, her obnoxious mother-in-law, the various guests at the inn (you have to love what Mags thinks a pole dancer is) and many others. Unfortunately, Gabe is a wimp of a character, constantly putting his mother's wishes ahead of Mags. Finally, the title of the book is great in a couple of ways. For one thing, Mags is sick throughout the course of the book (readers will figure out why long before she does) and second Mags discovers so many secrets about her past and her parents that her life indeed sounds like a soap opera, in fact the book ends in a mini-cliffhanger.

"As the World Churns" is laugh out loud fun. ( )

This is a great series. However about 3 books ago, Ms. Myers went a bit off the rails, but I think maybe she is getting back on track. These books are fun, and an easy and quick read. ( )