|
|
| Plot Summary of Gruel and Unusual Punishment |
|---|
"
Nal, Feb 2002, 19.99,240 pp.
ISBN 0451205081
Magdelena Yoder is a forty-something year old woman who owns and operates the Penn Dutch Inn in Hernia, Pennsylvania, a town that is home to mostly Amish and Mennonite families. Magdelena, a devout Mennonite, is one of the richest persons in the county. She doesn't flaunt her wealth preferring to run her Inn and to occasionally involve herself with her law enforcement brother in law's homicide investigations.
Usually, Melvin, the chief of police, wants Magdelena to keep her big nose (literally) out of police business. However, when Clarence Webber dies of arsenic poisoning in the city's jail cell, he pleads with his sister-in-law to help him out. Since he is running for Congress, it would be very embarrassing for him if this comes out and he doesn't have a suspect in hand. Magdelena takes the case because it was her Inn's food that contained the arsenic and she doesn't want this to ruin the image of the Penn Dutch Inn. Finding the killer is like searching for a needle in a haystack because Magdelena finds everyone who visited him in jail had a motive to kill him.
GRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT is a very funny amateur sleuth mystery that draws on the Mennonite and Amish life style to provide a colorful background to the story line. The protagonist's brash attitude combined with her innocence in the mating game rings true and makes her very endearing to the audience. Tamar Myers has written another tasty culinary mystery.
Harriet Klausner
"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
|
|
| Review Analysis of Gruel and Unusual Punishment |
|---|
|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
|
|
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- 1980's-1999
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Big focus on forensic evidence
Kind of investigator
- skilled citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- life in small town
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- business executive
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- revenge
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Mid-Atlantic states
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 1
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
|
|
|
Click here for more information about this book
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
Use our site!
17 FREE Sci-Fi Ebooks!
FREE "How to be happy" Ebook!
Funny Videos
Feedback
Most recent discussions:
General Book Talk
Book writing discussion
Off-topic message board
George W. Bush
7:03:36 PM
Robert Segarra
5:13:47 PM
Deric Longden
3:49:15 PM
Slavomir Rawicz
10:00:34 AM
Karen Armstrong
10:51:40 AM
Anonymous
1:39:52 PM
Suzanne Weyn
6:24:19 PM
Colin Forbes
12:23:54 PM
John Christopher
5:12:45 AM
Tom Clancy
2:19:45 AM
Margaret Peterson Haddix
5:36:55 PM
Nikolai Tolstoy
7:46:16 AM
J.K. Rowling
11:40:22 PM
Jack Higgins
4:54:08 PM
Eloise Jarvis McGraw
12:51:17 PM
Jane Rubino
1:21:00 PM
Lori Wick
2:11:45 AM
Betty Mahmoody
5:57:33 PM
Patricia Cornwell
2:48:17 PM
Andrew Clements
9:13:44 PM
Silicon Valley
More message boards
|
