Tamar Myers Books In Order
Publication Order of Amanda Brown Books
The Witch Doctor’s Wife | (2009) | |
The Headhunter’s Daughter | (2011) | |
The Boy Who Stole the Leopard’s Spots | (2012) | |
The Girl Who Married an Eagle | (2013) |
Publication Order of Den of Antiquity Books
Larceny and Old Lace | (1996) | |
Gilt by Association | (1996) | |
The Ming and I | (1997) | |
So Faux, So Good | (1998) | |
Baroque and Desperate | (1999) | |
Estate of Mind | (1999) | |
A Penny Urned | (2000) | |
Nightmare in Shining Armor | (2001) | |
Splendor in the Glass | (2002) | |
Tiles and Tribulations | (2003) | |
Statue of Limitations | (2004) | |
Monet Talks | (2005) | |
The Cane Mutiny | (2006) | |
Death of a Rug Lord | (2008) | |
Poison Ivory | (2009) | |
The Glass is Always Greener | (2011) |
Publication Order of Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Books
Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth | (1993) | |
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Crime | (1995) | |
No Use Dying Over Spilled Milk | (1996) | |
Just Plain Pickled to Death | (1997) | |
Between a Wok and a Hard Place | (1998) | |
Eat, Drink and Be Wary | (1998) | |
Play It Again, Spam | (1999) | |
The Hand That Rocks the Ladle | (2000) | |
The Crepes of Wrath | (2001) | |
Gruel and Unusual Punishment | (2002) | |
Custard’s Last Stand | (2003) | |
Thou Shalt Not Grill | (2004) | |
Assault and Pepper | (2005) | |
Grape Expectations | (2006) | |
Hell Hath No Curry | (2007) | |
As the World Churns | (2008) | |
Batter Off Dead | (2009) | |
Butter Safe Than Sorry | (2010) | |
The Death of Pie | (2014) | |
Tea with Jam and Dread | (2016) | |
Puddin’ on the Blitz | (2019) | |
Mean and Shellfish | (2021) | |
Death by Tart Attack | (2022) | |
Meat Thy Maker | (2023) |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
The Dark Side of Heaven | (2006) | |
The Mermaid Mystery | (2024) |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
Angels, Angels Everywhere | (2004) |
Publication Order of Anthologies
…And the Dying is Easy | (2001) | |
Sunshine Noir | (2016) |
Tamar Myers was born and raised in the Congo. Her mother and father were missionaries to a headhunting tribe. At the time, her family was the only nonnative family to live with the tribe, which gave Tamar the unique experience of living in a wilderness. The life in the wild had its perils; Tamar was forced to wade through waters populated by crocodiles to reach the school she was attending at the time, cobras and man-eater ants were also part of the village scenery. Thanks to her piercing blue eyes, Tamar’s nickname in the tribe was Ugly Eyes.
In 1960, the Congo became an independent nation after decades of being a Belgian colony. The new government killed many foreigners as a retribution for crimes committed against Congolese people by the Belgians. Fearing for their lives, Tamar’s family left the Congo in 1964 and returned to the United States.
Tamar was sixteen when her family came to America, and the move induced a culture shock. After years of living in the wilderness, she didn’t know how to cross a street at a stoplight or use a telephone.
She was lucky to meet her husband, Jeffrey, on her very first day in a high school. Accidentally, they hit their heads against each other while she was entering and he leaving the Civics classroom.
During her college days, Tamar started to submit works for publication, but it took her fairly long time to get published, twenty-three years. Her perseverance finally paid off when her first novel Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth was accepted for print in 1993.
As an author, Tamar is best known for the mystery series: Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery and Den of Antiquity Mystery. All of her books are full of eccentric characters and spiked with a flavorful selection of original recipes.
The first book from the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series named Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth is her most famous work. In the book, Tamar Myers writes about Magdalena Yoder, practical Mennonite owner of the retro PennDutch Inn. Magdalena succeeds in changing a peaceful family estate into a popular hostel providing for sophisticated people with a desire for authenticity and Amish hospitality. With the hostel being fairly popular, Magdalena is able to spend her time in company of a friendly group of guests. Then, one secretive guest is found dead after falling down Magdalena’s steep staircase. Everyone believes the fall was an accident and the life in the house continues as it was. Magdalena does her best to mediate the problems between her headstrong Amish cook and finicky vegetarians dining in the eatery. Since her kitchen is a battleground between culinary lifestyles, Magdalena lets her guests cook. Then, another death happens, this time people start to suspect that the deaths were not accidental. Every guest at the inn is under suspicion, including Magdalena Yoder herself.
In the second book of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series Tamar Myers continues to write about Magdalena Yoder. This time a movie crew comes to her inn willing to use the location and make a film about the murders that occurred in Magdalena’s guesthouse. Unfortunately, the assistant director turns up dead and Magdalena’s in trouble again.
Tamar Myers continues to puzzle her readership with the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series. Concurrently, she writes books that belong to other series of hers.
Simultaneously with the Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery series, Tamar Myers writes the Den of Antiquity series featuring antique store owner Abigail Timberlake. In the first book of the series, Abigail is recently divorced but not heartbroken, searching for valuable vintage pieces, and scouring the competitive world of antique dealers at flea markets and auctions. Suddenly, Abby’s aunt Eulonia Wiggins is found murdered and Abigail starts to investigate. The thing she is most puzzled with is the murder weapon, the exquisite antique bell pull that her aunt Eulonia never would have had the taste to buy herself. It is also discovered that auntie’s priceless lace is missing. When a stranger threatens her son Charlie, Abigail is determined to find the murderer.
The second book of the Den of Antiquity series named Gilt By Association brings another mystery. After Abigail Timberlake gets over her divorce and finds her aunt’s killer, she runs a successful antiques enterprise called Den of Antiquity. Now she’s a savvy antique dealer in Charlotte’s tightly connected world of wizards, weirdos and competitive dealers. Adventure starts when a precious, gilt-edged 18th-century French closet she bought for a dime at estate auction comes along with something she didn’t expect—a dead person. Suddenly, her shop turns into a crime scene and closes during the busiest shopping season of the year. Abigail is determined to speed up the lugging police investigation, but amateur detective work leads the fierce antiques expert into a tangled mess of family secrets and murder. Danger is around the corner and the next dead body found stuffed into precious vintage furniture could wind up being Abigail’s own.
Tamar Myers continues to write the Den of Antiquity Mystery series. Another mystery series that keep her engaged is Amanda Brown series. The first book of the series is The Witch Doctor’s Wife, a tale of duty, avarice, danger, and wonders in equatorial Africa. The story is set in the Congo in 1958, when young and beautiful Amanda Brown follows her missionary duty to the mysterious “dark continent” far from her South Carolina home. Amanda’s innate enthusiasm cannot protect her from the realities of the foreign culture— overpopulation, poverty and greed of oppressive European officials eager to strip the land of its most valuable resource: precious stones. Little by little, Amanda comes to know and respect the local witch doctor, a man known as Their Death, who has been forced to take a second job as a trainman to support his two wives. When his first wife discovers a gigantic uncut gem, events are set in motion that threaten to destroy the lives of the people Amanda has come to know and love—events that could lead to nothing less than murder.
Tamar now lives with Jeffrey and their pet animals in Charlotte, NC. In her spare time, Tamar enjoys reading, gardening, traveling and painting. She also loves exotic food and vintage jewelry.