Tamar Myers

Mennonite innkeeper Magdalena Yoder, who is thrilled to be the emcee for the first annual Hernia (Pennsylvania) Holstein Competition, ends up in the hospital from fainting at the bedside of Doc Shafor, the contest's originator who gets clobbered while he's admiring the cows.

At the Beechy Grove Mennonite Church's annual pancake breakfast, Minerva J. Jay, known for her prodigious appetite, slumps over dead after ingesting stacks and stacks of hotcakes. Police Chief Chris Ackerman wonders whether the serving of the fatal flapjacks is a case of assault and batter. Magdalena has her own bun in the oven, but that doesn't stop the chief from asking for her help with the investigation.