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Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery #6
Deathblow Hill
Between two neighboring Cape Cod houses there is a chain link fence topped with barbed wire to signify the feud between the two halves of the Howes family. The disappearance of the fortune left by ancestor Bellamy Howes has divided Suzanne from her eccentric relative Simon. The fence has kept them apart, but now there are mysterious things happening at both homes--unexplained ransackings, unexplained prowlers wearing yellow handkerchiefs, and two near stranglings. When wealthy Benjamin Carson is strangled and left on the doorstep of one of the two houses on Deathblow Hill, Asey Mayo is called in to set to right both little mysteries (such as Bellamy's ships-in-bottles collection) and large mysteries like a tidy murderer.
- GenresMystery
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
2 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Phoebe Atwood Taylor
40 books43 followersTaylor is an American mystery author. She is best known for her Asey Mayo series, based in Cape Cod. She additionally wrote and published under the pen names Alice Tilton and Freeman Dana.
Phoebe Atwood Taylor, born in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first member of her family to have been born off Cape Cod in more than 300 years. Upon graduating from Manhattan's Barnard College, she moved to Weston, Massachusetts, to pen her first work, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), which was published when she was 22. The book was written while Taylor was caring for her invalid aunt, Alice Tilton (the source of one of her two publishing pseudonyms, the other being Freeman Dana). Taylor was one of the first mystery writers to give a regional and rural rather than urban focus during the time known as the "golden age" of mystery writing (1918 - 1939). Gone with the Wind's author, Margaret Mitchell, was a great fan of the Asey Mayo series, and encouraged Taylor to pack the books with Cape Cod detail. In all, she authored 33 books. She died in 1976 at age 67.
- Bio by The Countryman Press
https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL685...
Phoebe Atwood Taylor, born in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first member of her family to have been born off Cape Cod in more than 300 years. Upon graduating from Manhattan's Barnard College, she moved to Weston, Massachusetts, to pen her first work, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), which was published when she was 22. The book was written while Taylor was caring for her invalid aunt, Alice Tilton (the source of one of her two publishing pseudonyms, the other being Freeman Dana). Taylor was one of the first mystery writers to give a regional and rural rather than urban focus during the time known as the "golden age" of mystery writing (1918 - 1939). Gone with the Wind's author, Margaret Mitchell, was a great fan of the Asey Mayo series, and encouraged Taylor to pack the books with Cape Cod detail. In all, she authored 33 books. She died in 1976 at age 67.
- Bio by The Countryman Press
https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL685...
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 27, 2021
2021: The first hundred pages or so is what happens when you try to write a thirties gangster novel, a cozy mystery, an adventure story, a romance, a family melodrama, and a treasure hunt all at the same time. But just surrender to Taylor and relax: she’ll pull it together in time. She has Asey.
Asey Mayo is one of my top five favorite detectives, and once he shows up, the chaos begins to lessen. Honestly, I hated this one at first; but by the end, I was loving it. These mysteries can be occasionally confusing, but they are also full of action and fun, and unlike any other mysteries I’ve read. If you find any of this series, read them.
2019: Chaotic organization giving me a headache. Try again later.
Asey Mayo is one of my top five favorite detectives, and once he shows up, the chaos begins to lessen. Honestly, I hated this one at first; but by the end, I was loving it. These mysteries can be occasionally confusing, but they are also full of action and fun, and unlike any other mysteries I’ve read. If you find any of this series, read them.
2019: Chaotic organization giving me a headache. Try again later.
April 22, 2021
I don't know if it was me but I liked the second half of this book better than the first half. A double murder mystery with a treasure hunt twist made for an exciting conclusion. Asey Mayo is up to his best Cape Cod sleuthing and the many characters were intriguing. Personally, the setting of the 2 houses on the hill I didn't care for and it occupies much of the story.
Learn something new to me with everyone of Atwood Taylor's fun books. This time I learned how to play Russian Bank solitaire as I had never heard of it before. Try the free online version at https://zankpatience.net/en/ if you are interested in the game. Made me feel like I was in a big old vacation home on the Cape. All I need was some sea sounds.
Looking forward to finishing the series.
Learn something new to me with everyone of Atwood Taylor's fun books. This time I learned how to play Russian Bank solitaire as I had never heard of it before. Try the free online version at https://zankpatience.net/en/ if you are interested in the game. Made me feel like I was in a big old vacation home on the Cape. All I need was some sea sounds.
Looking forward to finishing the series.
January 22, 2022
Asey Mayo is called upon to get to the bottom of odd happenings around Deathblow Hill, home of two feuding factions of the Howes family. A chain link fence topped with barbed wire divides the Howes establishment from the that of the Keiths. Suzanne Howes and her son Lance run a boarding house with the aid of their friend and maid-of-all-work, Broody Mary, and on the other side of the fence is Simon Keiths and his wife Abby. The feud all started when old Bellamy Howes died and no sign of his rumored fortune could be found. Each side of the family was convinced that the other had found it.
The feud was just a silent simmering until the odd things began to happen--two ransacked houses, mysterious prowlers sporting yellow handkerchiefs, and an attack on Suzanne Howes. A young woman named Joan House shows up as a boarder. She's the secretary to the famous tycoon Benjamin Carson and she manages to find and lose Carson's right-hand man along the way. Then--of all things, Carson shows up in the Howses' kitchen--garroted with a yellow kerchief. It looks like Carson was on the hunt for the missing Howse treasure and that someone let him in the house. Who? And did that person kill him? And just where is that missing treasure anyway?
This is a real hodge-podge mixture of a plot--it was like Taylor was trying to meld a classic mystery with a gangster plot with romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and adventure thrown in for good measure. And somehow makes it work pretty well. Underneath all the comings and goings, is a nicely plotted little mystery that readers can solve if they can just ignore the extraneous characters and side-issues. But sifting the wheat from the chaff will keep you pretty busy.
Character development is a real plus with Taylor and even the characters who don't have a lot of time to shine come through well. I did want to tell Clare Chatfield to go for a long walk off a short pier, but everyone else was interesting and integral to the plot (Clare and her marmoset were just annoying). I suppose the marmoset does play an important part...but I think Taylor could have found a way to point out certain clues without him. ★★★ and 1/2.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
The feud was just a silent simmering until the odd things began to happen--two ransacked houses, mysterious prowlers sporting yellow handkerchiefs, and an attack on Suzanne Howes. A young woman named Joan House shows up as a boarder. She's the secretary to the famous tycoon Benjamin Carson and she manages to find and lose Carson's right-hand man along the way. Then--of all things, Carson shows up in the Howses' kitchen--garroted with a yellow kerchief. It looks like Carson was on the hunt for the missing Howse treasure and that someone let him in the house. Who? And did that person kill him? And just where is that missing treasure anyway?
This is a real hodge-podge mixture of a plot--it was like Taylor was trying to meld a classic mystery with a gangster plot with romantic suspense, cozy mystery, and adventure thrown in for good measure. And somehow makes it work pretty well. Underneath all the comings and goings, is a nicely plotted little mystery that readers can solve if they can just ignore the extraneous characters and side-issues. But sifting the wheat from the chaff will keep you pretty busy.
Character development is a real plus with Taylor and even the characters who don't have a lot of time to shine come through well. I did want to tell Clare Chatfield to go for a long walk off a short pier, but everyone else was interesting and integral to the plot (Clare and her marmoset were just annoying). I suppose the marmoset does play an important part...but I think Taylor could have found a way to point out certain clues without him. ★★★ and 1/2.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
May 6, 2024
This 1935 novel is a classic Asey Mayo novel by Taylor. It has all of her standard parts.
It is set in a small Cape Cod bed and breakfast. The owner is a decent woman struggling to get by. There is a complicated family dispute about an inheritance. A Boston grand dame is staying with them. We get a few unsavory outsiders and a sprinkling of Cape Cod old time characters. There is an attractive young woman mixed up in intrigue and several young men who are interested in her.
Stir these ingredients, add a murder or two, bring in the Cape Cod Sherlock and you get an Asey Mayo novel.
The plot gets a little complicated in this one and it is tough at times to keep track of who is who, but overall, this is a satisfying addition to a first-rate series.
Bonus proverb. Asey says at one point that there are "More ways of killing a cat then chokin' it t'death with sour cream."
Tracking the saying down in Google, it first lead to me finding out that most cats are lactose intolerant, but a little won't hurt them.
Eventually I learned that this saying is a variation on the "more than one way to skin a cat" idea and it dates to the early 1800s.
It is set in a small Cape Cod bed and breakfast. The owner is a decent woman struggling to get by. There is a complicated family dispute about an inheritance. A Boston grand dame is staying with them. We get a few unsavory outsiders and a sprinkling of Cape Cod old time characters. There is an attractive young woman mixed up in intrigue and several young men who are interested in her.
Stir these ingredients, add a murder or two, bring in the Cape Cod Sherlock and you get an Asey Mayo novel.
The plot gets a little complicated in this one and it is tough at times to keep track of who is who, but overall, this is a satisfying addition to a first-rate series.
Bonus proverb. Asey says at one point that there are "More ways of killing a cat then chokin' it t'death with sour cream."
Tracking the saying down in Google, it first lead to me finding out that most cats are lactose intolerant, but a little won't hurt them.
Eventually I learned that this saying is a variation on the "more than one way to skin a cat" idea and it dates to the early 1800s.
May 15, 2021
I just finished reading Deathblow Hill. It's another first-rate Asey Mayo mystery, written and set in the late 1930s. The tale is mainly set on an isolated stretch of Cape Cod (as are all the Mayo mysteries), with the familiar cast of characters and suspects: eccentric working-class locals and well-heeled city folk. This one starts off with a kidnapping and near-fatal strangulation attempt, and then events keep happening.
This mystery was particularly well done, with all of the cast of characters coming under suspicion, cleared, and under suspicion again at one time or another. There are several important clues dropped in along the way, so at the climax, I was surprised by the guilty party. I had another leading candidate as the guilty party for the last third of the book, but I was wrong. The resolution made sense, as the earlier clues were brought back into the wrap-up discussion.
There are enough characters where I make a "cheat sheet" of who's who on an index card, just to keep everyone and their relationship to the others straight
This mystery was particularly well done, with all of the cast of characters coming under suspicion, cleared, and under suspicion again at one time or another. There are several important clues dropped in along the way, so at the climax, I was surprised by the guilty party. I had another leading candidate as the guilty party for the last third of the book, but I was wrong. The resolution made sense, as the earlier clues were brought back into the wrap-up discussion.
There are enough characters where I make a "cheat sheet" of who's who on an index card, just to keep everyone and their relationship to the others straight
March 28, 2023
Deathblow Hill is an unusual name for a boarding house. It sits next to a barbed wire topped chain link fence. On the other side of the fence sits the home of the Keiths. Two halves of the Howes family that don’t get along. The whereabouts of Bellamy Howes’ fortune is the key to this friction.
When strange people, wearing yellow handkerchiefs, show up; ransacked houses and attempted murders occur, both sides suspect each other. What really makes things serious is the murdered body of a famous tycoon.
A nice mystery that becomes serious to Asey Mayo upon the death of the tycoon.
Another enjoyable cozy with Asey Mayo as the lead character, set in the 1930s Cape Cod mystery series by Phoebe Atwood Taylor.
When strange people, wearing yellow handkerchiefs, show up; ransacked houses and attempted murders occur, both sides suspect each other. What really makes things serious is the murdered body of a famous tycoon.
A nice mystery that becomes serious to Asey Mayo upon the death of the tycoon.
Another enjoyable cozy with Asey Mayo as the lead character, set in the 1930s Cape Cod mystery series by Phoebe Atwood Taylor.
February 3, 2023
My copy is the hardcover first edition, not listed on Goodreads. This one has a very convoluted plot but still a fun read.
December 26, 2015
The two feuding branches of the Howes family sit side-by-side. Abby and her sleazy husband Silas are sure that her widowed sister-in-law is hiding the missing family money. Suzanne just wants to be left to raise her son. When summer boarder Tabitha Newell arrives with a tycoon's secretary in tow, followed by a mysterious man who carries a yellow silk scarf, Suzanne calls for Asey Mayo, general fix-it-man and skilled detective.
March 20, 2008
This is a real step up in plot. The first 4 where more formulaic this one has greater variety of action and character structure. All of them are well crafted but this one is the best since the first of the series, The Cape Cod Mystery.
July 13, 2014
A rather shaky outing in the Asey Mayo series. Too much of a focus on the 'lost treasure' and not enough on the crime and murder.
Want to read
September 24, 2016AKA: Alice Tilton, Freeman Dana
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews