The Cape Cod Mystery

Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery #1

by Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Otto Penzler (Introduction)

Meet Asey Mayo, Cape Cod’s answer to Sherlock Holmes. Settled down from his former life as a seafaring adventurer, Asey is a Jack-of-all-trades who uses his worldly knowledge, folksy wisdom, and plain common sense to solve the most puzzling crimes to strike the peninsula. And in this, his first case, Asey finds himself embroiled in a scandal that will push his deductive powers to their limits.

A massive heatwave is scorching the Northeast, and vacationers from New York and Boston flock to Cape Cod for breezy, cool respite. Then a muckraking journalist is found murdered in the cabin he’s rented for the season, and the summer holiday becomes a nightmare for the local authorities. There are abundant suspects among the out-of-towners flooding the area, but they ultimately fix their sights on beloved local businessman Bill Porter as the murderer—unless Asey Mayo can prove him innocent and find the true killer. 

A light whodunnit with an unforgettable amateur sleuth at its center, The Cape Cod Mystery is the first novel from one of the most beloved authors of the American Golden Age mystery. The plot is adorned with insightful historical detail and a healthy dose of Cape Cod local color, making this an enjoyable and enlightening read perfect for a beachside afternoon.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Golden Age Mystery, Crime, Cozy, Cozy Mystery

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Taylor 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...

Reviews

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

1931, #1 Asey Mayo, with Miss Prudence Whitsby, Cape Cod
nasty author gets his head bashed in - well, he *did* seem to enjoy making enemies, so there's lots of suspects, including several of Miss Prudence's visitors - and friends; classic small-town cosy mystery, three-and-one-half stars.

When author Dale Sanborn rents the little cottage back of Miss Prudence Whitsby's comparatively palatial (for 1931) one, most folks just thought it might make things "interesting..." over the summer - he had a habit of stirring things up where-ever he went, and this summer is no exception. Found a day after his arrival lying on the floor of his summer home, wrapped in a blanket and with his head bashed in, numerous suspects make their appearance and weave back and forth through the story, as Taylor slowly builds up a tale of cruelty and kindness, new beginnings and old memories. When Bill Porter, a family friend and all-round nice guy (but with a bad temper) is picked by the less-than-astute sheriff as the killer, Asey Mayo steps in to work his way through the many clues and false trails, to the bitter end.

Asey Mayo was, IMO, one of the all-time best detectives. He, and his style of sleuthing, used to be extremely popular but the all-knowing, always-a-step-ahead-of-everybody-else sort of sleuth, has fallen out of favor now. And although the character is one of my most favorite, the hayseed-ish tendencies Taylor was pretty much required to add to his persona to sooth public opinion now pretty much don't "work", becoming downright annoying at times to this long-time (and long-lived) Bostonian. However, Taylor slowly, over the series, switches the emphasis from stereotype into beautifully formulated satire - with Asey as the instigator of it, not the puppet or the object. It quickly becomes clear even in this first novel that he is an enormously subtle - and intelligent - man, who uses his "stupid local" appearance as camouflage, and it works really well, too. Um, except for the "local accent" dialogue stuff, but that's a Pet Peeve of mine and isn't really badly done here, it's just something I hate anywhere I find it, but especially in my own neck of the woods.

Very "talky" and rather slow-moving by modern standards - the death of Dale Sanborn is the only murder in this novel - there is a lot of running around The Cape via motorcar to seek out clues and information, a couple of fistfights, several "tell-all" sorts of Gather The Suspects settings, until the final one, with a nice, if very sad, ending twist. Several fun, and also some extremely astute characterizations brighten things up, the plotting is solid if a mite over-worked, and, really, he *was* the sort of person you love to hate.... And the setting is superbly wrought.

This was a lovely trip down memory lane for me (it's my Nth reread...) and still a decent "beach read" for anybody. The very good beginning to what becomes one of my all-time favorite cosy mystery series. Very smooth for a first book, well plotted, albeit overly complicated, but that was a very popular style in 1931. Take any of her books with you to the beach - they're funny, entertaining, actually still somewhat mysterious, and the later books are very fast moving as well, with her books from the late 1930s becoming broadly farcical, like the bizarre, wildly popular movies of the period (i.e. Bringing Up Baby). And her books from the early 1940s are superb.

Taylor is a pretty much forgotten author now, but her stories make excellent summer reads for anyone who'd like a quiet afternoon by themselves, whether you're on Old Cape Cod or not, at the beach or at home. Taylor sets the scene so well I've taken to rereading these in the dead of winter! Always transports me "away", to a slower-moving time and place, where most folks had "manners", cars had rumble seats, and lovers generally knew when to "just say no" - and meant it!

BOTTOM LINE: Not sexy, not bloody, not nasty (despite the murderee's reputation), this version of 1930s Cape Cod is a lovely place to be, with a wonderful puzzle to solve, amongst Very Nice People. Happy Summer!

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite a rocky part where two of the secondary characters made mini speeches of the silly sort, and one of those was shown in a totally negative light, this 1931 novel based in a small town on Cape Cod was a pretty good read.

An older woman (only in her 50s!), Prudence Whitsby, and her young niece Betsy are vacationing on Cape Cod and considering who to invite to visit with them. They have had many requests but in debating who would get along well and that they would enjoy spending time with, they limit it to two friends: Dot Cram and Emma Manton. And it seems to be a good decision.

Adjacent to the cottage they are renting is a former rustic playhouse that has been rented out to an apparently friendly best selling writer Dale Sanborn, who has shared with them his latest book. Add to the mix is Bill Porter, a long-time friend and resident in the town who has fallen in love wit Betsy.

All hell breaks loose quickly when Prudence goes to speak to Dale and finds him dead. Contacting the authorities brings out the 'bumbling' sheriff who spends most of his working life as an employee in a grocery store, and a pontificating blowhard of a doctor and between them they come up with a quick analysis before the body is even cold. And they come to the conclusion that Bill Porter is the guilty party.

But there are always more suspects and scanty clues to look for. To keep Bill from being taken to court, his friend Asey Mayo joins forces with Prudence to ferret out the solution over a short weekend. With only their wits, Porter's funding, an occasional lie and sone subterfuge, they tackle false stories and leads to get to the truth.

This is fun reading. The characters are a bit on the silly side but for the most part, its the story that stands strong and makes for a good first effort.

[Mike Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

'The Cape Cod Mystery' was a pleasant surprise. Published in 1931, it's an American Golden Age Mystery that couldn't be more different from its English Detective Club contemporaries. I read it because it was selected as a side-read by the GoodReads Appointment With Agatha group and I has no idea what to expect.

'The Cape Cod Mystery' launched a series of books featuring amateur sleuth Asey Mayo, a Cape Cod native who, after travelling the world as a Merchant Seaman, now works for the powerful Porter family. Asey is dragged into his first case when his millionaire boss is arrested for the murder of a well-known and much-detested novelist. Asey has one weekend to find the real killer and stop his boss from becoming so entangled with the legal system that even his great wealth might not be enough to set him free.

The book got off to an exhaustingly fast start with dialogue so brisk and brittle it made 'The Gilmore Girls' look slow and naturalistic. To me, everything sounded brash until I hooked into the taken-for-granted privilege of the characters and realised that their chatter was all performative - the 1930s equivalent of cool.

Surprisingly, the pace increased about a quarter of the way through, when I first met Asey Mayo. Wow, what a whirlwind he was. And what a wonderfully refreshing contrast he was to Poirot or Wimsy. And how quintessentially late 19th Century Yankee he was. A man of broad experience, slim education, high intelligence and low cunning. He comes across as all practicality and common sense and no pretensions at all but he uses his 'I'm just a plain-speaking Cape Cod fisherman using my common sense to muddle through' personal as a weapon to ambush, beguile, and bully his way to the truth.

Part of what makes the story work is that it is told not through the eyes of Asey Mayo but through the eyes of Miss Wtsby, a well-respected Bostonian woman of means in her fifties. She has all the education and social graces that Asey lacks. She's also connected to just about everyone of importance in the plot. She is calm, rational, open-minded and prone to gentle humour. She makes an excellent foil for the folksy man-of-the-people amateur detective.

It took me a while to work out the social status of Miss Witsby and her niece. This made me realise that when I read Sayers or Christie, I'm always aware of the social class that the people come from and that sets my expectations of them. With the Cape Code summer people, I found myself class-blind. It was like suddenly losing my sense of smell. I couldn't figure out the class Miss Witsby came from or where the young people fit in the social strata. I finally figured out they must be from money because, when the maid had the evening off and the women had a 'pick up supper' they helped themselves to food, ate and then stacked the plates and left them for the maid to clean. Who does that? Four people at table and they make no effort to clean up after themselves and they treat that as normal. Nothing says money like taking that kind of thing for granted.

Asey and Miss Witsby work at a frenetic pace to track down what turns out to be at least half a dozen people who had both the motive and opportunity to kill the deservedly detested novelist. The investigation was heavier on humour than method but they got the job done.

To me, it felt that the author was setting out to debunk more traditional murder mystery stories by showing that diligently following clues was much less helpful than being able to read people and know when and why they were lying.

The humour mostly worked, although it was occasionally a little heavy-handed, especially when the Sheriff was involved, but it was always entertaining.

By the end of the book, I was beginning to find Asey a little wearing - there's only so much folk-wisdom I can enjoy - then the author came up with an ending that was clever and touching (and a little improbable) which put Asey in a much better light.

This was a high-energy piece of entertainment that rollicked along with more pace than grace but which made me smile and kept me interested.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Her parents were natives of Cape Cod and descended from Pilgrims. She graduated from Barnard College in New York City in 1930, and returned to Boston. She married a surgeon also named Taylor and lived in the Boston suburbs of Newton Highlands and Weston. The couple also had a summer home in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. Boston and Cape Cod served as the locales for many of her mystery novels.

She published under her own name as well as under the pen names Freeman Dana and Alice Tilton. Her first novel, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), introduced Asey Mayo, the "Codfish Sherlock," a handyman and amateur sleuth who appeared in 24 novels. These novels were full of humor and the local culture of Cape Cod in the 1930s and 1940s.

Another series featured Leonidas Witherall, a teacher, and author of detective novels.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prudence Whitsby ("Snoodles" to her niece Betsey) decides to rent a cottage in Cape Cod for the summer. They choose two friends to spend the summer with them: Dorothy “Dot” Cram, a former college classmate of Betsey’s who works in a settlement house in New York City, and Emma Manton, the widow of a clergyman from Boston. Bill Porter, a lifelong friend of Prudence and Betsey (and suitor of the latter), is a frequent guest at the home.

Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, but there is one unpleasant complication: Dale Sanborn, a highly successful author. Prudence tried to read one of his novels:

”It was all about a man— no; about a girl who loved a man who was married to a girl— I think this is straight— who loved a man who loved the first mentioned girl. It confused me to such an extent that I left off on page forty. It was a little nasty, too. I am not convinced that his characters bear any resemblance to human beings, though I am given to understand that he takes his stories from life.”

Sanborn does not make a good impression on Prudence, Betsey, and their friends, but they cannot avoid him since he has rented the tiny cabin on the same property as the cottage. His interest in Betsey is not exactly welcome either, especially to a very jealous Bill Porter. Prudence rather acidly describes him:

“He was, I thought, a little oily. I tried to make out why. It might have been the chorus-boy perfection of his too-well-cut flannels and blue coat, or possibly his highly manicured fingers. My father always warned me about men with manicured hands. Such a man, he said, was never a gentleman by birth but by accident.

One night Prudence goes looking for her cat, Ginger, who is behaving in typical contrary cat fashion and has gone off exploring. He leads her to Sanborn’s cabin. Reluctantly, Prudence enters the cabin, expecting to encounter Sanborn, but she does not see him anywhere. Then she notices a blanket in the middle of the floor. She pulls it back – and finds Dale Sanborn lying face down on the floor. Dead.

The murder investigation is quickly bungled by the incompetent sheriff, Slough Sullivan, and the gossipy, overly enthusiastic Dr Reynolds, who quickly makes himself Sullivan’s assistant. They fasten on Bill Porter as the chief suspect and soon poor Bill is arrested for murder. Since the town has no jail, he has to spend his time in the stocks. Bill’s friends know he did not commit the crime and set out to prove him innocent.

Bill’s handyman and friend, Asey Mayo, quickly takes over the investigation for the defense. Asey is one of the more unusual and charming amateur detectives I have run across. In a way, he reminds me of Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael – a well-traveled, experienced older man who has seen just about everything life has to offer and isn’t terribly impressed by it. To quote Prudence, who has known him most, if not all of her life:

”Asey was the kind of man everybody expects to find on Cape Cod and never does. He was by my reckoning about sixty years old, because I am fifty, and I knew he had been “voting age,” as they say in the town, when I was a girl visiting my relatives. No one seeing him for the first time could tell whether he was thirty-five or seventy. His long lean face was so tanned from exposure that the lines and wrinkles did not show. His mouth was wide, with a humorous twist about the corners, and his deep-set blue eyes twinkled disconcertingly.

He usually walked with his shoulders hunched and his head thrust forward. As he moved his worn corduroy trousers and flannel shirt flopped as though anxious to catch up with the rest of his spare frame. An old broad-brimmed Stetson set at an angle on his head gave him a strangely rakish look. He almost invariably chewed tobacco, and that habit coupled with his trick of pronouncing no more syllables of a word than were absolutely necessary, made him quite unintelligible to those who didn’t know him.

Although he called himself a mechanic, he had taken a turn at nearly every trade. As steward, cook or ordinary seaman he had sailed over the seven seas in every type of ship. He had made his first voyage on one of the last of the old clipper ships, and before he had settled down in the town he had been mate of a tramp steamer. Under Bill’s grandfather he had built carriages; under Bill’s father he had learned about automobiles. I doubt if he had ever had more than a fleeting glimpse of the inside of a school-room, but his knowledge of the world and its inhabitants was vastly superior to that of the average man.

The town cast a critical eye upon him because he belonged to no church and rarely attended any service outside of the Christmas Eve celebration, when he went and lustily sang hymns. He was neither a Mason, a Bison nor an Elk.”

It is easy not to take Asey seriously, but that would be a big mistake. Like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, Asey sees parallels between the people and situations in the present and the ones in the past:

“I told Miss Prue the other day that all folks was like other folks in one little thing or ’nother, an’ usually if they was alike in that one little thing they was like them in other ways too.”

It is Asey’s experience and common sense that save the day and enable him to catch the real killer of Dale Sanborn.

It is always nice to discover a new author whose books I enjoy. I had heard of Phoebe Atwood Taylor, but had never read any of her books until recently. Her characters are well drawn and interesting, especially her older women (see Daisy Tower in Murder at the New York World's Fair). There is not quite as much humor in “The Cape Cod Mystery” as in Punch with Care or “New York Fair,” which are basically screwball comedies/mysteries. However, Taylor has a light touch and just when things get serious, they are leavened with some humor. I liked most of the characters (except for Sanborn, Sullivan, and Reynolds), and was rather upset when I learned who the killer was. It was someone I had never suspected at all.

This novel was published in 1931, but has held up very well. Some books from the early 1930s positively creak with age. However, like Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Rex Stout, Phoebe Atwood Taylor’s books are still a pleasure to read. I highly recommend “The Cape Cod Mystery,” “Punch with Care,” and “Murder at the New York Fair.” They’re all a great deal of fun.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for this first in a series. I enjoyed the characters and - maybe because I'm in a good mood? - didn't tire of Mr. Mayo's dialect. I will try another in the series and see if it holds up.

[Gurnoor Walia · Rating 4 out of 5]

More a 3.5 than a 4, but a perfectly solid debut mystery. The narration is strong, the characters feel real, and there’s a nice thread of humor throughout. The Cape Cod setting is vividly drawn—it’s honestly one of the book’s highlights.

I really liked our protagonist, Asey Mayo, the local amateur sleuth—a tobacco-chewing, wise old jack-of-all-trades who moonlights as a sort of male nanny to the heir of a super-rich family. I’m usually not a fan of phonetic writing, but to my surprise, it didn’t bother me much here.

The only major drawback would be the length, as it could easily have been shortened by atleast 20 pages by removing the hard to get act all the suspects play, where they first lie to Asey and then when he confronts them with the facts they stall again or tell a new lie before finally admitting the truth.

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something is amiss about the young author renting a cabin in the cape, and everyone has a reason to dislike him, but who has a reason to want him dead?

I really enjoyed sitting in the garden, sipping iced tea, and reading this book over the weekend and it was a wonderful introduction to Asey Mayo, who sets about clearing his friends name and finding out who did that Dandy in....

Very much a sunny day read!!

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the worst murder mystery book I’ve ever read

[Jan C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The murder of an unpleasant man. He apparently betrayed everyone he ever knew. People who took him in. His family. His friends. The story of the murder of an evil man who appeared pleasant on the outside, was a real freak about his dislike of sardines.

He is renting a cottage or a little cabin in Cape Cod over a weekend in a beastly hot August and just about everyone is coming to Cape Cod for the weekend. And they all seem to know Dale Sanborn.

And they all pay him a visit. But only one of them kills him.

“Any one who knew Dale Sanborn would know in an instant he didn’t just die. He wasn’t the sort of man who just dies. They say some people were born to be hanged. Dale Sanborn was born to be murdered. No one who knew him would stay around if they found him dead; no one would ever tell of it. Because every one who knew him had a good reason for killing him.”

This book was a little dated, includes references to Dr. Fell, one of my favorite characters. But interesting, except it seemed to take a little long to wind up.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough enjoyed this book - from the descriptions of Cape Cod to the vintage language and characters. Recommend.

[Linda K · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new author for me, this story is like taking a little vacation to Cape Cod and meeting the most interesting people.

When a murder occurs in Wellfleet, the obvious suspect is quickly arrested, but it is too obvious to local resident Asey Mayo. Asey is the quintessential Cape Cod-er, full of stories and sayings and wisdom all spoken in the perfect New England dialect. He was a man of many jobs and had sailed over the seas in every kind of ship. He sets to solving the case with inventive ways of obtaining information and suspects.

There are many suspects as there are so many who did not like the murdered man. It is not totally predictable when the killer is finally unveiled at the end.

Written in 1931, the book is a flashback to another time when things were simpler. Descriptions give the reader a good idea of the geography and customs of the town. With this as her first book written at age 22, Miss Atwood continued to write a total of 33 books.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

This marks the start of a series of 24 novels featuring Asey Mayo published between 1931 and 1951. It was the author's first detective story and I think that is evident from the rather simple plot device she uses to "hide" the murderer of an obnoxious author of "modern" books.

The setting in Cape Cod is vividly rendered and there are some equally colourful, if overdone, characters.

Like many of its US contemporaries, it is over-wordy and just a little too self-consciously smart.

Mayo is a likeable, unlikely investigator, perhaps verging on being a caricature of the ordinary guy of extraordinary perceptions and intelligence.

Although I found this very easy of solution and the writing at times irritating, I shall try another.

3.25 stars

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miss Prudence Whitsby thinks there's something unpleasant about the young man who just rented a small cabin near the cottage where she and her niece, and two selected friends, are summering. He's a novelist, and she wasn't able to finish his much-talked-about early novel. Finding him dead doesn't make him rate higher, either, especially when her niece's beau Bill Porter is arrested. Fortunately, Bill's hired man Asey Mayo comes seeking her help, and she finds out how much more than a hired man Asey can be, in his first major case.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just discovered this mystery series set on Cape Cod, and written by a young woman in the 1930's. It's folksy, dated and filled with local color and charm. Fun to read a story and learn about some old expressions and styles. This was a decent mystery to boot. I'm interested in continuing with this series - I like to intersperse my reading with light mysteries, especially those set in New England. The series is readily available although the books were originally published so long ago - so Taylor must have a following. Recommend.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Mom used to read this series back in the early 80s, and I'd read them before she returned them to the library. I was about 12. I loved them.
I was thrilled to find this one and reread it. (It's been long enough I'd forgotten the whole thing. Lol.)
It's "old-fashioned" and quirky, but that's what I love about it.
No swearing, no sexual situations, no crudeness, or any of the other things that are so prominent in so many modern books.
I like this author and am looking forward to reading more of her books.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to read the first Asey Mayo for awhile, since Taylor's early books were less silly than her later ones. But this one is just a little tentative--good narrator and murderer, but Asey is more hayseed here, and some of the best regular characters are yet to be introduced. The plot is overcomplicated, too. So far, my favorites are #7 and #10--but I have an order in for #s 6 & 8. It's a long winter--need to have Asey on hand.

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful murder mystery set in Cape Cod during the early 1930's. The characters are wonderfully drawn and suspects abound. I love the coastal Maine atmosphere and dialect. It's not a terribly complicated mystery but I liked the teaming up of our slueth, Asey Mayo, with the narrator, Prudence Whitsby. The back stories for most of the suspects are interesting and the mystery keeps a good pace. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful mystery. A lot like the original Nancy Drew mysteries. Written in the 1930's but a classic who done it. Fast easy read, enjoyable and I didn't figure out the murderer! First book in the series.. on to the next!

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wordy and slow-paced, but a light read nonetheless. I will read more of this author.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another classic mystery from the golden age, this one is from 1931 and is set on Cape Cod (hence the title!).

Prudence Whitsby and her niece Betsy are summering on Cape Cod, having rented a cabin in a prime location. When a heat wave strikes the east coast, they decide to invite two of their friends, Dot Cram and Emma Manton, to visit, being limited in the number of rooms available.

Behind their cabin is a smaller cottage, rented out to Dale Sanborn, a friendly writer who has just finished another sure-to-be best seller. And finally we have Bill Porter, a rich resident in town who seems to be quite interested in Betsy. What could possibly go wrong?

Murder, of course. One evening Prudence heads back to Dale's cottage and sees him lying dead on the floor, covered in a sheet. The local sheriff and doctor are both called to the scene, establish that Dale has been murdered, and quickly arrest Bill on circumstantial evidence. That doesn't sit right with local handyman Asey Mayo, who starts working with Prudence to clear Bill's name.

With Asey as the folksy Sherlock Holmes and Prudence as his Watson, off they go digging into the mystery. It turns out Dale wasn't the nice guy he projected, in fact pretty much everyone who knew him had a reason to kill him. Hidden agendas, changed identities, secret engagements, mysterious strangers, long ago histories - all come out under Asey's gentle questioning, poking and prodding, until the final culprit is revealed.

This is a mystery full of local color, maybe a bit too full as Asey's hayseed act gets a bit grating after a while. But overall an interesting mystery in an interesting time and place.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first in the Asey Mayo series, I picked up this book because I had heard about it on the Classic Mysteries podcast. I didn't find it quite the romp that had been described but still a good book.
Miss Prudence Whitsby and her niece Betsey have once again taken a cottage at Cape Cod. Since it is a particularly hot summer, they have a number of friends who have written to ask if they can visit including a couple who are now divorced. They end up deciding on a friend of Betsey's named Dot and a clergyman's widow, Emma. Also hanging about it an automobile scion who is known to have a pretty big crush on Betsey. It's just too bad that there is a famous author who has also come to town. One that does not particularly impress Miss Whitsby, especially since she doesn't believe his characterizations even though the author is said to take his stories from real life. Basically, they are not nice stories. So, it's not particularly a surprise that he ends up dead. It's just too bad that some of the evidence is against the young scion and the sheriff doesn't seem inclined to look at anyone else.
It's up to the family factotum, Asey Mayo, to figure out what is going on. The young man's father has told him to leave no expense unpaid and he doles out fives liberally in trying to get to the bottom of the story.

[EuroHackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took the long way around to get there, but the ending was worth it. Reading Asey Mayo's dialect definitely worked on my patience, but I enjoyed him very much as a character. He's a quirky guy, drawing on a lot of life experience as he puzzles his way through this mystery.

I didn't see the ending coming and was surprised by whodunit, though not why. I definitely agree with the other characters: the murder victim deserved to be murdered, many times over, because he was a worthless piece of human garbage who treated everyone around him (including his family) like shit. He's the sort of character that the phrase "...and nothing of value was lost" was made for. So kudos to the murderer on this one! And Asey for having a heart about it.

I'd definitely read more of this series if I ever came across it. I'm assuming that our first person narrator, Prudence Whitsby, continues to be Asey's sidekick in the amateur detective game? She's a bit on the useless side here, but I can see how she'd be a good foil for Asey in other instances.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read and a great introduction to the Asey Mayo series. Set on my beloved Cape Cod, Phoebe Atwood Taylor definitely mixes in bits of local flavor while also giving the reader a strong murder mystery.

The fact that this was written (and therefore set) in the summer of 1931, is both delightful and at times, unsettling. One of the main characters explains that "there's no garbage collection on the Cape," so people either burn or bury their trash. ACK!!! There are also references to other people groups that we would never use today, but back then was the norm.

Yet perhaps it is these very small, natural details, so far from life in the 21st century, that ultimately give these books their flavor. Mystery books are a dime a dozen. Mystery books that are well-written that also give insight into a certain time in history (because of when they were written), as well as local flavor (because of the author's familiarity with that specific location) are a gem.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a few popular plot mechanisms that I absolutely hate and one of them is the bumbling, stupid cop who accuses and abuses the innocent. I get that it's supposed to be funny but to me it's just not...in fact, it's the opposite of funny. I have been fully cognizant of my dislike for this plot mechanism ever since Nora Roberts fooled me into thinking that Eve Dallas is a smart cop. I wanted to give up The Cape Cod Mystery somewhere around page 100 but I persisted. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but that was only because the aforementioned bumbling cop, Slough Sullivan, played a very minor role.

On the positive side, there is some sarcastic humor from Asey that I enjoyed, especially the first few lines of Chapter 12:
Asey picked up the pin. "Where'd you get that?"
"What? That? Oh, yes. That pin, you mean?"
"Yup," said Asey. "That pin I'm holdin' in my hand. Not two other pins in Chicago. This here pin now."

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Asey Mayo mystery. The mystery is a three-star, over-complicated puzzle, but very competently told. I actually couldn’t believe this novel was from 1931, it felt timeless in spite of some dated expressions and opinions. However, what really makes the book and makes this a four-star read is the funny sleuthing by hay-seed handyman Mayo and our fifty-year old “spinster maid” Snoodles. I loved the setting and details - the grocery clerk/sometime sheriff putting our millionaire hero first in the theatre pillory, then in an empty box car since there is no jail on Cape Cod, is a favorite.

Asey Mayo was billed as a Sherlock Holmes, but I can’t really see that. He’s much more a cross between Huckleberry Finn and Miss Marple with a few Sherlock touches. At times he comes across as slightly ridiculous, but he’s a very compelling character. And Snoodles (“Miss Prue”) is his very smart, non-spinstery sidekick.

Well worthy of its multiple reprints!

[Pharmacdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reissue of an old classic, part of the American Mystery Classic, follows the down-to-earth, no-nonsense Asey Mayo as he attempts to solve a murder mystery. His witty sayings and misquotes infuse the book with humor and charm. (He mangles Bible verses and other sayings.) The book is told from the point of view of Prudence Whitsby, who helps Asey in solving the mystery. Her side remarks add to the humor of the book. As Asey was sayin'

“Yup. Well, if I was a feller as understood that, I’d use it. If I understood about finger-prints an’ microscopes an’ things like, I’d use ’em up too. But I don’t. Like the kid in the piece he wrote about two apples an’ a piece of pie,—I ain’t ’temptin’ any flights of fancy but just’s the things that’s in me. A handful of common sense an’ a little imagination is worth all them notions anyways.”

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice cozy mystery, set in a place I've been to, has only one major flaw...the detective is the least interesting character in the book.

I liked the household of four ladies and was looking forward to them playing detective, then Asey Mayo shows up, turning the ladies into his sidekicks and then gives them very little to do, because we are too busy trying (and failing) to convince me Asey is really clever and entertaining.

Fun to see Cape Cod, about fifty years before I ever visited.

The book also stumbles, as at the halfway point it tries SO hard to show us how everyone is suspicious and up to something.
It doesn't quite pull it off.

Luckily, for the book, the reveal is solid and well done.

Fun romp, but I don't have much interest in trying the rest of the series.

[Janellyn51 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's nothing like reading a book where you know the terrain, the mores of the natives. I know Cape Cod, I lived there for many years. The characters, even though they came well before my time, are very familiar. The Brahmin's vs. The wizened local. It's an amusing read, very Patti Page's Old Cape Cod.
I've been researching Phoebe Atwood Taylor, and am pretty sure we must be connected, although a good ways back. I have a Cordelia Atwood of Eastham, whose daughter Cordelia Atwood Bell, married John S. Taylor, son of Solomon Taylor and Isabel Pratt Taylor. Phoebe has Pratts, and goes back to the Mayflower too!

[Michael Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1931, this by turns dry and witty mystery features Asey Mayo, "A local handyman in his first outing, who knows something about police work and everything about everybody's business" (Marilyn Stasio, Mystery Alley). First, the best-selling author Dale Sanborn turns up dead. Then Asey's best friend Bill Porter becomes the chief suspect and gets put in stocks and pillory, then inside a dark otherwise empty freight car and Asey knows he has to do something with only the weekend and the help of his friend Miss Whitsby, to clear it all up. The only clue is an empty sardine can, a food item that Sanborn hated.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice view of Cape Cod as it was in 1931.


A rather different way of writing a mystery novel than is the norm today.

Many different characters and good reasons why any one of them might have done it. Most modern novels narrow it down fairly quickly to just a few most likely suspects and if the reader is clever enough, give hints as to who is the real culprit.

A few casually racist phrases which would never be included in a novel today. And some upper class/upper middle class points-of-view about lower income people which seem strange to my ears.

I am glad that I read this but I was a bit dissatisfied with the book as a whole.