"The Cape Cod Mystery"

Meet Asey Mayo. A life-long resident of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A remarkably handy handyman, an enthusiastic fisherman, the right-hand-man of Bill Porter, a wealthy young man whose Porter Motors is a major automobile manufacturer. As it turns out, it's a good thing Asey is around when his boss is accused of murder by the local policeman, a young man whose primary job is being a clerk in a small general store. It's up to Asey Mayo to prove his boss didn't do it - and to solve "The Cape Cod Mystery," the title of the 1931 book by Phoebe Atwood Taylor which introduced Asey Mayo to the reading public. "The Cape Cod Mystery" is the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the whole review by clicking here.

The book begins in the midst of a brutally hot summer in the Northeast - the kind of summer, in the days before air conditioning, that led city dwellers to escape when they could to places like Cape Cod. Miss Prudence Whitsby, the narrator of "The Cape Cod Mystery," finds herself overloaded with letters and telegrams from friends and acquaintances hoping to get an invitation to stay at her home. She manages to avoid most of them, though she does invite a few people to stay with her.

However, she has a new next-door neighbor, an author named Dale Sanborn, who quickly manages to get himself murdered. That local policeman immediately arrests Bill Porter for no particularly good reason. Enter Asey Mayo, who begins to investigate on his own and quickly discovers that just about everybody in the area had a good reason to hate Dale Sanborn. And we're off on a romp through the small back roads of the Cape, the interconnected families and friends, and any number of suspicious circumstances, as Asey Mayo uncovers the truth about the murder.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor wrote some two dozen books featuring Asey Mayo. As the series went on, she introduced more humor into the books. But this first book in the series is a little more serious - though there's still plenty of humor, not to mention some first-rate Cape Cod homilies.

 I have always enjoyed the Asey Mayo books, and while there may be a few rough edges here, it's still vintage Mayo and, of course, vintage Taylor. The dialogue is colorful; at one point, for example, Asey observes, “It can’t be done, as the feller said when he tried to chew his elbow." Silly? Sure, but fun. and Asey is a good detective - although he tends to keep his clues hidden from everyone (including the reader) for too long. But then, as he observes to Prudence Whitsby near the end of the book, “Even ole Sherlock Holmes, Miss Prue, had to do somethin’ funny every so often so’s folks would keep on bein’ ‘mazed by him. He had to let ‘em know he was thinkin’ about fifteen miles ahead of ‘em, so’s they could say wasn’t he wonderful when he broke down an’ explained it all.”

Well, OK. I'll drink to that, I suppose. I do find Asey Mayo is delightful company - and if I like the later books in the series somewhat better than I like the first one, there's still more than enough fun here to recommend "The Cape Cod Mystery." It's still in print and available as a paperback; there's also an edition for the Amazon Kindle.

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Les - It's interesting to me that you'd mention how much better Taylor's books got over time. I agree with you completely. But as you say, even the early books are sprinkled with solid wit and good mysteries. I'm very glad you've profiled this one - a nice reminder of a good series.

[Les Blatt]

I think the mystery aspect of the books was a little more solid in the earlier books, Margot, but Asey really developed as a character and acquired a stable of regulars - his cousin Jenny, her husband Syl, Doc Cummings, etc. - who really kept the later books moving along. I really do enjoy the series.

[Joan Kyler]

I love this series. The characters are great and Taylor captures the Cape during a time when it was a truly rural place to go to relax. Getting on and off the Cape these days is enough to cause a nervous breakdown! I had a lot of the Asey Mayo books that I bought in paperback from the discount tables at Barnes & Noble in Boston, but I got rid of them during a cleaning binge. I regret that and plan to replace them. This will be the first.

[Les Blatt]

Joan, you are so right about the traffic jams on/off the Cape! I think most of the Asey Mayo books are back in print and also in ebook format these days. You might also want to try Taylor's other series, featuring Leonidas Witherall, which are really mysteries loaded with slapstick comedy and farce. Fun reads!

[Joan Kyler]

I think I've read all the Leonidas Witherall books. I agree, they're fun and funny. I've probably mentioned it before because I wear my heart on my sleeve, but, as a transplanted New Englander, I love books that take place in New England, especially Boston.

This is off the mystery track, but have you read any of Van Reid's Moosepath League books? They take place in late 1800's Maine and are such old-fashioned good stories. Adventure, humor, great characters, what's not to love? Some of them even have mysteries of sorts. I think he's a great writer and deserves much more exposure.

[Les Blatt]

I must admit I'm not familiar with him, Joan. I'll have to add something of his to the TBR pile (which sways ominously in the background...). Thanks! Speaking of transplanted Bostonians, have you read the first Charlie Chan novel, "House Without a Key," by Earl Derr Biggers? Though set in Honolulu, many of the major characters are transplanted Bostonians, a fact that is central to the story line. Another fun read.

[Joan Kyler]

I only recently read House Without a Key, after reading one of your blogs about the Charlie Chan books. I've been a fan of the movies for a long time but hadn't read any of the novels. On your recommendation, I found all six (?) of them and have really enjoyed the ones I've read so far. They're much better written than I had anticipated.

[Les Blatt]

They are really well written, Joan, and they make Charlie a much more sympathetic character than I find him in the movies. Yes, there are six; I'm due to read some more...

[Atul S. Khot]

Dear Les,
I do have the book - as well as "Going, Going, Gone"...
Right now am reading "The Ware Case" by G. Pleydell Bancroft - This one is lip smacking delicious... ;-)
"The Cape Code mystery" will be my next ;-)

--- cheerio atul

[Les Blatt]

Atul, as I remember, "Going, Going, Gone" was another one of the later books with a lot of humor, not to mention bodies turning up in unusual places. I must admit I don't know "The Ware Case"...another one to add to my "To Be Read" pile, which continues to grow faster than I can accommodate it...thanks!