"Going, Going, Gone"

Asey Mayo was probably the only person on Cape Cod who didn't care about the big charity auction. Everybody else was eager to bid on the items up for sale - largely because they had heard rumors that the late John Alden had hidden a lot of cash inside something that would be sold at the auction. Asey didn't care. He didn't think much of those rumors and he hated auctions. He just wanted to go fishing. So it was just his bad luck to be on hand when one of those auctioned items was opened - and turned out to contain a corpse.

Welcome to the auction in Going, Going, Gone, a 1943 Asey Mayo Cape Cod mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. It's the subject of today's audio review on the Classic Mysteries website. You can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

Because Asey Mayo, also known as "the codfish Sherlock," is on the scene…and because it is wartime and a lot of the usual authorities are busy elsewhere…he finds himself stuck with the job of investigating the murder. That proves to be difficult and fairly dangerous. Poor Asey finds himself knocked out when he tries to catch someone prowling around at night and very soon after that finds himself tied up and dumped unceremoniously in the woods right next to the equally trussed policeman who had been left on guard.

All this is told in a surprisingly cheerful manner. Phoebe Atwood Taylor was very good at making the events in her Asey Mayo books light enough so that the humor never seems out of place. She manages to keep a smile on the reader’s face no matter what seems to be happening. Asey Mayo, who stars in two dozen of Taylor's books, is a wonderful character, and the Cape Cod background provides a first-rate setting for these mysteries. If you haven't met Asey before, Going, Going, Gone would be a fine introduction.

This is another entry in the My Reader's Block blog Vintage Mystery Bingo reading challenge, filling the square on the Golden score card for "a book by an author you've read before."

Comments

[Margot Kinberg]

Oh, I like the Asey Mayo series, Les! It's a series that in my opinion deserves more attention that it sometimes gets. I think you're right about the wit, but what I also like an awful lot is the sense of place. You really feel that you're at Cape Cod.

[Les Blatt]

It's a good series, Margot. They're light enough to be really enjoyable reading. And you're right about the sense of place. Taylor really knew Cape Cod, and she makes the place and its people come through for the reader.

[Joan Kyler]

Hi, Les. I love the Asey Mayo books, too. I lived near Cape Cod for many years and spent a lot of time there. I love the sense of place and I love stepping back to a slower, more peaceful (except for the murders!) time.

[Les Blatt]

I have friends on Cape Cod, Joan, but I haven't visited in years. I love seeing it through the eyes of Asey and the other characters in these books - although I'm not sure how peaceful Asey Mayo finds it; he gets hit on the head an awful lot... ;-)