The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern

Eve Prince, owner of the Cape Cod Tavern, has been telling everyone someone is trying to murder her. She tells of being shot at in the woods and about a trip wire at the top of the stairs. Being such a publicity hound, people find it hard to believe her. Until she is found stabbed to death.

Suspects are aplenty at the tavern. Mark Adams, nephew of Kay Adams who is called by Mark to come to the tavern. A request that paused her planned winter in Capri. Ann Bradford, Eve Prence’s step-sister and hopes-to-be wife of Mark Adams. Tony Deen, a play-write and his blind son, Noris, who writes poetry. Alex Stout, a writer of banned books and the ex-husband of Eve. Lila Talbot, children’s author and her young son Eric. All the guests had had show more Eve involved in their lives and not necessarily in a good way. Eve Prence was a person who had to be the center of it all.

Asey Mayo finds himself with not only too many suspects, but also some unusual weapons, a convenient suspect and some odd clues.

The characters, setting and plot lines are entertaining and not so simple. Elements that make Phoebe Atwood Taylor’s Asey Mayo series an enjoyable read. show less

This book, published in 1934 is only the second P.A. Taylor I’ve read (the other was the debut in the series). We meet a different middle-aged spinster narrator who stumbles into a murder and happens to have handyman Asey Mayo at hand. This is a closed room mystery in that the culprit has to be one of the Tavern’s (aka Inn) guests. Or does it? There are a lot of comings and goings and secret passages for a house under police observation. It’s that that weakens the enjoyability of this mystery. I can suspend my disbelief only so far.

Read this if: you’re a fan of this series, or of tart New England ways. 2½ stars

Good, but stronger in the characters and setting than the mystery.

I like Asey Mayo but the broken English got to me in this story. I had. Way too much of nen for then, particularly when it was not used consistently and nunno for don't know. What I liked was the The Countryman Press edition.