“Taylor can get more fun into a detective story than any writer at present producing, and with all the fun there is a mystery that is baffling for its own sake.”—The New York Times
The Cape Cod Mystery
When Miss Prudence cautiously entered, Ginger was lapping oil from a sardine tin that lay next to the corpse of a celebrated novelist.
The local sheriff rounded up his suspects, including Bill Porter, the millionaire who loved Miss Prue’s niece, Betsey; Johnny Kurth, and his divorced wife, both of whom tried to wangle invitations for the same weekend; and Betsey’s college friend who had hair like a chrysanthemum.
But Asey Mayo, Bill Porter’s man of all work, an old Cape Codder whose maxim is “Common Sense,” puts his wits to work to save Bill from being indicted. For the sheriff was so convinced of Bill’s guilt that he put him into the pillory the town made for its tercentenary celebration.
Punch with Care
“Seasoned with all the quaintness for which ‘the Cape’ is so justly celebrated.”—The New York Times
Asey tackles another baffling mystery, which creeps up on him between the one o’clock Bull Moose siren and the one o’clock Quick Quiz Question on WBBB.
While murder is no novelty to Mayo, this case involves him with such bizarre items as the Pochet and Back Shore Railroad, a private line in Mrs. Douglass’s back yard; Lulu Belle, its antique Pullman; Carolyn Barton Boone and her Larrabee College Project; and a few bewildered adolescents.
Diplomatic Corpse
In front of a tall tombstone lay a figure...a figure of a woman. An obviously recent corpse, dressed like an Indian, lay in a storm-lashed cemetery. But the body was above ground—with its skull bashed in! And seemingly, the man who did it was still bending over the dead woman as Asey Mayo came upon the scene! But Asey wasn't sure—to his trained eye, it was too simple.
And he was right! In rapid-fire successionthe clues point to someone else—from a scroll clutched in the fingers of the corpse to a pink glass egg lying on the wet pavement of a country road. Asey Mayo finds that instead of an air-tight case, he has been plunged into one of his most baffling mysteries!
Three Plots for Asey Mayo
Asey solves the "Swan Boat Murder" “in the best Mayo manner [and] the other two stories are just as good.”—The New York Times
Top-notch entertainment for mystery readers is contained in this 65,000 word volume made up of three Asey Mayo short novels, each replete with the excitement, the humor and the amusing characterisations that have distinguished all of this author’s popular books about the famous Cape Cod sleuth.
This volume contains “The Headacre Plot,” “The Wander Bird Plot,” and “The Swan Boat Plot.”
The Iron Clew
“Wilder and more diverting experiences than those which befall Leonidas Witherall are seldom found anywhere except in books by Alice Tilton.”—The New York Times
Leonidas Witherall, who is the splitting image of Bill Shakespeare, runs pell-mell into another amazing mystery, written in superlative humor-cum-homicide manner.
‘Bill’ Witherall is a mystery writer himself. In his housekeeper’s “candied” opinion, his clews are too out of this world. So his next book is to begin with an innocent-looking brown paper package. This simple decision starts a chain of events in which the old octopus of fate puts out all eight tentacles. Even before Leonidas gets to his dinner engagement with Fenwick Balderston, the chase is on—with Leonidas both the pursuer and the pursued, on that surprising snowy night in Dalton, Framfield, and environs.
Balderston Hall (“If anyone ever thought of making an iron wedding cake, it would resemble this house”) is the scene of unprecedented happenings, especially when the suspicious Dr. Fell arrives with his cheese. The clews, not all of them iron, appear in delightful confusion, together with a train of lively characters who help and hinder Leonidas in his Odyssey.
Leonidas Witherall tilts for mystery honors with Asey Mayo, the Hayseed Sleuth of Cape Cod, and The Iron Clew will rate a place among the most amusing items on the mystery shelf.
Beginning with a Bash
A freezing east blew through the streets of Boston. To Martin Jones, shivering outside a bookstore, the printed sign "Come in and Browse—it's warm inside" looked inviting. So in he went. But others too had sought the shelter of the store, among them Professor John North, who was shortly afterwards found dead amid a sea of books, his head bashed in.
Unfortunately for Martin, he is obviously suspect number one for the murder, and that was bad news. The good news is that the bookstore is owned by Dot Peters, a friend from student days, and that she is assisted by Leonidas Witherall (often called Bill due to his uncanny resemblance to William Shakespeare), the retired headmaster of the Boston academy which Martin had once attended.
Murder at the New York World's Fair
“Previews of next year's Big Show [are] interesting but [the] criminal goings-on and detecting border on fantastic.”—Saturday Review
Poor Daisy Tower, all she wanted was to find a respite from Egleston, her nephew, and Elfrida, his “statuesque” wife. Their misery-making has finally convinced Daisy that “slipping away in the laundry truck to catch the Boston train” is a reasonable idea. The train in question happens to be “The Golden Dart,” owned by the famed art collector Conrad Cassell. Daisy discovers the train is rich with deluxe amenities, such as a private office containing its very own dead body.