Punch with Care: An Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery

Rating:
Summary: Lean and Salty Codfish Sherlock, Asey Mayo, Deducts Again
Review: This book was first published in 1946. The author has toned down the dialect much to my relief. And, yes, she does put the term Codfish Sherlock in the mouth of one of her characters describing the lean and salty Asey Mayo. (Makes him sound like a rasher of bacon.) Taylor has at least in this book dropped the first person narrator in favor of straight third person. Also the title does not refer to a blow but to a punch in a ticket.

World War II is over and a group of people going to college on the GI bill come to Study the small Cape Cod town where Asey lives. The leader of this group is Caroline Boone, the world renown expert (it's not at all clear what she is an expert on, but we are assured she has appeared in the newsreels almost as often as Asey). Doc Cummings arrives at Asey's door with an urgent invitation to go meet Ms. Boone just as Asey is about to sit down to lunch .

Again, the puzzle is the centerpiece of the book. Bodies (alive and dead) appear and disappear, there's red herrings (or Cods) galore and a secret room that may or may not exist. Let's not forget to mention the radio quiz show that obsesses nearly everyone in the village.

If you really like puzzle pieces then you might like this book. The author plays pretty fair. The characters, though, seem like two dimensional constructs going through their allotted actions to make the mystery come out right.

Rating:
Summary: Lean and Salty Codfish Sherlock, Asey Mayo, Deducts Again
Review: This book was first published in 1946. The author has toned down the dialect much to my relief. And, yes, she does put the term Codfish Sherlock in the mouth of one of her characters describing the lean and salty Asey Mayo. (Makes him sound like a rasher of bacon.) Taylor has at least in this book dropped the first person narrator in favor of straight third person. Also the title does not refer to a blow but to a punch in a ticket.

World War II is over and a group of people going to college on the GI bill come to Study the small Cape Cod town where Asey lives. The leader of this group is Caroline Boone, the world renown expert (it's not at all clear what she is an expert on, but we are assured she has appeared in the newsreels almost as often as Asey). Doc Cummings arrives at Asey's door with an urgent invitation to go meet Ms. Boone just as Asey is about to sit down to lunch .

Again, the puzzle is the centerpiece of the book. Bodies (alive and dead) appear and disappear, there's red herrings (or Cods) galore and a secret room that may or may not exist. Let's not forget to mention the radio quiz show that obsesses nearly everyone in the village.

If you really like puzzle pieces then you might like this book. The author plays pretty fair. The characters, though, seem like two dimensional constructs going through their allotted actions to make the mystery come out right.