Wholesale Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

[Penzler Publishers] Asey Mayo, the Sherlock of Cape Cod, investigates the murder of a local innkeeper. In a small Cape Cod town, a local tavern owner is convinced that someone is trying to kill her. She tells tales of being shot at in the woods and of a trip wire strung up at the top of her staircase. Others in the village think she's just out for some free publicity, as she's always cooking up creative ways to get people into her establishment. But then she's found stabbed to death and her suspicions are confirmed. Man about town and jack of all trades Asey Mayo is helping out at the tavern when the murder occurs, and he's just the sleuth that such a dastardly case needs. It seems that Eve Prence had no shortage of enemies both at the inn and around the town. Asey Mayo knows people—especially Cape Codders—and has both the common sense and the deductive powers necessary to cut through the puzzling case and determine whodunit. But will he succeed before an innocent person takes the fall? A light, entertaining mystery with a richly described 1930s Cape Cod setting, The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern is an exemplary Golden Age cozy, replete with charming characters and period detail.