Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cape Cod Mystery | 1931 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 2 | Death Lights a Candle | 1932 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 3 | The Mystery of the Cape Cod Players | 1933 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 4 | The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern | 1934 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | N/A |
| 5 | Sandbar Sinister | 1934 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 6 | The Tinkling Symbol | 1935 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 7 | Deathblow Hill | 1935 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 8 | The Crimson Patch | 1936 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 9 | Out of Order | 1936 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 10 | Figure Away | 1937 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 11 | Octagon House | 1937 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 12 | The Annulet of Gilt | 1938 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 13 | Banbury Bog | 1938 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 14 | Spring Harrowing | 1939 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 15 | The Criminal C.O.D | 1939 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 16 | The Deadly Sunshade | 1940 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 17 | The Perennial Boarder | 1941 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 18 | The Six Iron Spiders | 1942 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 19 | Three Plots for Asey Mayo | 1942 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 20 | Going, Going, Gone | 1943 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 21 | Proof of the Pudding | 1945 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 22 | The Asey Mayo Trio | 1946 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 23 | Punch with Care | 1946 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
| 24 | Diplomatic Corpse | 1951 | Phoebe Atwood Taylor | Buy |
The Asey Mayo series follows a Cape Cod handyman known as “the Codfish Sherlock” through 24 mysteries published between 1931 and 1951. Mayo is a practical, down-to-earth problem solver who stumbles into murder cases and uses his knowledge of the local community to figure out what happened.
The Cape Cod setting is central to the series’ appeal. Taylor knew the area well and filled her books with the details of Cape life: the beaches, the tourist season, the year-round residents, and the social dynamics of a place where everyone knows each other’s business. The mysteries are classic Golden Age puzzles with a distinctly American, coastal flavor.