Going, Going, Gone

Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery #20

by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

There's been another murder on the Cape, and the keen and salty Asey Mayo is on the trail again. An auction that begins as a treasure hunt ends in murder, and an incredible discovery sends our unlikely detective off on a hunt for a killer. Were there secrets between rival art dealers, Miss Pitkin and Mr. Harmsworth? And where does Quin Sharp, the auctioneer, fit in? Here's Asey Mayo in a classic who-dunnitas mysterious and amusing as his fans have a come to expect.

Genres: Mystery

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Taylor is an American mystery author. She is best known for her Asey Mayo series, based in Cape Cod. She additionally wrote and published under the pen names Alice Tilton and Freeman Dana.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor, born in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first member of her family to have been born off Cape Cod in more than 300 years. Upon graduating from Manhattan's Barnard College, she moved to Weston, Massachusetts, to pen her first work, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), which was published when she was 22. The book was written while Taylor was caring for her invalid aunt, Alice Tilton (the source of one of her two publishing pseudonyms, the other being Freeman Dana). Taylor was one of the first mystery writers to give a regional and rural rather than urban focus during the time known as the "golden age" of mystery writing (1918 - 1939). Gone with the Wind's author, Margaret Mitchell, was a great fan of the Asey Mayo series, and encouraged Taylor to pack the books with Cape Cod detail. In all, she authored 33 books. She died in 1976 at age 67.
- Bio by The Countryman Press

https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL685...

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too silly, but not as much fun as it could be, either. The mystery is complicated and convoluted and it seems to wear Asey and everyone out. This reader included.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have just been introduced to Asey Mayo mysteries and found the first one I read wonderful so I moved on to this one. Unfortunately this book is a bit slow such that it put me to sleep within just a few minutes. That is not to say that I didn't like it because I did just that it was slow with no exciting parts. I enjoyed picking up all the information about living during WWII. I recommend Phoebe Atwood Taylor's mysteries and recommend them but don't start with this one.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 20th Asey Mayo mystery story. Mayo is an amateur detective on Cape Cod. He is known as The Codfish Sherlock. This book was published in 1943. Taylor gives a good picture of Cape Cod life on the home front during WW2. The Cape is jittery about German submarines or spies. Gasoline is strictly rationed. Every is trying to cut down on their driving. The local gas station is being run by the aunt of the owner who is an enlisted man. There are victory gardens just off of Main Street.

The story starts with an auction of the house and effects of John Alden. Everyone in town knows that he had hidden a large stash of money in the house which had not been found. The auction is a big event because the crowd is convinced that the money could be hidden somewhere in what was being auctioned off. A locked chest is particularly suspect.

The money is not found in the chest and Solatia Spry is murdered. Spry is an antique dealer who had a particular interest in the auction. She is also on the local Rationing Board which has resulted in very hard feelings with some locals. She has also feud with several members of John Alden's family. There is a good selection of suspects.

The silliest plot twist is that on page 21 Mayo sees a young woman throwing books into a pond. He talks to her and her story is silly. It quickly develops that a key part of the murder is that books that were in a trunk have disappeared. Mayo doesn't mention the book drowning which he saw for a hundred pages or so.

The investigation is not great. It is mostly Mayo talking to people. He gets knocked out once. There are several paragraphs of Mayo asking himself rhetorical questions like "who was the man who limped?"

This is an interesting description of WW2 Cape Cod but is not very impressive as a murder mystery.

[Kim R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know this was a book in a series of Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mysteries, but it didn't matter that it was #20. You didn't need to read the others first to understand the story line. I was intrigued that it was written in 1943 - which is why I bought it. I wanted to compare the writings of that era to todays.
I enjoyed the writing, the setting (war rations and such) and the characters. However, it was a bit slow and added way too many twists. I should have written down the characters and their relationship to the others as I put it down for a few days, and when I picked it up again, I had forgotten who was who. Yes, I am 70 y/o, but can usually remember stuff!
I'm not quite sure what the meaning of the books were (and that was a big issue) being thrown in the water, scattered on the winding road, the type of bindings, etc. I must have missed something along the way. All in all, it was an interesting mystery with a surprise conclusion, but it could have been shorter - and I should have read it concurrently and not wait a week in between readings!

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure why I started with this book in the series (#20), as the first one is actually called "The Cape Cod Mystery." The author was noted in an anthology as one of the first in the "Golden Age of Mysteries" to set her books in rural/small town areas. "Going, Going, Gone" refers to an auctioneer's final words and this is, yes, set in Cape Cod, around 1943 and a body that shows up in an auctioned-off sea chest. Asey Mayo is the go-to person in the area for solving things, and he and the rest of the characters are all chatty about suspects and why, where, when, and how. I couldn't make it through the 217 pages, so the rating is based on the opening two chapters and the closing two. I may come back to this series but have a line of other library books waiting . . .

[Evie Banker · Rating 3 out of 5]

it kept me decently entertained but i feel it would have been more entertaining when i was younger, in middle school maybe. the ending felt rushed as well, contrasted with how drawn out the rest of the mystery was. i wouldn’t say i saw it coming, but if i had paid more attention i probably would gave guessed the ending.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting close to finishing off the series, fun reading.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crazy, chaotic story where Asey doesn't go to an auction but still gets pulled in.
John Arden has died, leaving behind a grand collection of antiques and rumors of a great fortune. Everyone who is anyone turns up to bid on items and to see what others bid on. Except Asey, who had his fill of auctions while trying to track down his grandfather's items. Of course, being Asey Mayo, he still encounters strangeness, just sitting by the pond. A suited man stoops to wash his hands and handkerchief, a girl with pompadoured light-browned hair throws books into the water, and all this before a body turns up in a chest.
It's up to Asey to solve the crime, even after getting "biffed" twice on the head.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asey Mayo, home for a brief break from his job making tanks, is persuaded to take his cousin Jenny to a local auction. Asey doesn't care for auctions, even though everyone is agog at the thought of buying something that holds John Alden's hidden cash, so he goes fishing and sees an attractive young woman throwing books into the pond. This is only the first of the strange events of the next day or so--there's also the dead body in a highly-priced sea chest.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asey has a typical mystery on his hands, featuring much of the usual cast (including his cousin Jenny and good friend the doctor). This one centers around an auction, a murder (of course!), missing money, and a young lady dumping books in a pond. Fast-paced, fun, and full of likeable characters.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great mystery with so many twists and turns, figuratively and literally (on the winding roads), that I had no idea who did it until the big reveal! I really enjoyed this old fashioned murder mystery and intend to look for more by Ms. Taylor.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asey's dislike of auctions does not prevent him from solving the problem of who killed the antique dealer while he is home on leave from the military tank construction job.

[Denise M.]

AKA: Alice Tilton, Freeman Dana

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, written (and set) during WW2 on Cape Cod...