A review by emlilley
The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A charming cozy mystery shop with a picturesque setting on the beaches of Cape Cod. It was interesting to see normal folks without any particular kind of genius or expertise sort through the facts of a case how anyone might in the situation, this was a different approach than most mysteries, even other golden age type stories. Some aspects were a bit convoluted and the dialogue so old fashioned or colloquial that it was occasionally hard to tell what exactly was happening, and there wasn’t really any way to figure out who did it til quite near the end. The bit with getting the doctor arrested made very little sense. But overall it was fun and I hope to read more in the series.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racial slurs

This book was written in 1931, and there are a couple instances of outdated slang for Japanese people and one instance of the “n”word used in an outdated expression for something suspicious going on (related to a wood pile). It would have been easy enough to eliminate those in this re-release and I would have preferred it without them.