Proof of the pudding

Asey Mayo returns home after the end of World War II to find that a hurricane has hit the area and people are trying to put things back to normal. Asey gets a bit of shock when he arrives at his home. His cousin Jennie has enlisted a large group of women to help her clean things up, and it is made very clear to Asey that he will just be in the way.

Asey decides to explore the town he has seen little of for the past four years, and is struck by the changes wrought by the hurricane. Trees are gone and the steeple from the Congregational Church and the clock tower from the town hall are both missing. Ironically, it looks like a war zone. Of course, there are probably looters as well, eager to cash in on this disaster.

Asey comes across a cod line, which he curiously follows into the Pogue inlet woods - to the body of a young woman. Asey thinks she looks familiar, but he cannot pin a name on her. It is only when he speaks to Jennie again that he learns the dead girl is Ann Tinsbury, the only child of his old foe, King Tinsbury. King had stolen some blueprints that had belonged to Asey's employer 30 years earlier. This theft made King's fortune, but almost ruined the Porter Company. Asey had confronted King on Main Street and beat him to a pulp. Asey had threatened not only King, but "his children, an' his sisters, an' his cousins, an' his aunts, an' all his dogs an' cats, too."

King Tinsbury passed away of natural causes a year earlier. Asey finds it hard to believe that anyone would believe that he of all people would kill a girl he didn't know simply because she happened to be the daughter of someone he hated, but hadn't seen in 30 years. However, that is exactly what the police think. Lt Hanson of the local police firmly believes that Asey is a killer and is determined to catch him. Asey finds himself having to clear his name and catch a killer.

This is a fast-moving mystery. I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, but Taylor's trademark humor, well-drawn characters, and an intriguing mystery. Taylor has a gift for creating likeable, memorable characters. Every time I read one of her mysteries, it seems like the killer is someone that I like, and this book is no exception. I have yet to figure out who did it before the end of the book. Of course, some of that is because I'm enjoying the experience too much to think about it.