Phoebe Atwood Taylor

1909–1976

1 series 9 books in order 1938–1985

Phoebe Atwood Taylor, born in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first member of her family to be born off Cape Cod in more than 300 years. After graduating from Barnard College in Manhattan, she moved to Weston, Massachusetts, where she wrote her first book, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), published when she was 22. She wrote the book while caring for her invalid aunt, Alice Tilton, who inspired one of her two publishing pseudonyms; the other was Freeman Dana. Taylor was among the first mystery writers to focus on regional and rural settings during the "golden age" of mystery writing (1918–1939). Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, was a fan of Taylor’s Asey Mayo series and encouraged her to include detailed descriptions of Cape Cod. Taylor wrote 33 books in total and died in 1976 at the age of 67.

Born

1909

Active years

1938–1985

Known for

mystery fiction

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