The Six Iron Spiders (An Asey Mayo Cape Cod Mystery) Book

The reason I enjoy these is for both the mysteries and for the period technology. First I learned Beach wagons were the precursors to station wagons and now I learn about iron spiders for cooking. These are cast iron skillets with broad flat bottoms and deep slanted sides for ~5 quart capacity. They are footed to stand on three legs in coals. The lid also was ridged to hold coals so the spider was a dutch oven. There should be two briquettes for every inch of pan diameter and there should be two more briquettes on top than there is on the bottom. There will be some pretty big variation in cooking temperature but it's a starting point.

Since these stories are written in the time they talk about they read with so much more assumed common knowledge. This one is the first set in WWII so the culture is changing. Asey returns to find people not acting as they were accustomed. The rationing has limited their movement as well as choices. Tires and petrol being unavailable people are using bicycles and horses for transportation. Civic involvement has people learning first aide, emergency responses are practiced, and enemy craft ID are learned. This is told as the culture is currently changing so reads and feels very immediate compared to reading a history written by a later generation.