Dead Ernest

Leonidas Witherall Mystery #7

by Alice Tilton (Pseudonym), Phoebe Atwood Taylor

One of its more colorful residents, Leonidas Witherall inhabits the fictional Boston suburb of Dalton and is the proprietor of a prestigious boys' school. Leonidas' bewilderment at the unsolicited delivery of a freezer turns to shock when he discover a body Meredith Academy's ultra dapper French instructor Ernest Finger, a.k.a. lounge lizard Carlos Santos.

Genres: Mystery, Golden Age Mystery

218 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1944

About the author

A pseudonym used by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Denise M.]

AKA: Freeman Dana, Phoebe Atwood Taylor

[Starry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun reading, if you're in the right (ie, light) frame of mind. Dead Ernest is anything but earnest -- it's a comic tour de force (tour de farce??) to those who, like me, relish classic, pre-WW2 British murder mystery novels. Then again, this novel is neither pre-WW2 (published in 1944; takes place during WW2) nor British (set in the Boston area). But that's okay because everything about it plays with the form, fitting yet stretching it.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A "screwball mystery" from a formerly popular author who also wrote under the name Phoebe Atwood Taylor. The story opens with a deep freeze containing a body being delivered to the main character-a mystery writer. The body (staying in the freezer) keeps getting moved about and the madcap plot all takes place in less than 24 hours. The best thing about this book is the title.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun. These mysteries don't function quite as well as puzzles - they're okay, but not the best - but are excellent farces. There is a mystery, but lots of comings and goings and humor.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread again in 2023, still one of my favorite mystery series, sad I have only one left to reread.

[Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confusing mystery not worth my time. Phoebe Atwood Taylor the author has a much better mystery series under her own name far better than this book.