File for record: A Leonidas Witherall mystery

Leonidas Witherall Mystery #6

by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

It's a rainy day in Dalton (a New England town near Boston) and Leonidas Witherall, "the man who looks like Shakespeare", is off to Haymaker's Department Store to retrieve his umbrella at the Lost and Found. When he enters the Lost and Found department, he's knocked unconscious and awakens in a horse-drawn bakery cart filled with French bread. While answering a call for his services as an air raid warden, he decides to call on Mr. Haymaker himself to complain, only to find Haymaker stabbed with a samurai sword. He enlists the assistance of Constance "Pink" Lately, a housewife clutching a Lady Baltimore cake, Jinx the red-headed Haymaker's elevator girl, and many of the participants in a "Victory Swap Meet" to track down an embezzler, a code thief and a murderer.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Crime

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1943

About the author

Taylor is an American mystery author. She is best known for her Asey Mayo series, based in Cape Cod. She additionally wrote and published under the pen names Alice Tilton and Freeman Dana.

Phoebe Atwood Taylor, born in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was the first member of her family to have been born off Cape Cod in more than 300 years. Upon graduating from Manhattan's Barnard College, she moved to Weston, Massachusetts, to pen her first work, The Cape Cod Mystery (1931), which was published when she was 22. The book was written while Taylor was caring for her invalid aunt, Alice Tilton (the source of one of her two publishing pseudonyms, the other being Freeman Dana). Taylor was one of the first mystery writers to give a regional and rural rather than urban focus during the time known as the "golden age" of mystery writing (1918 - 1939). Gone with the Wind's author, Margaret Mitchell, was a great fan of the Asey Mayo series, and encouraged Taylor to pack the books with Cape Cod detail. In all, she authored 33 books. She died in 1976 at age 67.
- Bio by The Countryman Press

https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL685...

Reviews

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leonidas Witherall returns to Haymakers Department store to retrieve his umbrella, only to find himself in a wagon loaded with loaves of French bread, and a lump on the side of his head. And he is still missing his umbrella!

Then there is the matter of coming home, later after having done his neighbourhood warden duty (this takes place during WWII) to find Haymaker dead on his study floor.

Called on, as frequently happens, to investigate this murder, Witherall finds himself being considered Number One Suspect. How is he going to manage investigating, finding out what the police have learned and staying out of the arms of the law?

A missing umbrella, stolen codes, espionage, embezzlement are just part of this quick moving case that takes place in an unusually quiet town.

Did I mention an unusual cast of characters? A Samurai sword, the murdered victim’s “almost first” wife he hadn’t seen in years, a girl named Jinx, a guy named Turk, some military types, a Lady Baltimore cake and more.

Sneaking in and out and trying not to be caught by the local police, this odd group of characters manage to investigate a crazy, twisted case.

Written in 1943, it is another fun read by Phoebe Atwood Taylor.

[Ron Stetson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hero looks like Shakespeare. Hit on head, wakes in a bread basket. Walks home, starts a letter.
The afraid sirens sounds and he reports to duty post and on returning home finds the victim in his home. The chase for answers begins. If I said more ...
Another good read by Taylor. Aka Tipton.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comedy of misadventures and slapstick mixed up in a mystery. There are some very funny scenes but it also stretches the bonds of believability and breaks them sometimes. It is enjoyable and kept me guessing until the end.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing re-read of the Witherall series.
Reading them again, love the humor.

[Chris Leuchtenburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Light and charming to the edge of twee. The characters repeatedly comment, "If this were a story in a book,..." Nice setting during WWII rationing. No sense of the location being outside of Boston.

[Denise M.]

AKA: Freeman Dana, Phoebe Atwood Taylor

[Georgette · Rating 5 out of 5]

PAT wrote too few mysteries -- all in the 1930s and 40s and all screwball comedy-mysteries that give us a glimpse into a pivotal time in American history. This may be her best.

[Margaret]

This was so enjoyable. It was a murder-on-the-move tale since the characters seemed to not stay in one place more than ten minutes. And how could you not like an amateur detective that looks like Shakespeare and that everyone calls Bill? M'yes (as he would say, much better than the name Leonidas). Liked the 1940's war era time and setting. To me, the most unusual plot device in this story was the lack of involvement of the police and in fact, the avoidance of involving the police by all. I rather liked this aspect as it lent a purity of intention and focus on just solving the mystery.

I would read more stories written by Phoebe Atwood Taylor/Alice Tilton/Freeman Dana.