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Rating: 
Summary: all's well that ends well. . .
Review: If you loved the 'screwball comedies' of the Golden Age of movies, and/or the cliff-hanger endings of the weekly serials from about that same era, you should truly appreciate the Leonidas Witherall books by Phoebe Atwood Taylor, written under the pen name of Alice Tilton. This particular story whizzes by so rapidly, you'll find yourself struggling to catch your breath from the hustle-bustle, while laughing uproariously at the same time. The truly amazing part of it (at least to me) is that there are 218 pages in this book, and all the action takes place in less than 24 hours! Amazing! Leonidas is a William Shakespeare look-alike, and indeed, is frequently known as 'Bill Shakespeare'. His business persona is that of proprietor/headmaster at Meredith Academy, a prestigious boys school in Dalton, Mass., a suburb of Boston. The time is in the early 40s while the war is still being waged in both the east and the west. When Leonidas is not engaged in school activities, he is the author of the famous Lieutenant Haseltine adventure novels, written as Murgatroyd Jones. What with his own adventures, plus researching those of the good lieutenant, it's probably safe to say that, apparently, he knows every policeman in the state of Massachusetts, and a good many other states, as well. When a huge deep-freeze is delivered to his home, Leonidas is determined that it is in error, and thus sets in motion the Harold Lloyd/Buster Keaton/Keystone Kops type non-stop action. As the freeze makes its way from house to house to school, he is visited by a lovely young blonde with violet eyes, the very personification of every man's birthday wish. Of course, it isn't his birthday, but the beautiful young lady in the gorgeous white gown and a corsage of violet-colored orchids is nonetheless positive she's at the right house. In the meantime, the next door neighbors are moving, and the new family seems rather intrusive. And then there's Ernest Finger, or is he really Carlos Santos, and why does it appear that he's on everyone's 'most hated' list? Leonidas and Terry (the blonde whose real name is Terpsichore!), his housekeeper Mrs. Mullet, and a cast of assorted folks as quirky and interesting as anyone could wish for, combine to make this one sensible, if breath-taking reading experience. I could barely stand to put it down, even though other duties beckoned. What fun! M'yes, indeed. If you've not previously made the acquaintance of Leonidas, I urge you to do so. The sooner the better!
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