.

.

Friday, January 22, 2016

kay's favorites from the keeper shelf...Phyllis A. Whitney


Welcome to the 1st 'kay's favorites'!  I'm so glad to be talking about an author that I first discovered when I was about 10 years old.  Her name is Phyllis Ayame Whitney, otherwise known as Phyllis A. Whitney - multiple Edgar award winner, lifetime achievement Grand Master Award in 1988 by the Mystery Writers of America and also a lifetime acheivement award by Malice Domestic, who present the Agathas.  These are very big deals in the mystery community.

Photograph © Malice Domestic

Phyllis Whitney, who was born in Yokahoma, Japan, in 1903, spent the first 15 years of her life in Japan, China, and the Philippines.  Her first visit to the US was when she and her mother traveled home to America by ship after her father's death.  She lived with her mother in California and Texas until her mother died and then lived with her aunt in Chicago.  Interestingly enough, all the places mentioned served as a setting for at least one of her books.  Her jobs included journalist, college writing teacher, and book editor.  She also worked in libraries and bookstores.  And she wrote and wrote.

Ms. Whitney had many short stories published and finally, in 1941, her first book for young people.  An adult suspense novel, Red Is For Murder (later renamed The Red Carnelian) was published in 1943.  Over time, this prolific author wrote over 75 books, which included adult mysteries, juvenile mysteries, books on writing, and juvenile novels.  She served as the President of The Mystery Writers of America in 1975.  Her last book was published in 1997 (when she was 94!) and she died in 2008 at the age of 104!!  She was survived by a daughter, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.  Amazing!

I currently own 17 of her adult mysteries and 11 of her juvenile mysteries.  They are mostly hardback copies, but a few of the juvenile books are paperbacks.  I'm going to talk a little about 4 of them - 2 adult and 2 juvenile.  For a complete list of her books go here.  I'll start with kid books.

At the age of 10, bored at my grandmother's house, I ran across a copy of the Mystery Of The Haunted Pool - owned by an older cousin.  I begged to read it and was completely caught up in the story of Susan, visiting her aunt in upstate New York.  While wandering near her aunt's house, she comes across a woodland pool and then she sees a face staring up at her from the bottom!  It disappears, but where did it go?  There's an old sea captain, a treasure, and naturally a mystery.  It scared and delighted me (I was that kind of kid) and from then on I was on a mission to find more books by this author.

Another juvenile mystery that I enjoyed completely was the Secret Of The Samurai Sword.  In it, Celia and her brother, Stephen, travel to Kyoto, Japan to visit their grandmother for the summer.  There is a lovely garden that apparently holds the ghost of an ancient Samurai warrior.  Lots of Japanese culture and I think this was one of the books that got me interested in reading mysteries set in other countries and far-flung places.  I still love that.

As I moved on to Phyllis Whitney's adult mysteries, I found that she included a bit of romance, along with the thrills and chills.  One of my favorites is her first adult book, Red Is For Murder or the title on my copy, The Red Carnelian.  By the way, a carnelian is a red gemstone.  This one is set in Chicago where Linell works for a large department store as a sign copy writer.  How do you feel about a large store after closing hours - when the lights are out and employees scurry around changing things in the big show windows?  Spooky, especially when a body is found in one of the windows and Linell knows who it is.  This book had the first reference I ever saw to Cole Porter's tune, Begin The Beguine, and that song playing over and over on a record player is part of the creepy, shadowy story.  I found the info about dressing the windows fascinating.

The last book I'll mention is Hunter's Green, published in 1968.  Eve returns to the great estate of Athmore to try to mend her marriage to Justin after 3 years.  However, someone is conspiring against her - her husband's brother, his ex-fiance, a mystery man?  The gardens contain a topiary garden carved out of black yew - a chess set (who could resist that?) in the midst of play - the rook ready to capture the king.  Old Daniel tells her, 'It's the black rook's play!'.  This book has sort of a Rebecca type feel to it.  Spooky, dark, things that go bump in the night.  Can't you just see the chess pieces ready to move?  Ha!

--------------------------------------------------

I hope you've enjoyed this little show and tell session.  Join me again in two weeks for the next 'kay's favorites from the keeper shelf...' when I'll be talking about Rosamunde Pilcher.

33 comments:

  1. Phyllis Whitney was a favorite of mine when I was in my teens, along with Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy Eden, and Victoria Holt. I never read any of her young adult books, just leapt into her adult ones. But I loved her Gothic romances.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They were so satisfying, weren't they? I was lucky to get started on her works early and then moved right on into her more adult books. And I loved Dorothy Eden and Victoria Holt too. Holt will probably show up in one of these 'look back' posts.

      Delete
  2. I know I used to read her books when I was a teenager and young adult. Looking through her book list a few names ring a bell: Poinciana, The Turquoise Mask, The Winter People, The Singing Stones. I don't remember the story and there may be others I read. In reading what they are about, I want to read them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I loved The Winter People. I almost mentioned that one instead of Hunter's Green. Yes, they do sound good don't they, Gayle? Not any are in e-book form though. Wonder if that will change at some point.

      Delete
  3. I read lots of her books as a young girl too! Wow it's been years. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I think I have one on the shelf now. I'll have to drag it out and re-read. I'm sure after all these years with my memory, it will be brand new to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean, Peggy Ann. As I was paging through a few of these in order to write this post I wanted to begin reading right then. And it's my pleasure to bring back memories. Who knows - someone might even decide to try one of her books for the first time.

      Delete
  4. I've never come across Phyllis Whitney at all, and a quick look at Amazon suggests very few of her books are in print. But there's lots of second-hand ones available - they do sound like fun...

    Enjoyed this post, Kay - looking forward to hearing about more of your favourites!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, this author is an 'oldie'. You'd likely find them at used bookstores and maybe some in libraries. I just hate to think that she might be forgotten.

      Delete
  5. Wow! What memories you have awakened. I recently was telling my children about "this author" that I read a lot of back in the 80's, but couldn't think of a single plot line. I didn't start keeping good reading records until the late 80's, but I did a search through those and found a few titles: The Ebony Swan, Woman Without a Past (described on Amazon as psychological suspense), The Singing Stones, Rainbow in the Mist, and Feather on the Moon. If I didn't have a ton of books sitting on my TBR shelf, I might be tempted to see if I could hunt some of these up! Actually, I still might... :) Such a fun post. Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Susan! I'm so pleased to have reminded you of Phyllis Whitney. I certainly enjoyed a lot of her books in years past.

      Delete
  6. What wonderful memories! Phyllis A. Whitney is a name I haven't thought of in a long while. She'll always hold a special place in this reader's heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wendy, I think a lot of us don't want to forget Phyllis Whitney. :-)

      Delete
  7. What an amazing woman! I have a small collection of her adult suspense novels. So many more of her books I want to read!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She wrote a bunch of books, didn't she? Hope you enjoy reading those that you own, Diana.

      Delete
  8. Her books all sound very intriguing! I know I want to read them at some point. Thanks for sharing, Kay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've definitely enjoyed them, Melody. Though it has been a while since I read any of them.

      Delete
  9. I've never read any of her books. I'll check the library and the secondhand bookshops for copies - they sound good.

    I'm looking forward to reading about more of your favourites!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Margaret! I'm glad that you might be interested in this author.

      Delete
  10. I really enjoyed this post Kay although this is one author that passed me by - it sounds like they were fun reads as well as having a very special place in your heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, a special place indeed. I think I've said that there are several authors that I just don't want to be forgotten.

      Delete
  11. Well, you've been a mystery reader nearly all of your life, haven't you?! You definitely struck gold with that first book you borrowed when you were ten.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did, didn't I? Yes, I was a crime/thriller/spooky reader from way back.

      Delete
  12. Thanks for the background, I had no idea. I've read a few and just last year picked up a set of 4 at the library sale. This only makes me more excited to read them. I do remember reading a few of the adult mysteries when I was way younger and loving them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And thank you, Stacy! I was amazed at this author's longevity. 104 is a long, long life!

      Delete
  13. I've never read any of her adult books but I remember reading her juvenile mysteries as a kid in the '70s. Brings back memories of reading them in the back seat of the car on trips. I can't really remember any of the stories but one title stands out "Haunted Mesa" because I had no idea what a "mesa" was but the picture on the front was so exotic looking! Ha, I just googled it! "Secret of Haunted Mesa" it's called. Yeah, I read a lot of her kids' mysteries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I quickly went to look and see if the Haunted Mesa book is one of the juveniles that I own. Sadly, it's not. Ah well. How cool that you remembered that much. I'll have to watch for it around. :-)

      Delete
  14. What a fun bookish memory. I've never read anything by her but I love some of these covers. I also had no idea she wrote juvenile mysteries. Now I wonder if maybe I read some in my middle school years and just don't remember!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may have, Iliana. Aren't those covers great? I wanted to be sure and show some of them.

      Delete
  15. I read this author many years ago. I don't even remember which books I read. This is a great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Yvonne! I appreciate your kind words. I had fun researching the info.

      Delete
  16. I love this post!! And I know that I've read something of hers years ago---but I can't remember what it was. I'm going to have to do some research and get back to you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. AHA! I found it.... it was "The Glass Flame". I read it in 1980--right before my son was born. WOW I'm old. hahaa.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read THE GLASS FLAME or I'm pretty sure I did. 1980 - you're not old - just vintage. LOL

      Delete

Thanks for stopping by! I am so happy to hear your thoughts and will respond as soon as I can. Happy Reading!