An Old Favorite
Already an avid reader of children’s and young adult fiction, I first encountered Phyllis A. Whitney’s work in my early teens when I picked up a thick glossy library book my mother had just finished reading. We happened to be on a family camping trip at Juniper Springs in the Ocala National Forest and from the minute I opened the novel, I was so engrossed I went MIA from my family, ignoring all their pleas to swim, hike, or play cards. Instead, I spent my time stretched out on the bench seat in the back of our red VW van, and when the sun went down, on a camping chair by the firelight, completely absorbed in the story. At over 300 pages, it was the biggest novel I’d read to date, and when I finished I made a mental note that I would never forget the book that marked my transition from juvenile to grown up fiction, and I never did. Published in 1973, the book was called The Turquoise Mask.
The author, Phyllis A. Whitney (1903-2008), was a prolific American mystery novelist who wrote both juvenile and adult fiction with over 70 titles to her credit. Her books are full of exotic settings and contain aspects of both horror and romance leading some to classify her as a gothic novelist. Whitney preferred to say she wrote in the genre of “romantic novels of suspense.” Among various recognitions, in 1988 she received the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.
Fast forward forty-some years—I entered my local gym and noticed a stack of books upon the front counter. Tim, one of the owners, explained that his girlfriend had cleaned off her bookshelves and these were free for the taking. Naturally, I scanned the titles, when I came across a never-been-read boxed set of Whitney’s books containing The Turquoise Mask. The moment felt serendipitous as if I was destined to read this book again, and I quickly claimed the set for my own. The book sat on my shelf a few more years until recently when, looking for an “old favorite” to read for my annual reading challenge, I picked it up.
Too many years had passed and I remembered nothing of the plot: Amanda Austin’s mother died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when she was five years old under mysterious circumstances her father wouldn’t discuss. Living in New England years later when her father dies, Amanda receives a letter from her maternal grandfather requesting her to come. Amanda wants to get to know her mother’s side of the family who’ve been kept from her, but arriving in Santa Fe, she soon finds she is unwelcome, and not long after she learns why. Her mother was accused of murdering a man and then taking her own life. Amanda was present at the time of the incident, and as memories start to resurface, she doesn’t believe the explanation she’s been given and sets out clear her mother’s name. Like characters in a game of Clue, everyone is a suspect, and the protagonist trusts much too easily often ending up in precarious situations, but ultimately solves the mystery.
After so many years and books, here’s my assessment second time around: As genre fiction, the book is predictable and a bit formulaic, nevertheless, I can say I was once again absorbed throughout, constantly questioning the characters and their motives and trying to figure out whodunit almost as much as I had done as a young teenager. Ultimately, it was an entertaining book and so much fun to reread. After all, as I learned so many years ago, isn’t entertainment one of the top reasons we read?