Phyllis Ayame Whitney (September 9, 1903 – February 8, 2008Leimbach, Dulci

''The New York Times''. 9 February 2008.) was an American mystery writer of more than 70 novels. Born in Japan to American parents in 1903, she spent her early years in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. A rarity for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic settings. Although she was often described as a

Gothic novelist Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ...

, a review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' even dubbing her "The Queen of the American Gothics", Whitney claimed to hate this title. She preferred to say she wrote ” romantic novels of suspense". In 1961, her book ''The Mystery of the Haunted Pool'' won an Edgar Award from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award, ...

for Best Juvenile Novel; she duplicated the honor in 1964 for ''The Mystery of the Hidden Hand''. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. In 1990, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Romance Writers of America Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an American non-profit writers' association founded in 1980. Its mission is to "advance the professional and common business interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy and by incr ...

. Whitney died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at age 104 on February 8, 2008.

Published works

* ''A Place for Ann'' (1941) * ''A Star for Ginny'' (1942) * ''A Window for Julie'' (1943) * ''Red is for Murder'' (1943), Reissued as ''The Red Carnelian'' (1965) * ''The Silver Inkwell'' (1945) * ''Writing Juvenile Fiction'' (1947) * ''Willow Hill'' (1947) * ''Ever After'' (1948) * ''The Mystery of the Gulls'' (1949) * ''Linda's Homecoming'' (1950) * ''The Island of Dark Woods'' (1951), Reissued as ''Mystery of the Strange Traveler'' (1967) * ''Love Me, Love Me Not'' (1952) * ''Step to the Music'' (1953) * ''Mystery of the Black Diamonds'' (1954) * ''A Long Time Coming'' (1954) * ''Mystery on the Isle of Skye'' (1955) * ''The Quicksilver Pool'' (1955) * ''The Fire and the Gold'' (1956) * ''The Highest Dream'' (1956) * ''The Trembling Hills'' (1956) * ''Mystery of the Green Cat'' (1957) * ''Skye Cameron'' (1957) * ''Secret of the Samurai Sword'' (1958) * ''The Moonflower'' (1958) * ''Creole Holiday'' (1959) * ''Mystery of the Haunted Pool'' (1960) * ''Thunder Heights'' (1960) * ''Secret of the Tiger's Eye'' (1961) * ''Blue Fire'' (1961) * ''Mystery of the Golden Horn'' (1962) * ''Window on the Square'' (1962) * ''Mystery of the Hidden Hand'' (1963) * ''Seven Tears for Apollo'' (1963) * ''Secret of the Emerald Star'' (1964) * ''Black Amber'' (1964) * ''Mystery of the Angry Idol'' (1965) * ''Sea Jade'' (1965) * ''Columbella'' (1966) * ''Secret of the Spotted Shell'' (1967) * ''Silverhill'' (1967) * ''Hunter's Green'' (1968) * ''Secret of Goblin Glen'' (1969) * ''The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost'' (1969) * ''The Winter People'' (1969) * ''Secret of the Missing Footprint'' (1969) * ''Lost Island'' (1970) * ''The Vanishing Scarecrow'' (1971) * ''Nobody Likes Trina'' (1972) * ''Listen for the Whisperer'' (1972) * ''Mystery of the Scowling Boy'' (1973) * ''Snowfire'' (1973) * ''The Turquoise Mask'' (1974) * ''Secret of Haunted Mesa'' (1975) * ''Spindrift'' (1975) * ''The Golden Unicorn'' (1976) * ''Writing Juvenile Stories and Novels'' (1976) * ''Secret of the Stone Face'' (1977) * ''The Stone Bull'' (1977) * ''The Glass Flame'' (1978) * ''Domino'' (1979) * ''Poinciana'' (1980) * ''Vermilion'' (1981) * ''Guide to Fiction Writing'' (1982) * ''Emerald'' (1983) * ''Rainsong'' (1984) * ''Dream of Orchids'' (1985) * ''Flaming Tree'' (1986) * ''Silversword'' (1987) * ''Feather on the Moon'' (1988) * ''Rainbow in the Mist'' (1989) * ''The Singing Stones'' (1990) * ''Woman Without a Past'' (1991) * ''The Ebony Swan'' (1992) * ''Star Flight'' (1993) * ''Daughter of the Stars'' (1994) * ''Amethyst Dreams'' (1997)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitney, Phyllis A. 1903 births 2008 deaths Agatha Award winners American centenarians American mystery writers Edgar Award winners American expatriates in Japan People from Staten Island People from Yokohama American women novelists Women mystery writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Novelists from New York (state) Women centenarians Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia 21st-century American women Writers of Gothic fiction