Phyllis A. Whitney

Stranded by a storm, a woman must rely on a seductive stranger whom she begins to suspect is a murderer With a megahit on Broadway, a gorgeous wife, and a legion of adoring fans, Justin Magnasun has the world at his feet—but it all comes crashing down one snowy night that ends in a brutal murder. Now the world-famous playwright lives a solitary life in the New England countryside, far from the relentless glare of the spotlight. Until Boston reporter Kristin Kennedy shows up. Braving the worst blizzard to hit Massachusetts in decades, Kristin finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere with no hope of rescue. Then she wakes up buck naked in a stranger’s bed. She couldn’t have predicted the desire that would spark between them, plunging her into an affair with a man shadowed by secrets. Is Justin a cold-blooded killer? As Kristin tries to piece together what happened five years ago, she finds that she’s playing with fire, at the mercy of a murderer preparing to bring down the curtain on her final act.

While searching for a gold mother lode, the Morgans and their two friends come upon a pool covered with iridescent oil. Could it be "black diamonds", as oil is known by those who seek it? Sequel to "Frozen Fire".

Life at the children's amusement park becomes a nightmare for twelve-year-old Joan when she tries to discover who is sabotaging the park's operation.

From the jacket It begins one momentous October day when an unexpected letter arrives, inviting Lynn McLeod to the Virginia Blue Ridge home of Stephen Asche, her former husband. Stephen's daughter-by another woman-is troubled and needs her help. Lynn is a clinical psychologist whose work with terminally ill children has brought her a compassion and understanding that may help this little girl. Despite her misgivings, Lynn accepts the invitation. As she is drawn subtly into the lives of everyone in the secluded household, old passions are revived and new mysteries encountered-disturbing mysteries about a local murder. Deadly secrets haunt Stephen and his daughter. The "Singing Stones" sound from the cliffs above the house, calling to Lynn--soft, hypnotic, and menacing. Somehow Lynn must find the answer if she is to save both Stephen and the child.

A thirteen-year-old girl goes for the first time to stay in the town where her great uncle had robbed a bank and finds that there is still high feeling about the incident, animosity towards her, and a great interest in finding the stolen money.

A young white girl and her high school friends deal with the integration of a housing project in their neighborhood.

Emerald St. John is in trouble. She has been condemned to marry a man she hates, her enemies are conspiring to have her pet bear Molly torn apart in the baiting pits, and the man she loves is far away on the high seas. And she has stumbled into a web of spies with a plot to poison Queen Elizabeth I. To save herself and the kingdom, Emerald must beat the spies at their own game - which means transforming herself from a country girl into a lady of the court. Can she do it in time? -- publisher's website.

Camilla King knows little of her family history, having never met her estranged relatives. Her late father wanted it that way. But when she receives a startling invitation from her immeasurably wealthy and ailing grandfather, Orrin Judd, to return to Thunder Heights, the crumbling mansion on the Hudson where her mother died under mysterious circumstances, Camilla complies, partly out of curiosity for the family she never had, and partly because of whispers of an inheritance. What she finds there is a demanding and unwelcoming tyrant, two wraithlike aunts haunted by an unnamable grief, a cunning idler living off the Judd fortune, and her grandfather’s rigid and suspicious aide. When a series of accidents befall Camilla, she has reason to fear her homecoming may be a carefully designed trap—the same one her own mother fell prey to many years ago.

From the jacket Never had a man been so wrong for a woman...and never had a woman wanted a man so... In the sultry heat of a New Orleans summer, Skye Cameron sees Justin Law for the first time and knows immediately that she will either love him or hate him--no woman could ever be indifferent to such a man. Warned against this tall, intense man who has been in jail for murder, Skye nevertheless is drawn to him in a way she cannot explain. Persuaded by her family to marry Justin's respectable brother Courtney, Skye tries desperately to put thoughts of Justin out of her head and ignore the feelings she has for him. But even if she could, it would not be enough. For Justin Law is a man willing to fight for what he wants...and what he wants is Skye.

From the jacket Beneath the New Mexico sun, an intense drama is unfolding. Amanda Austin has come to Santa Fe to learn the truth about her mother-who died mysteriously when Amanda was only five. She has come to face her mother's family, the Cordovas-and a part of her heritage kept secret from her since childhood. It isn't going to be a pleasant truth to face. She knows this from the moment she enters her grandfather's house-a dark Spanish hacienda that seems to guard its ancient secrets like a tomb. It is going to involve facing in herself the fiery Spanish blood of the Cordovas-that more than once over the years has erupted in jealous rage, cruelty, and possibly murder....

When Lisa Somers becomes a tour guide at the United Nations, she is following her desire to escape from the shadow of her father's fame as a radio commentator and find herself as an individual.

From the jacket How does it feel to be in a big department store after customers have hurried home and the lights have been darkened so that eeriness reigns over the vast reaches of the floors? To Linell Wynn, who writes sign copy for Cunninghams', such a scene has always seemed perfectly natural until the day that murder walks the floors at dusk. The matter-of-factness of the police as they question people whom she knows, works with every day, does nothing to dispel the feeling that they are only temporarily holding back the powers of darkness. Evil has struck once--and evil is hovering, waiting to strike again. Steeling herself, giving herself courage against it, she is still unprepared when she stumbles upon death for the second time. Things which have familiar everyday significance suddenly assume a strange unnaturalness and terror surrounds her. Before that terror can be vanquished, Linell, herself, stands face to face with death.

"The nightmare was one from which I could not waken. I was caught upon a chessboard, a helpless pawn in a game of life and death, and the green rook was hunting me. That tall rook of green-black yew who had it in his power to destroy the king and end the game..." When Eve North returns to Athmore after three years' separation from her husband Justin, she finds the great estate-and Justin himself-vastly changed. Eve too has changed. She knows now the mistakes she made in her marriage in the past, and she now dares to win back the love of her own husband. Like another Eve, she wanders into the gardens of Athmore, unsuspecting. Yet she has reason to fear. Justin's brother Marc had once before placed her in a compromising position in that place of secrets-the green velvet room. Justin had believed Marc and never forgiven her. Now Marc waits for her at Athmore. Then, too, she has been warned that Justin has made up his mind at last to divorce her in order to marry Alicia Daven-the cool, serene Alicia whose quiet assurance comes from generations at Grovesend, and who has always taunted the American Eve with her tempting of Justin. Old Daniel-just before he is sent to his death-tries to warn Eve. It is he who carved from the green-black yew a topiary garden, one of the marvels of Athmore. The dark trees are clipped into the shape of chessmen, at a game forever in play. The black rook stands poised in readiness, like a hunter ready for the kill, challenging the white king. Daniel cries to Eve, "It's the black rook's play!"-but he dies before Eve can learn his fateful meaning. Eve finds herself entrapped on a chessboard of evil, unsure of her next move, yet aware that the black rook will move again-this time to destroy her. From the jacket.

Winging over the ocean on her way from America to Scotland and the Misty Isle of Skye, Cathy MacLeod finds the events of the past few weeks hard to believe. An orphan, Cathy has been brought up by a beloved grandmother. But now her grand-mother is ill and Cathy has to get used to the idea of making her home with another relative probably her Aunt Bertha, a well-intentioned but rather formidable woman - and Cathy tries hard not to feel sorry for herself. In the meantime other relatives, the Corbins, have made plans to visit the Isle of Skye, where the MacLeods came from, and of which Cathy has heard tales all her life. The Corbins represent two old Scottish families, for Cathy's uncle is of the MacLeods, and her aunt is a MacDonald. On the flight Cathy carries a special box from her grandmother, full of fascinating "surprises" to open in the course of the trip. The two young Corbins, Don (Cathy's own age), and Punch, a warmhearted, lively little boy, are drawn into a search for the answers to a series of mysteries connected with these surprises. And the visit to the Isle of Skye becomes doubly thrilling as new puzzles are added to the bewildering problems they have set out to solve. New friends and strange surroundings wait for Cathy on the Isle of Skye, but the greatest surprise comes when she least expects it. The colorful, authentic background for this story adds immeasurably to its flavor and excitement - ancient Dunvegan Castle, the old traditions, the pipers, the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the woman who hid him from his enemies, the age-old feud of the MacLeods and the MacDonalds. Here is a story to warm the cockles of your heart and give you a glimpse into old Scotland and the mysterious Misty Isle. Every page brings exciting adventure and intriguing suspense.

Seven years after her child had been taken from her, Jennifer Blake received an invitation from wealthy Corinthea Arles, who clamed to have found her daughter. From the moment Jennifer arrived at Mrs. Arles's luxurious estate on Vancouver Island, she was caught up in events beyond her control and surrounded by people who were not what they seemed. Amid a maze of family intrigues, buried secets, and unexpected romance, Jennifer Blake was determined to uncover the truth about her lost daughter--despite the very real danger that lay in wait....

A warm and winning story that turns into a mystery, made to order for the preteens. Susan Price has been sent ahead of her family to an aunt who has an antique shop in Highlands Landing, way up to the Hudson. Susan and her aunt tuck themselves into Aunt Edith's crowded quarters while a search for a house for the family is on. And in the process the 12-year old girl stumbles on to a mystery.... In today's setting, history, melodrama and a wholesome sense of normal life combine to make this an above average mystery for this age group. Pub Date: Sept. 19th, 1960 - Kirkus Reviews