The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost
Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1969, 190 pp.
Scholastic, pb, 1969
“When horse mad Janey visits her aunt at Lake Kimi, she is happy to see a horse across
the lake, but the
mare’s owners are secretive, and do not want strangers around.”
Phyllis Ayame Whitney(1903-2008) was a prolific romantic novelist, who produced more
than 70 novels in her long career. She was born in Yokohama, Japan, where her father
represented an American shipping line. Her childhood was also spent in the Philippines
and China, until the death of her father, when the family moved to America. Although
she wanted to be a dancer, her first job was in a department store, selling children’s
books. She wrote mostly for adults, but continued her interest in children’s literature
throughout her career. She worked in the Children’s section of the Chicago Public
Library; her first books were written for children; she worked as a children’s book
editor on a newspaper, and taught the art of writing children’s literature.
Her one horse book is a mystery, but she continues to be best known for her romantic
mysteries, for which she has been compared to Mary Stewart. Time magazine described
her as “one of the best genre writers.”
Finding the books: easy to find in the USA. It was not published in the UK.
Sources and links:
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibilography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
Phyllis A Whitney’s website
Daily Telegraph obituary, 15 February, 2008
The Guardian obituary , 15 February, 2008
