The House at Sandalwood

by Virginia Coffman

Romantic suspense in a cursed Hawaiian mansion.

Genres: Gothic, Gothic Romance, Fiction

381 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Virginia Edith Coffman aka Jeanne Duval, Diana Saunders, Victor Cross, Ann Stanfield, Virginia C. Du Vaul, Kay Cameron.

A native of San Francisco, Coffman contributed movie reviews to the Oakland Tribune from 1933-40. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938 and was a movie and television script writer for Columbia, RKO, and other Hollywood studios in her early writing career (1944-56). She had her first success with writing novels in 1959, when Crown Publishing decided to take a chance on Moura, and the novel was showcased by Library Journal. By the 1980s, Coffman was recognized as "the author largely responsible for setting off the Gothics craze of the 1960s, "earning her the reputation of "Queen of the Gothics."1

She quit her day job in Reno and became a full-time writer in 1965. While historical romance novels seldom find their way into the literary canon, Coffman, who was both prolific and dedicated, took her writing seriously. Her research for historical fiction was meticulous. She also drew upon personal experience as a world traveler when setting some of her novels in Hawaii, Paris, and other romantic locales. Several of her historical romances and gothic mystery novels were translated into other languages, and many have been published in large print and audio editions.

She was recognized by Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the West. She was a member of the Authors League of America and the Mystery Writers Guild of America. The Reno Gazette-Journal featured Virginia Coffman and her sister in a biographical story on April 4, 2002. In 2003, she donated a collection of her gothic mystery and historical romance novels to the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.

Reviews

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s fine. The Hawaiian setting is vivid and the locals play more of a role than you would normally find in a gothic romance. The main character has an interesting back story and an unusual love interest. The problem is that the book builds to a obvious climax but swerves at the last moment, offering a solution to the mysteries that is believable but also less interesting than the one the red herrings had been hinting at. It ultimately defangs what had been a fairly fun ride.

[Beth]

I enjoyed this book.

BUT.

I was so disgusted by the ending, I threw the book across the room when I was done reading it.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

not one of her best. too slow.

[Sophie · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a strange book. I think the author was going for a gothic suspense plot where she masterfully misleads the reader into thinking one thing is happening when really it's something quite different. Unfortunately, she was far from masterful at it, so that by the time she pulled the switch at the end, the red herring was really the only plausible explanation. The big reveal, therefore, was more annoying than surprising and left me rolling my eyes at the nonsensical behavior of the characters. The plot issues might have been more forgivable if the characterization had been deeper or the setting more alluring, but neither of those things was good enough to rescue the novel. The story didn't even end all that well for the heroine. All in all, disappointing.