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The Turquoise Mask
Something hidden deep in her memory was the key to Amanda Austin's past. She did not know it was also the key to her future. After her father died, she decided to learn the truth of her mother and family in New Mexico. But from the moment she arrived at her grandfather's home, she was met with suspicion. And hate. They were her family, but they were strangers. And one of them was a murderer....
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
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About the author
Phyllis A. Whitney
191 books566 followersPhyllis Ayame Whitney (1903 – 2008) was an American mystery writer. Rare for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic locations. A review in The New York Times once dubbed her "The Queen of the American Gothics".
She was born in Japan to American parents and spent her early years in Asia. Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and 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. Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.
She was born in Japan to American parents and spent her early years in Asia. Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and 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. Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
October 19, 2010
I chose this by title and author, looking for something that would fit in with a line item of a challenge in which I'm participating: "Something referring to a disguise or costume in the Title or Theme."
It seems strange to be reading a "contemporary" romance written in 1973. It makes me realize how much technology has changed the world in the past 37 years. Wow, has it been that long? I feel so old. No internet or cell phones. Long distance phone calls cost a lot. People in other states communicated by writing letters. How about this phrase on page 13: "Wire me your flight number and the time ..." from back when Western Union was faster than a letter.
In some ways, I'm reading a historical novel, or, more accurately, a snapshot of our culture back then.
The plot twists and turns, and I never did understand why the author chose the villain she did. This is the kind of story I don't really like, where the heroine falls in love with an unavailable man, she never really knows who can be trusted, and her life is often threatened.
Glad it's done.
It seems strange to be reading a "contemporary" romance written in 1973. It makes me realize how much technology has changed the world in the past 37 years. Wow, has it been that long? I feel so old. No internet or cell phones. Long distance phone calls cost a lot. People in other states communicated by writing letters. How about this phrase on page 13: "Wire me your flight number and the time ..." from back when Western Union was faster than a letter.
In some ways, I'm reading a historical novel, or, more accurately, a snapshot of our culture back then.
The plot twists and turns, and I never did understand why the author chose the villain she did. This is the kind of story I don't really like, where the heroine falls in love with an unavailable man, she never really knows who can be trusted, and her life is often threatened.
Glad it's done.
January 14, 2015
The story starts out at an easy pace of a young woman, Amanda Austin debating whether or not to accept an invitation to visit her deceased mothers family who are merely strangers to her. Being that her father had always shunned any talk of her mother, Amanda decided to accept the invitation and head to New Mexico.
Her long lost family is anything but hospitable to her and it’s strange to rationalize why they invited her in the first place. She meets Gavin Brand who just so happens to be her cousins husband and even though he is just as cold and unwelcoming as the rest of the family, there is still some type of unspoken attraction for the pair.
Finally after a day of unusual behavior from her cousins and aunt, Amanda is finally granted permission to visit her Grandfather, Juan Cordova and he is just as cold and detached as the rest of the Cordova clan. But it's obvious that he wishes to use Amanda for something, and at this point we just don't know what for.
The Amanda and Gavin awkwardness continues a while longer throughout the story. Most of the time he's guarded, but sometimes she can penetrate that wall if only for a second. It's been revealed that her cousin Eleanor wants a divorce from him but he won't grant it because he wants to inherit Juan Cordova’s very prominent store-and it's willed to go to Eleanor after Juan passes. Amanda is also growing closer to the answers she original sought; the mystery surrounding her mother’s death.
The suspect list continues to shift throughout the entire story and honestly, it could be any one of the cold blooded Cordova’s that murdered Amanda’s mother.
The family seems to be enamored with an old Spanish tale about a distant relative named Emanuella. The story goes that Emanuella had an affair and her cousin witnessed it. Protecting Emanuella and her family from the embarrassment of an affair, her cousin killed her lover.
The novel is completely centered around this story and so I must hold some sort of revelance to what happened to Amanda Austin’s mother. Later, we learn that Amanda’s mother did in fact carry on with an affair prior to meeting Amanda’s father and that this man still wanted a relationship with her after Amanda was born. This man died on the same day that Amanda’s mother died and the “official” story says that her mother killed him and then killed herself.
Of course Amanda doesn't buy that story and so she continues to dig for answers until she’s dug herself into a predicament and becomes the target of violent attacks.
The story is intriguing enough with a “who done it” sort of plot line. The ending was well written and the only complaint I have is how fast Gavin and Amanda fall in love. Not believable!
Her long lost family is anything but hospitable to her and it’s strange to rationalize why they invited her in the first place. She meets Gavin Brand who just so happens to be her cousins husband and even though he is just as cold and unwelcoming as the rest of the family, there is still some type of unspoken attraction for the pair.
Finally after a day of unusual behavior from her cousins and aunt, Amanda is finally granted permission to visit her Grandfather, Juan Cordova and he is just as cold and detached as the rest of the Cordova clan. But it's obvious that he wishes to use Amanda for something, and at this point we just don't know what for.
The Amanda and Gavin awkwardness continues a while longer throughout the story. Most of the time he's guarded, but sometimes she can penetrate that wall if only for a second. It's been revealed that her cousin Eleanor wants a divorce from him but he won't grant it because he wants to inherit Juan Cordova’s very prominent store-and it's willed to go to Eleanor after Juan passes. Amanda is also growing closer to the answers she original sought; the mystery surrounding her mother’s death.
The suspect list continues to shift throughout the entire story and honestly, it could be any one of the cold blooded Cordova’s that murdered Amanda’s mother.
The family seems to be enamored with an old Spanish tale about a distant relative named Emanuella. The story goes that Emanuella had an affair and her cousin witnessed it. Protecting Emanuella and her family from the embarrassment of an affair, her cousin killed her lover.
The novel is completely centered around this story and so I must hold some sort of revelance to what happened to Amanda Austin’s mother. Later, we learn that Amanda’s mother did in fact carry on with an affair prior to meeting Amanda’s father and that this man still wanted a relationship with her after Amanda was born. This man died on the same day that Amanda’s mother died and the “official” story says that her mother killed him and then killed herself.
Of course Amanda doesn't buy that story and so she continues to dig for answers until she’s dug herself into a predicament and becomes the target of violent attacks.
The story is intriguing enough with a “who done it” sort of plot line. The ending was well written and the only complaint I have is how fast Gavin and Amanda fall in love. Not believable!
October 4, 2016
I first discovered Phyllis Whitney while in grade school and loved her children's mystery books. Then in high school I moved up to her romantic suspense novels and loved those as well. Since I am in a nostalgic mood lately, I decide to read one again. I chose The Turquoise Mask as one that I remembered especially liking back in the day. Well I had a different opinion this go around. I found it to be slow moving with repeated references to what someone was thinking or what their eyes looked like or Amanda trying to remember her past and being unable to or her family members hinting at something she should know but they're not going to tell her. It actually got boring after a while. Although the pace did pick up around the middle of the book, I still can't say it was an enjoyable read. It also was certainly dated with regards to men and women and relationships. Perhaps we're just used to more action in our novels these days.
February 11, 2011
Don't forget the old stories of Phyllis Whitney and others as you search for good reads. The new ereaders give you books published before 1925 free (so far) and you can buy bestsellers from the last 20 years at higher and higher prices, but many of the books between 1924 and 1980 aren't available. I wish every book ever written was available to every person in the world, but I'll just stop now by encouraging other avid readers like me to push publishers and ereader book providers to expand their libraries to include more books at more affordable prices and for all public libraries to provide ebooks.
February 1, 2014
I read this book first when it was serialised in woman magazine (in the 70's )when books were still promoted that way . I used to wait with mounting excitement as the week progressed for the next instalment for like the cowboy serials of Saturday morning cinema you were left inevitably with a cliff hanger . I have read all her books since and still have a soft spot for her writing . it may not be sonnet like or Pulitzer prize winning but ms whitney is a story teller par excellence. she does meticulous research on her backgrounds and it shows . I have a few of her works , the turquoise mask , being one of them ,still. I keep them cos when I spot the title it makes me smile and think ah that was a good book
March 18, 2009
Picked this old book up at the used bookstore for a good, easy read while travelling. I grew up reading all of Phyllis Whitney's books and love them all. It was written in great detail, almost the heroine became too dramatic at times. Maybe I have outgrown this type of suspense novel, but it was fun to reread again.
May 16, 2009
Phyllis A. Whitney was one of the first adult mystery romance writers that I found when I became a teenager. I read everything I could of hers. They would seem very tame by today's standards. Kind of like Mary Higgins Clark.
August 15, 2013
More high school memories!
July 18, 2016
Phyllis A. Whitney,s books are always a comfort read with almost all of them having a recurring theme of story, nevertheless they are pleasure to read with a cup of tea in hand!
January 4, 2011
Forgot how much I like this author. She tells a good story.
July 9, 2023
"Here is a man who would respect me as a person - some of the time." I had to laugh.
The intrigue of the mystery and whodunit wore off quickly when every character said the same thing of how they can't be the one who tells the information first it has to be from someone else. Constantly saying "oh you don't know yet," but then not telling the main heroine anything! It was so frustrating. The ending also left little to be desired. But the scenery and writing were really good; I enjoyed it for those reasons.
The intrigue of the mystery and whodunit wore off quickly when every character said the same thing of how they can't be the one who tells the information first it has to be from someone else. Constantly saying "oh you don't know yet," but then not telling the main heroine anything! It was so frustrating. The ending also left little to be desired. But the scenery and writing were really good; I enjoyed it for those reasons.
January 21, 2020
دختری به دنبال کشف راز مرگ مادرش...
آماندا به دنبال چیزیست که پدرش سال ها تلاش داشت مخفی کند
رازهای مربوط به مرگ مادرش
او بعد از مرگ پدرش به سانتافی سفر میکند تا با خانوادهمادرش دیدار کند و حقایق را کشف کند...
خیلی کشش دار متنش
ازون کتابهایی که نمیشه گذاشتشون زمین
آماندا به دنبال چیزیست که پدرش سال ها تلاش داشت مخفی کند
رازهای مربوط به مرگ مادرش
او بعد از مرگ پدرش به سانتافی سفر میکند تا با خانوادهمادرش دیدار کند و حقایق را کشف کند...
خیلی کشش دار متنش
ازون کتابهایی که نمیشه گذاشتشون زمین
September 19, 2023
Amanda Austin, embarks on a quest to uncover the long-hidden secrets of her family's past, particularly her mother's history in New Mexico. After the death of her father, Amanda feels a compelling need to unearth the truth about her roots and heritage.
However, upon her arrival at her grandfather's home in New Mexico, Amanda is met with an unexpected and chilling reception. Instead of warmth and acceptance, suspicion and hatred greet her from her own family members. The people she should be able to trust the most become strangers, and Amanda is confronted with a shocking revelation: one of her own relatives is a murderer.
As Amanda delves deeper into her family's history, she must grapple with dark secrets, unearthing truths that will not only shed light on her mother's past but also have far-reaching implications for her own future.
I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Phyllis A. Whitney is an amazing author incorporating an unforgettable story with amazing characters.
However, upon her arrival at her grandfather's home in New Mexico, Amanda is met with an unexpected and chilling reception. Instead of warmth and acceptance, suspicion and hatred greet her from her own family members. The people she should be able to trust the most become strangers, and Amanda is confronted with a shocking revelation: one of her own relatives is a murderer.
As Amanda delves deeper into her family's history, she must grapple with dark secrets, unearthing truths that will not only shed light on her mother's past but also have far-reaching implications for her own future.
I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Phyllis A. Whitney is an amazing author incorporating an unforgettable story with amazing characters.
February 27, 2018
Not one of her good books. The mystery is ridiculous for most of the time, with all the members of MC's family telling her "no, I can't tell you yet". It is 90% of that. MC Amanda is not welcomed in her mother's side family, all are inhospitable with the "go away" thing, over and over. She has the episode of her mother's death buried deep inside of her... happened when she was 5 years only, so throughout the story is her "remembering" bit here and there. Right.
The romance is terrible, a "I love u/I hate u" kinda thing, but not really. And worst of all, the guy is married. To her cousin. WHAT.
The ages of all characters were confusing. Sometimes it seemed like Amanda was 18 instead of 25, and all the rest were like 20 years older, but no, her cousin for example (closer in age to her) had something going on with a guy who was attracted previously to Amanda's mother.
The murderer left me WHAT. I spent almost a week for THIS ending?
The romance is terrible, a "I love u/I hate u" kinda thing, but not really. And worst of all, the guy is married. To her cousin. WHAT.
The ages of all characters were confusing. Sometimes it seemed like Amanda was 18 instead of 25, and all the rest were like 20 years older, but no, her cousin for example (closer in age to her) had something going on with a guy who was attracted previously to Amanda's mother.
The murderer left me WHAT. I spent almost a week for THIS ending?
January 27, 2008
The Turquoise Mask
A story set to be of Santa Fe, this is some place that a family the Cordova had settled their root. This can end quickly, confusingly, and if it got any better...but this story has that sorted and twisted tale of mystery throughout the whole of the story of all...that it seems so very complicated a story to a final end where the Cordova family resolves completely the families curses and mystery.
One of the best of the best nostalgic stories I ever will read. Even if the story drives totally into a realm of fiction, or if this type of fiction has had a reflection of itself telling a better possibility, its undesirability because personably fact and fiction are equal in some states. And the better the story reflects anyway on its characters the better is their stories too.
A story set to be of Santa Fe, this is some place that a family the Cordova had settled their root. This can end quickly, confusingly, and if it got any better...but this story has that sorted and twisted tale of mystery throughout the whole of the story of all...that it seems so very complicated a story to a final end where the Cordova family resolves completely the families curses and mystery.
One of the best of the best nostalgic stories I ever will read. Even if the story drives totally into a realm of fiction, or if this type of fiction has had a reflection of itself telling a better possibility, its undesirability because personably fact and fiction are equal in some states. And the better the story reflects anyway on its characters the better is their stories too.
November 8, 2010
I read this a long time ago in my teenage years because of a friend request...she enjoyed it... and thought I would to. I vaguely remember what happens in it....but I think I might have forgotten the ending...probably going on my to-read-again list...I also remember that I really liked it though...:)
April 26, 2013
I enjoyed this book...for the second time. It has just enough suspense to keep me reading and just enough romance to make it enjoyable. I truly did not remember the ending, or why everyone was so set against Amanda learning the truth about her mother's death. I read it the first time twenty years ago and I may read it again someday.
October 1, 2007
I put this book aside for now. I'm just frustrated with this book at the moment because since the beginning everyone is talking about a scandal involving her dead mother and now all I want now is to know what the scandal is - and I'm only on the 3rd chapter. Gah!
March 31, 2009
i liked this book, but there were some questions (spoiler) like, why did her grandpa invite her to stay with him if he was the killer and was trying to kill her, but he wouldn't have needed to if she didn't come to stay with him.
September 30, 2011
This story was confusing, convoluted and messy. Even so, I pushed to get through the whole thing in order find out "whodunit". And....I'm still confused. Details and resolutions were not solved satisfactorily making me feel like this one was a total waste of my time...ouch. Not recommended...
September 26, 2012
Read this book YEARS ago and it stuck in my mind as being a good one. I devoured all of Phyllis A. Whitney's work as a teen. (Recently learned that she is mentioned in the credits of Dwight V. Swain's book Techniques of the Selling Writer.)
Read
May 4, 2009F Whi
September 13, 2010
See Quicksilver Pool.
January 9, 2012
Typical Whitney with beautiful described setting (New Mexico!) and mystery from the past plot.
August 10, 2012
First of her books to read. Couldn't put it down and is the reason I have read so many of her books.
March 28, 2013
My very first favorite author - I have all her books -- been reading these for years
April 17, 2013
One of my favorites!
March 31, 2014
All her plots are the same. Not sure why I bothered to finish it. Except I was stuck in an airport for hours and this was the only book I had.
Read
July 3, 2020I love Phyllis "Whitney books because she takes you to places around the US that I have never been and you get a real sense of the place. Also, she writes a great mystery and I am always guessing.
August 27, 2015
It was fun returning to an author from my youth, but it also reminded me how how slow-moving books were then compared to today.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews