A bookseller reunites with her estranged, enigmatic father in Key West in this suspenseful New York Times bestseller by “a master of suspense” (Mary Higgins Clark).
Twenty-five years ago, Long Island bookstore owner Laurel York was abandoned by her father, author Clifton York. Ever since, she’s followed his life and career with morbid resentment. When Clifton’s collaborator shows up in her shop with the gift of an orchid, she reluctantly agrees to accompany him back to Key West to help her and her father come to terms with the past—even in light of her late mother’s warning: “There is something terribly wrong in that house . . .”
Laurel arrives at her father’s estate in the historic district of Old Town expecting past wounds to show their scars. But what she doesn’t anticipate are her father’s cool reception, two strange stepsisters, rumors of a buried treasure, and the whispers about Clifton’s second wife—and her bizarre death in a greenhouse full of orchids. The only one who seems to be happy about her presence is the mysterious Marcus O’Neill—if only she could be sure she can trust him. Now, in a house of bad blood and family secrets, Laurel finds herself alone, unprepared for the real reason she has been summoned, and, with every new revelation, more afraid for her life.
Edgar Award winner Phyllis A. Whitney, “headmistress of handsomely-schooled suspense [is] in full bloom” in this gothic romance of deception and murder (Kirkus Reviews).
This ebook features an illustrated biography of Phyllis A. Whitney including rare images from the author’s estate.
Born in Yokohama, Japan, on September 9, 1903, Phyllis A. Whitney was a prolific author of award-winning adult and children’s fiction. Her sixty-year writing career and the publication of seventy-six books, which together sold over fifty million copies worldwide, established her as one of the most successful mystery and romantic suspense writers of the twentieth century and earned her the title “The Queen of the American Gothics.”
Whitney resided in several places, including New Jersey. She traveled to every location mentioned in her books in order to better depict the settings of her stories. She earned the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master award in 1988, the Agatha in 1990, and the lifetime achievement award from the Society of Midland Authors in 1995. Whitney was working on her autobiography at the time of her passing at the age of 104.