When imaginative Laurie, and her sister, Celia, stay with Aunt Serena on Staten Island, New York; a dreary house fascinates them. Celia is interested in discovering why Norman, its boy resident, is unfriendly; Laurie wants to know all about the phantom stagecoach, which is said to draw up to that house on rainy nights. * NOTE ABOUT DERIVING FACTS: Fantastic Fiction is a wonderful website but is not foolproof and has made many errors with Ms. Whitney's classic oeuvres. My own copy declares 1949 as the year of publication. *
Author
Phyllis 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.
