The Golden Unicorn

by Phyllis A. Whitney

From a New York Times–bestselling A young woman’s search for her biological parents uncovers a secret history of murder and conspiracy.   When her adoptive parents die in a train crash in Italy, writer Courtney Marsh becomes more determined than ever to find her roots. She was mysteriously abandoned when she was just an infant, and she never knew the truth about her biological parents. The only clues to her past are a golden unicorn pendant she’s had all her life and a tattered newspaper clipping about an artist who hailed from one of the most prominent yet reclusive East Hampton families.   Now, under the guise of a reporter, Courtney has arrived at the Rhodes’s mansion on the dunes. She may be uncertain of her heritage, but she’s as sure as the bracing ocean winds that this family is hiding something. Only the handsome son-in-law of the Rhodes clan, whose marriage is on the rocks, is particularly forthcoming—especially as he grows more intimately fond of the lovely and inquisitive young guest. But the more Courtney discovers, the more she has to fear—because hers is a legacy of murder that has yet to play its final hand.  The Golden Unicorn is a novel of buried family secrets in the New York art world from “a superb and gifted storyteller” (Mary Higgins Clark).  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Phyllis A. Whitney including rare images from the author’s estate.  

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Romance, Gothic Romance, Romantic Suspense, Suspense

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1976

About the 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.

Reviews

[TheShelfTalker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Phyllis Whitney. But I think I love her from the perspective of a 12-year-old who thought she was so mature for reading Gothic Romances. Her books hold a special place in my heart, but I admit I haven't read them in nearly 15 years.

[Rainz ❤️rainnbooks❤️(on a break) · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a joy to read a Phyllis A Whitney's book.It's been a long time since I read one and I felt like going back to an old friend.Her stories have similar threads but like reading Agatha Christie's novels, there's always a charm no matter how many times one re-reads it. Courtney Marsh is searching for her biological parents and trying to get close to them is like a landmine. Each and everyone in her family are diabolical with hidden truths and agendas. It makes for a fascinating read trying to figure out the small tidbits in the story interwoven so well that until the end the murderer is hidden behind the curtain. And I absolutely love the way the story is set in a place where the sea becomes a part of their daily life.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the disappointing "Spindrift," with its unpleasant and annoying heroine, Phyllis A. Whitney came roaring back with "The Golden Unicorn." Set in the dunes near East Hampton, New York, the novel follows journalist Courtney Marsh as she tries to discover whether the wealthy, secretive Rhodes clan are the family who gave her up for adoption when she was two years old. For a change, Whitney avoids grotesquerie and meanness in her characters (with the exception of bratty daughter Stacia), instead creating a group of damaged people who are bound together in a web of lies, deceit, mistrust, co-dependence and denial. Courtney's arrival threatens to change everything, in multiple ways. Despite a few odd errors in chronology, which should've been discovered during the editing process, Whitney keeps things moving along briskly, throwing a few red herrings at the reader before the novel's tense climax during a hurricane. With Courtney as a sympathetic and appealing heroine, and with better-rounded and -shaded characters than in her immediately preceding mid-70s works, "The Golden Unicorn" is an enjoyable return to form for the prolific author, then at the height of her reign as one of the most successful American romantic suspense novelists of the time.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 5 out of 5]

Releasing novels since 1943, even public school readers, I have been a fan of Phyllis A. Whitney all of my life. Since she created beyond 100 stories, I am hunting for her titles to this day! Featuring a TV interviewer, nothing about this novel goes the way you would expect - the gauge of a fine book.

Successful 'Courtney' adored her adoptive parents. When a reference surfaces that seems to pertain to her origins, she decides to view her adoption file. At that time these records were commonly closed but the agency surprised her by warning: she would prefer not knowing! Of course no one lets anyone tell us to ignore our heritage; so begins the intriguing part.

This time Grand Master award-winner Ms. Whitney, takes us to the East Hamptons in the USA. You feel the beach life uncannily. Unusual for a gothic genre, are the independent career woman and the novel containing almost no romance. The author was unopposed to death occurring and keeps you scratching your head superbly, about who's who. Please discover this legend, who to our great benefit... lived past 103!

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book many times. It's actually one of my favorites. It's a very good story and I really like the characters.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Until about halfway through, I was thinking this was possibly the best Phyllis A. Whitney book I'd read. It had a good setup with a very specific question for the protagonist to search for the answer to (and an actually logical way for her to do it), and the attractive descriptions of the Long Island setting jumped off the page. By the end, though, nearly all the characters had descended into bizarrely overwrought caricatures of themselves—unfortunately a fairly common occurrence with Whitney—and the final twists upon soap-opera twists left practically nobody standing whom one could really respect. It definitely kept me turning the pages, but it's not the kind of book to satisfy anything except the desire for lightweight suspense/sensation in an idle hour.

[Rea K]

I read this once upon a time. Maybe when I was sixteen. I remember being fascinated and horrified at the same time. Actually, this was the book that gave me the name Stacia. Probably I could pin down an exact year if I looked back at my writing and see when I started using Stacia.
Quite a messed up and sketchy family. I do remember that there is murder on more than one page.
I do remember one of my friends seeing the title and saying "The Golden Unicorn? Really?" It sounds so fluffy and cute. It's not fluffy and cute. Do not judge this book by its title.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review of Whitney's Daughter of the Stars for more on Whitney and the genre. This book's protagonist, Courtney Marsh, is a success at a very young age but there is something missing in her life because she is an adoptee. Her adoptive parents have recently died and this makes her even more determined to find her biological ones. The only clues she has are a golden unicorn necklace that was with her when she was adopted, a brief mention of East Hampton in an old letter, and a note on a newspaper clipping showing a painting by an East Hampton artist. As she makes her living by interviewing accomplished women and writing about them, it is not too hard for her to arrange a visit to East Hampton and meet the family which might be hers. She quickly realizes that they probably are, and she wishes they weren't -- dysfunctional is too tame a word. But, there's a handsome son-in-law whose marriage is obviously on the rocks....
This book obviously follows a formula. But then, so do boeuf bourguignon and buche de Noel. It's the details, the ingredients and how the formula is prepared, that make the difference both in food and fiction. Whitney was certainly a master chef of this souffle-like type of fiction.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came upon Whitney's books when I was about 12. I fell in love with her writing. The Golden Unicorn is, by far, my favorite.

Courtney was adopted at an early age & the only thing she has left from her mother is a chain with a golden unicorn pendant. It is this pendant that will identify her with a family, lead her to love, & eventually drag her down a dangerous path to a murderer she cannot neglect to face & whom her biological mother could not escape.

Whitney fleshed these characters out VERY well & this suspenseful story will leave you satisfied, with a smile on your face.

[Julia Putnam · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom recommended this book as one of her go-to re-reads. It was actually really good. It was funny to read the proper english and style of the early 70's. The story was good too and while I got annoyed with quite a few members of the family (if not all of them), I was never able to figure out "who-dunnit." It really could have been any of them. I definitely liked that part of it!

[Kina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ignore the romance and enjoy the mystery!

[Terri Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another re-read of an old Phyllis A. Whitney mystery.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took some crazy twists and turns there. It was pretty good but my enjoyment was muted by the overdramatic characters.

[Linda Power · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read many Phyllis Whitney books as a teen and young adult. At that time, I was very impressed with her novels. My reading expectations have changed. I found the the story, a mystery with some romance, very repetitious, the characters self centred and nasty.

[J.C. Reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was twisty with a lot of red herrings, but I knew who the villain was. Phyllis can sure write a tragedy. I find myself needing to read something happy after all of these suspense novels.

[Helen Gaye Brewster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Phyllis Whitney as a teenager, but have only read a few of her books as an adult. Now, I wonder why! Whitney’s writing style and the settings are somewhat dated, but that makes me love her books even more. She was known for visiting and carefully researching the location for each of her stories, and does a magnificent job bringing the settings to life. And, I love the lifestyle she depicts in most of her books. It’s a way of living that’s gone, and it’s fun to imagine what it was like.

The Golden Unicorn is named for a pendant necklace that was with Courtney Marsh when she was adopted as a baby. Now an adult, she wants to find her biological parents and her search leads to a beautiful old home in The Hamptons. She’s a writer who’s been profiling successful females, and arrives planning to write an article about famous, but reclusive, Judith Rhodes, an artist who lives at The Shingles with her family and often features unicorns in her paintings.

Courtney learns more about the family at The Shingles as she looks for clues to let her know if they could be related to her. But, the more she uncovers, the more she realizes that she might not really want to know if these people are her biological family.

The twists and turns kept me in suspense till almost the very last page.

[Iris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am torn between giving this two stars and three. Two stars because the plot twists and the ending were not convincing for me and three because it kept me entretained and hooked, which is what I usually look for in a story.

Beware of the spoilers.
As many have mentioned the romance in this story is not quite there. I didn't buy it, I couldn't believe the love that flourished between those two characters. I never actually felt that the main character ever was in true danger, which would have been nice given the fact that many people wanted her dead. Also, I thought that the urgency to get out of the house because she found out who might have been the responsible of all was a little bit stupid, given the fact that a storm was brewing outside. It was almost like commiting suicide. I don't know if it was just me, but I really couldn't put two and two together about who had been responsible for the double deaths, only after the confrontation with the killer.

Anyways, it was very interesting and it definitely kept me hooked.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Phyllis Whitney books, and had not read one in a long time. Story: Journalist Courtney Marsh is very good at her job, she can interview people, and pull out a brilliant story, however, the story of her own beginning is unknown from her. She was and adopted child, who lived a very happy life, however, her adopted family have died and she starts to wonder who she is. All she knows is that whoever loved her, left her with a necklace of a Golden Unicorn. She finds a clue to her identity, a painter who lives in a Mansion on Long Island paints a unicorn into her pictures. She has obtained permission from the family to do a story on the painter. She arrives at the house, which is filled with many family members who are not happy to see her. Her life is threatened, but she stays in the sinister house, to find out, how she is related to them, and who killed her birth mother.

[Tonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was 16 and loved it so much I read several other books by Whitney. It has been 20 years since I read anything by her, so I decided to go back and read the first one again to see if I still loved it. Unfortunately, I did not. There was really not a lot going on in this book for the amount of pages there are. They just kept dangling the same secret over and over and over again without really revealing much else about any of the characters. Very little development, lots of repetition. That being said it was a fun little read and the last chapters had a good twist to make it almost worth it. I think I will be stopping here and leaving this author to my past from now on though.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I used to read a lot of Phyllis Whitney in my high school days. They are gothic romances but usually the mystery is the big part of the story and the romance is more in the background. They are usually clean though for this particular one I read the reader's digest version so I can't promise the actual book is completely. They usually are though. I liked the mystery part of this one and how it all unfolded but couldn't get past the part that the love interest was a married man. Not ok with that no matter how terrible his wife is.

[Angela Randall]

We own this as part of an anthology, Gothic Treasure Trove:

[Cindy Smith]

Most of this authors books are set in an historical setting. That made this novel set in more present circumstances a different read from usual. I liked the twists in that they really weren't expected. The romance was unconvincing. It seemed one second she disliked him and the next she couldn't live without him. Er?

[MaryEllen Holbrook · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started out promising but got annoying quickly. Considering the main character is supposed to be an intelligent career-climbing woman, she acts like a complete twit progressively more through the novel. By the ending, all the plot twists and turns are just too tiring to keep up with instead of adding any excitement.

[Lissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I am a huge fan of PAW, this is so far the only book of hers that has tested my patience. The female protagonist, who is usually helpless but sympathetic in her other books, is shrill and petty in this one. Gladly marked this one off of my PAW "to read" list.

[Elham · Rating 4 out of 5]

phyllis whitney has written nice novels...specially this one i read...

[Cws]

F Whi

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book as a child. Read and re-read numerous times. I think it was the mystery that drew me in as a child.

[Renee Wolcott · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bizarre romantic thriller, showing its age. Isn't the title warning enough?

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't even remember it!

[Elizabeth Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted and suspenseful. The story is about a woman who was adopted. Her adoptive parents died recently and she is looking for her biological parents. The family she meets is bizarre.