Phyllis A. Whitney (1903–2008)

The dust jacket for Secret of the Stone Face by Phyllis A. Whitney is misleading. There is a face carved into the stone of a maze, but it's not on the cover. The miniature building must be symbolic. There are two girls and a boy, and the scowling man is definitely in there.

This is one of Ms. Whiney's juvenile mysteries that involves stepfamilies. In this case, both heroine Joanna 'Jo' Baird and a girl named Liza Prentice are facing the prospect of their mothers providing them with stepfathers. Neither girl likes the man her mother wants to marry. Both wish to find a reason to keep their mothers single, but Liza has fewer scruples than Jo.

The boy is Erik Thoresen, son of the man who grows the vegetables for Scott Dennis' hotel (Scott is Joe's prospective stepfather), cares for the orchards, and makes old-fashioned furniture using old wood and authentic old-time methods.

Liza Prentice is certain that her mother's man, Roger 'Inky' Inklander, is a crook, but he could be just a bullying jerk who didn't hesitate to hurt Eric's cat, Snowdrop (the cat will recover). Liza is manipulative enough to suggest that Scott is mixed up in whatever crooked delas Inky is mixed up in to get Jo's help. Unfortunately, Jo takes the fall for a few of Liza's deeds.

Erik is also certain that Inky is up to something illegal and it has to do with his father's woodworking. Are Liza and Eric right?
There will be a chilling race for safety during the climax before the truth comes out. The stone face will be part of it.

The first several chapters seemed a little too much "been there, done that" to me, but the book picked up. Ms. Whitney had a habit of writing both a juvenile mystery and an adult mystery based on her travels. The adult book was The Stone Bull. The author's note stated that Mohonk Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, near New Paltz, on the edge of the Catskills was the inspiration for this book, although none of the events took place there.

Although I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the Whitney mysteries I read when I was a schoolgirl decades ago, it was worth reading.

Cat fans: Snowdrop does get a few scenes in this book.… (mere)

This book has become a classic story of suspense and romance set in San Francisco in the momentous year of the San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 1906. Based on a true event.

FROM AMAZON: Sara Bishop was raised in Chicago, but her heart belongs in San Francisco, where her childhood sweetheart, Ritchie Temple, has moved to pursue a career in architecture. Convinced he feels the same way for her, she hopes his fiancée, the manipulative Judith Renwick, is just a passing fancy. And now Sara has packed her bags to prove it. Sarah’s mother is not only concerned by her daughter’s pursuit of an elusive romance, she’s also scared of the city itself—and the secret she and Sara’s father buried there years ago.

Once Sara arrives on the far side of the Golden Gate, she finds herself in the midst of a tantalizing puzzle involving Ritchie, Judith, and Judith’s mysterious brother. She soon discovers a monstrously wicked matriarch nursing a strange and unfathomable vengeance in her Nob Hill mansion. And one fateful morning, when the earth moves and the city is set afire, the pieces of Sara’s past will emerge from the ashes—but will it be too late to save her?… (mere)

Malinda looks for a secret that could free her from a frightening past when she returns to Silverhill, her mother's home.

FROM AMAZON: After decades away, Malinda Rice returns to the New Hampshire estate of Silverhill to make sure her departed mother is buried in her rightful place in the family plot. Still carrying the scars of her past, she’s determined to solve the mysteries behind the bad blood that has divided her family. But, like old memories, Malinda is not welcome at Silverhill.

She faces her embittered grandmother, a manipulative tyrant to be feared and never crossed. And her disturbed aunt is lost in a fantasy world, desperate to be rescued. Malinda finds solace with the handsome family doctor, whom she discovers is the only person she can trust, however guarded. The secrets in this deceptive hall of mirrors run deeper and darker than she imagined. Now, while seeking the truth in a mansion haunted by lies, twisted memories, and ruined lives, she must also fight for her sanity—and her life.… (mere)