Product Description
A varied, suspenseful collection of stories, published in collaboration with the International Association of Crime Writers, features the work of Lawrence Block, P. D. James, Joyce Carol Oates, Sara Paretsky, and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Short stories
This book is a collection of bizarre short stories edited by Mary Higgins Clark.A good variety of stories. Good for waits in doctors office as each story is only 4-5 pages long.

One of Clark's Best Mystery Anthologies: 4½ stars
"Bad Behavior," a collaboration by the International Association of Crime Writers, contains 22 mystery stories, as recapped below:

"Thrown-Away Child" by Thomas Adcock -- A young black man seeks to avenge his uncle's untimely death, supposedly caused by a conniving pastor. Not very suspenseful, but well written with a voodooistic New Orleans setting. >> "The Framing Game" by Paul Bishop -- A high school basketball player is framed for stealing a pair of Air Jordans. Simple, yet effective. Good ending. >> "Revenge" by Samuel Blas -- When a man's wife is brutally raped and beaten, he sets out to find the perpetrator. Fast paced, but ending left wide open.

"Like a Bug on a Windshield" by Lawrence Block -- A truck driver fears he may have given a fellow trucker the idea to run other vehicles off the road. This one will definitely have readers looking twice at truckers. >> "Bless This House" by Christianna Brand -- An unsubtle story set in England about a young carpenter, a pregnant virgin, and the woman who lets them stay in her shed. >> "The Gun" by Ann Carol -- A brief interrogation by two detectives of a teen boy who had found a gun in a parking lot. Surprising ending. You might have to read it twice to get it, like I had to.

"Lucky Dip" by Liza Cody -- A homeless girl pickpockets a corpse, unaware of what she's stolen. Very good story, but the ending left me wanting more. >> "Death of the Right Fielder" by Stuart Dybek -- The title says it all: a young right fielder mysteriously dies while playing baseball. Weak ending. >> "The Dare" by Carol Ellis -- A young man is pressured into breaking into a house, and steals a trophy.

"Why Herbert Killed His Mother" by Winifred Holtby -- An amusingly dry story of a mother who dotes on her son too much. >> "The Girl Who Loved Graveyards" by P. D. James -- An orphan girl searches for her father's grave. >> "The Green Killer" by M. E. Kerr -- When a young man's spoiled cousin dies, he's eager to inherit his things. Loose ending, but a good moral about trying--and failing--to be someone you're not.

"Kim's Game" by M. D. Lake -- A summer camp game teaches a girl how to solve a counselor's murder. Well written, though the motive is unanswered. >> "Darker than Just Before the Dawn" by John H. MaGowan -- A woman reads of several serial murders in an out-of-town newspaper. You almost feel sorry for the protagonist, despite her role in the story. >> "Late Developments" by Terry Mullins -- A young man witnesses a mob murder and helps to solve it.

"The Premonition" by Joyce Carol Oates -- A man has a premonition to visit his brother's family during Christmas. Kind of a creepy holiday story. The reader will have to read between the lines to understand what happened to the man's brother. >> "The Maltese Cat" by Sara Paretsky -- A private investigator looks for her client's runaway sister. Longest story here, but pretty good. >> Two young men play a nocturnal death-sport called "The Werewolf Game" (by Mauricio-Jose Schwarz).

"Mother Always Loved You Best" by Barbara Steiner -- A young woman soon realizes her dead twin sister isn't dead. Twisted story; read like a Point Thriller. >> "Just Lather, That's All" by Hernando Tellez -- When a rebel-hunter enters a revolutionaries' barbershop for a shave, the barber debates about killing him. Suspenseful. >> "The Interrogation" by Eric Weiner -- A young woman at an all-girls' school is accused of vandalism by the headmistress. Great, humorously clever ending. >> "Undercover" by Eric Wright -- Set during a world war (not sure which), a substitute teacher is suspicioned of being a spy.

"Bad Behavior" is certainly worth reading if you like mysteries. And it's not just for adult mystery readers either. In fact, about half of the stories here are more teen-oriented, which surprised me. The only small drawback to this collection is that there weren't a lot of "international" stories, except for perhaps "Bless This House," "Lucky Dip," "Why Herbert Killed His Mother," "The Girl Who Loved Graveyards," "Just Lather, That's All," and "Undercover." All the rest take place in various American locales. Still, this is one of Mary Higgins Clark's best mystery anthologies. A definite keeper.

This is a disturbing book, but not S. King
I liked it.It was a good collection of short, disturbing tales.Some stories creeped me out.I mean I was scared.But if you like that kind of a thing, this is for you. ... Read more

Product Description

In Mount Vernon Love Story -- famed suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark's long-out-of-print first novel -- the bestselling author reveals the flesh-and-blood man who became the "father of our country" in a story that is charming, insightful, and immensely entertaining.

Always a lover of history, Mary Higgins Clark wrote this extensively researched biographical novel and titled it Aspire to the Heavens, after the motto of George Washington's mother. Published in 1969, the book was more recently discovered by a Washington family descendant and reissued as Mount Vernon Love Story. Dispelling the widespread belief that although George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, he reserved his true love for Sally Carey Fairfax, his best friend's wife, Mary Higgins Clark describes the Washington marriage as one full of tenderness and passion, as a bond between two people who shared their lives -- even the bitter hardship of a winter in Valley Forge -- in every way. In this author's skilled hands, the history, the love, and the man come fully and dramatically alive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Mount Vernon Love Story
I read this story and have 4 grand daughters that I will give this book to for a Christmas gift.They are all avid readers, one having a new husband who is off to Afganistan the end of October.This book gives a lot of History about war and seperation of loved ones.It is a great story.

A wonderfull tail of the love of George and Martha
This book, I am not sure if I can find the right words. It is beautiful, a beautiful telling of the love between George Washington and his beautiful wife Martha. It is a charming romp through his memories, his life from child hood and on through. We find him remembering these things from his minds eye as he is giving over the reigns of his government to John Adams. It's witty, and shows some funny jests about Thomas Jefferson (my all time favorite) and John Adams. This book was simply not long enough for me, I wanted more. I wanted to have more memories from George's point of view. A wonderful book, that is making me wish to dig out my rev war books right now

George and Patsy
This is a quick read and has some good information.It's a book for the young teenagers.

Mount Vernon Love Story
Very interesting historical novel about an aspect of our first president not commonly appreciated.

Mount Vernon Love Story
This is by far one of the very best historical novels that I have ever read.I read it as a part of a book club to which I belong.Mary Higgins Clark made George and Martha Washington and those who surrounded them very real people, not just historical figures whom we have revered.It was warm, wonderful and a totally delightful read.The review by members of our book club was absolutely glowing. ... Read more

Product Description

Mary Higgins Clark, the Queen of Suspense, celebrates the season with this Christmas classic featuring two of her most beloved characters.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT

All of Alvirah's deductive powers and Willy's world-class common sense are called upon as the two stumble into a Christmas mystery. A woman abandons her newborn at a Manhattan church. Simultaneously, a thief is absconding with a treasured artifact, a chalice adorned with a star-shaped diamond. To elude police, he grabs the stroller and disappears. Seven years later, the mother returns to the scene and finds Alvirah and Willy helping neighborhood kids prepare for a Christmas pageant at an after-school shelter. Soon the savvy sleuths set out to solve the puzzle of the missing child and chalice -- and to unmask scam artists threatening to shut down the shelter.Amazon.com Review
Fans of Mary Higgins Clark and cozy mysteries will relish this Christmasconfection. Unlike her previous holiday novel, Silent Night, AllThrough the Night is virtually free of life-and-death crime. Rather, itis a Dickensian tale of good deeds rewarded and crimes punished.

The wintry story begins on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with18-year-old Sondra Lewis, an aspiring violinist, tearfully leavingher baby on the steps of St. Clement's Church. Unbeknownst to her, LennyCentino is robbing that same church on the same night, with his attentionparticularly on the Church's diamond inlaid chalice. He finds a buggyoutside the church and uses it for cover as he flees. Only later does herealize that his take for the night includes the infant Stellina (Italianfor star). The narrative then abruptly moves ahead seven years. Clark'slottery-winning protagonists, Alvirah and her husband Willy (introduced inWeep No More, MyLady) return for some amateur sleuthing. Sister Cordelia'sthrift shop doubles as an after-school recreation place for neighborhoodchildren (including a shy little girl named Star), but the building hasbeen condemned. Bessie Maher had vowed she was leaving the house to the nun andher children. Now that she is gone, the will indicates that the tenants ofthe house, Vic and Linda Baker, are the true heirs. As December rushes ontowards Christmas, Alvirah struggles to put things right before thechildren are left in the cold.

Like the best holiday stories, All Through the Night steerstoward sentimentality, but it veers back on course withnarrative wit and Alvirah's charm. Clark's prose is lean and herplotting is brisk. This is a mystery that would be a pleasure to sharealoud with a family gathered at the fireplace for some holidaycheer. --Patrick O'Kelley ... Read more

Customer Reviews (52)

All Through The Night by Mary Higgins Clark
Very pleased with the product.The book was in excellent shape inside and out.Received in a very short period of time.Would love to order again from this site.

All Through the Night
One of her earlier ones, not as good as thr newer ones but still a good novel

All through the Night
I wouldn't say it was her best work, but it was okay.Many things were very predictable. But it was clean and had a happy ending.

No, no, no
I can compare this book with a nicely wrapped box of chocolates, but when you open it and try, you find that they are overly sweet and have some kind of awful artificial filling, and the chocolate itself is not that good. And after trying two pieces you throw the whole thing into garbage.

hope it all ends well type of book
If you are looking for a murder, dead body, guts spilling type of mystery, look somewhere else, this is more a fairy tale happening in New York city type of mystery. Includes an abandoned baby, a building and a will, a criminal, and the one who raised the baby. Also a priest, some nuns, and the biological mother of the baby among others.
It is charming and an easy to read novel. No true suspense, but more of a hope it all ends well type of book. You are left to wonder how can there be people like that; stealing a baby, wanting to use the little girl for money/drug dealings, a couple doing everything in their power to take a house away from a nun-run day care center, etc. Also there is the mystery of the missing chalice!But then you realize that we all have angels, and the only way that you can explain that this book has a nice ending is because of them.
There are books which you think you will want to read again, this is not one of them.
... Read more

Product Description

At the center of her novel is Kay Lansing, who has grown up in Englewood, New Jersey, daughter of the landscaper to the wealthy and powerful Carrington family. Their mansion -- a historic seventeenth-century manor house transported stone by stone from Wales in 1848 -- has a hidden chapel. One day, accompanying her father to work, six-year-old Kay succumbs to curiosity and sneaks into the chapel. There, she overhears a quarrel between a man and a woman who is demanding money from him. When she says that this will be the last time, his caustic response is: "I heard that song before."

That same evening, the Carringtons hold a formal dinner dance after which Peter Carrington, a student at Princeton, drives home Susan Althorp, the eighteen-year-old daughter of neighbors. While her parents hear her come in, she is not in her room the next morning and is never seen or heard from again.

Throughout the years, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Peter Carrington. At age forty-two, head of the family business empire, he is still "a person of interest" in the eyes of the police, not only for Susan Althorp's disappearance but also for the subsequent drowning death of his own pregnant wife in their swimming pool.

Kay Lansing, now living in New York and working as a librarian in Englewood, goes to see Peter Carrington to ask for permission to hold a cocktail party on his estate to benefit a literacy program, which he later grants. Kay comes to see Peter as maligned and misunderstood, and when he begins to court her after the cocktail party, she falls in love with him. Over the objections of her beloved grandmother Margaret O'Neil, who raised her after her parents' early deaths, she marries him. To her dismay, she soon finds that he is a sleepwalker whose nocturnal wanderings draw him to the spot at the pool where his wife met her end.

Susan Althorp's mother, Gladys, has always been convinced that Peter Carrington is responsible for her daughter's disappearance, a belief shared by many in the community. Disregarding her husband's protests about reopening the case, Gladys, now terminally ill, has hired a retired New York City detective to try to find out what happened to her daughter. Gladys wants to know before she dies.

Kay, too, has developed gnawing doubts about her husband. She believes that the key to the truth about his guilt or innocence lies in the scene she witnessed as a child in the chapel and knows she must learn the identity of the man and woman who quarreled there that day. Yet, she plunges into this pursuit realizing that "that knowledge may not be enough to save my husband's life, if indeed it deserves to be saved." What Kay does not even remotely suspect is that uncovering what lies behind these memories may cost her her own life.

I Heard That Song Before once again dramatically reconfirms Mary Higgins Clark's worldwide reputation as a master storyteller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (113)

I agree: "On the Street where you live" was much better...
...like a previous reviewer stated, but I nevertheless enjoyed this book, too.

MHC has written some really thrilling books and they have not yet been filmed like "All through the Night", "On the Street where you live", "Daddy's little Girl", "The second Time around", ""Night Time is my Time", "No Place like Home", "Two little Girls in Blue", "I heard that Song before", "Where are you now?" and "Just take my Heart".
Except of her boring Willy & Alvirah stories I love all her books and look forward to each new one.

My favorite MHC movies are "Stillwatch" (Angie Dickinson), "A Cry in the Night" (Perry King and famous French actress Annie Girardot), "Remember me" (Kelly McGillis), "Moonlight becomes you" (Donna Mills), "We'll meet again", "A Crime of Passion", "Before I say Goodbye", "Haven't we met before?" (Nicolette Sherdian) and especially "I'll be seeing you" (Alison Eastwood) and "Try to remember" with Gabrielle Anwar and Diego Wallraff which I all can recommend as very good TV movies.

good read
I enjoyed reading this book as I do all of Mary Higging Clark,s books.A great read

Great Book! Couldn't stop reading!!!
I Heard that Song Before is again another recommendable book written by Mary Higgins Clark. It is about the Carrington Family - one of the US's richest families. There are three murder cases and all characters try to figure out who the murderer is. In the beginning everything seems to point to Peter Carrington who was in a relationship with two of the victims. But is this notorious sleepwalker really capable to murder three people. And if yes, did he do it conscious or during one of his sleepwalks?

All these questions will be answered in the end but not before the almost last chapter! Mary Higgins Clark has a talent to introduce lots of different characters in a relatively short time in the beginning. Even though this makes it a little difficult and confusing to get into the story, the reader quickly gets to know all these different characters. Like all her other books, this one is written in relatively short chapters switching to different perspectives of different people. Every chapter provides a small bit to the overall story. In the last chapters suspense curve reaches its peak and explains the whole story to the reader. I always think "I should have seen this coming". Most of the time I am relatively sure that I figured out the murder only to be surprised in the end that it was someone completely different and someone I would have never expected it to be!

If you like fascinating and exciting thrillers, then I Heard that Song Before is your book! Especially the topic of sleep walking is presented in a really interesting way. I never thought of sleep walking to be something really dangerous except of for the sleepwalker. You can see that Mary Higgins Clark researched a lot about the topic which makes the novel even more interesting to read!

Read more of my book reviews on my blog: [...]

Classic Clark
I listened to "I heard That Song Before" on audio CD.For me it was "Classic Clark" and kept me guessing until the very end.She kept true to her style with very detailed characters and a plot with lots of twist and turns.

I heard that song before
I like her newer novels better although I did enjoy this when I read it ... Read more

Product Description

In this breathtaking new novel from the reigning diva of suspense, a psychopathic killer stalks lonely women aboard cruise ships -- giving grisly new significance to the lyrics of an old sweet song...

When psychologist Dr. Susan Chandler uses her call-in radio show to explore the issue of lonesome women who disappear and are later found to have been victims of seductive killers, she has no way of knowing she is exposing herself -- and those closest to her -- to the very horror she is warning others against.

After a listener calls in offering information about the mysterious disappearance from a luxury ocean liner of wealthy investment advisor Regina Clausen, the caller meets with a terrible accident. Or so say the police. As Susan begins to investigate, she quickly finds herself in a race against time -- and an assassin who targets not only vulnerable women, but anyone who might offer clues to his identity. Inching closer to the truth, Susan makes shocking dual discoveries: that the killer may be an important figure in her own life, and that she herself is marked for murder.

As unpredictable as it is daring, You Belong To Me delivers a series of electrifying jolts as Mary Higgins Clark makes yet another brilliant entry in the annals of classic suspense.Amazon.com Review
Much like the real-life Dr. LauraSchlessinger, Dr. Susan Chandler, the star of You Belong toMe, is a clinical psychologist who hosts a call-in radio show.She's bright, sharp-tongued, and even has "shoulder-length darkblonde hair." Fortunately for Dr. Laura, the similarities endthere. During an episode of Ask Dr. Susan, Chandler unwittinglygets herself tangled in the web of a dangerous serial killer. Itbegins innocently enough when Chandler invites Dr. Donald Richards, acriminologist/psychiatrist/author to talk about his book, VanishingWomen and the plight of lonely women who are preyed upon bycalculating killers. Chandler is particularly interested in thedisappearance of woman named Regina Clausen, a high-profile investmentadvisor who vanished on a luxury cruise. Chandler feels indebted toClausen--an investing tip she offered on CNBC turned a modest birthdaycheck into a "bonanza"--so the good doctor uses her radioforum to help crack the case. Sure enough, during the last moments ofthe show, a nervous, married woman who goes by the name"Karen" calls in with invaluable clues. Apparently, she wasalmost a victim and can identify the murderer, but is frightened tocome forward because of an insanely jealous husband. As Dr. Susanpursues her timid witness and digs deeper into the case, she realizesa hair too late that she is also one of the hunted. The fast-movingstory line and easily digestible plot of You Belong to Me isvintage Mary Higgins Clark. --Rebekah Warren ... Read more

Customer Reviews (150)

Reading with Tequila
You Belong to Me was my first Mary Higgins Clark. She's such a popular and prolific author, I had put off reading her books. I was afraid I wouldn't like them, but what I should have been afraid of was enjoying them. You Belong to Me was an exciting, suspenseful read that made me regret not reading Clark's books earlier.

Susan is a former assistant district attorney turned psychologist and radio host. When she inquires on-air about a missing woman she sets off a murderous chain reaction she never could have predicted. I cared about what happened to Susan, but I also questioned her often. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't follow certain obvious - to me at least - leads. She had a lot of stuff going on, personally and professionally, so ultimately it could have been a realistic portrayal of things slipping through the cracks unnoticed.

Each page of You Belong to Me drew me in further than the last. I could not put this book down. It could be a little repetitive at time, going over certain things two or three different times, but I was so wrapped up in the story I barely cared.

I was in awe of the storytelling in throughout the entire book. I highly enjoyed the way the book was written and that actually stopped my progress on a few occasions. Clark took the full advantage of what writing for print has to offer and exercised freedom that visual media can't compete with. She was able to show the story from multiple perspectives, including the killer's. She showed the actions and thoughts of all the suspects and the killer without letting on which suspect was the killer. You were in the killers head, seeing what he saw and yet couldn't tell which man was guilty or innocent. It was an amazing experience.

You Belong to Me
One of her earlier ones, not as good as thr newer ones but still a good novel

Not good. Not good at all.
I am so disappointed to be writing this review! MHC is one of the only mystery authors I will give any sort of attention to and typically when I pick up one of her books I'll have it read in 3 days max. Up to this point, her success rate in the world of me has been 100%. Without really having to say anything else, I'll tell you that this book took me 3 weeks, 3 WEEKS, to read.
She definitely has a formula with her books: Grim Incident at the Beginning + Interesting Explanatory Story in the Middle = Super Suspenseful and Thrilling Ending.
Although the formula can make for simple reading, it always makes for a great mystery. However, with this book, the formula went more along the lines of:
Quick and Bland Explanatory Story at the Beginning + Very Bland, Predictable and Mildly Grim Incidents throughout the Middle= Anticlimactic Ending. The book read like a bad murder drama you'd see on Lifetime Television for Women.
So so so disappointing!

SEE THE PYRAMIDS ALONG THE NILE...
As with so many of the author's books, this is a very enjoyable book of suspense. Although somewhat formulaic, it will keep the reader turning its pages. It is a wholly plot driven book with an interesting storyline. It seems that there is a killer out there who is targeting lonely women on luxury cruise liners.

When Dr. Susan Chandler, radio talk show host and psychologist, decides to dedicate a week of her show to the issue of why women should be safety conscious in social situations, one of her guests on the show is a psychiatrist that specializes in criminology. He has written a book about the suspicious disappearances of women from cases on which he has worked. Dr. Chandler decides to make one of them the focal point of her show. It is a disappearance that has intrigued her from the start, as it involved a wealthy investment advisor, Regina Clausen, who gave investment advice on a cable television show from which Dr. Chandler greatly profited and to whom Dr. Chandler has long felt indebted. . The woman had disappeared from a cruise ship after disembarking in Hong Kong from her cruise ship, never to be seen again.

When a mysterious female caller phones in to the show claiming to have information on the investment advisor's disappearance, information that appears to be vital to discovering the killer's identity, Dr. Chandler becomes enmeshed in a web of intrigue. Pursuing leads to discover her mystery caller, Dr. Chandler discover only too late who she was, as it seems that the killer may have gotten to her first. Now, Dr. Chandler finds herself at the epicenter of a killer's determination to tie up all the loose ends surrounding the mystery of the Regina Clausen disappearance.

As with so many of the author's novels of suspense, she deftly weaves her plot, so that the killer could be anyone of a number of people. The fun is in trying to decipher the clues found in the twists and turns the book takes and guessing which one of the men that have crossed Dr. Chandler's path is the killer. This is a very enjoyable quick read that fans of the author, as well as those who enjoy a good suspense novel, will like reading.

It was okay, but..
I was a little disappointed. I had hoped to find a thrilling suspense and, at times, I did. However, it was intertwined with useless details (for example, the main character is a psychologist, and the book goes into details about her unrelated clients' problems several times) where I just felt like they either needed to fill pages or simply wanted more suspense by adding these asides between clues. I didn't want to stop reading because I was adamant to find out who it was, but I was bored at times. It felt to me like adding suspense in a movie by pausing and showing a few holes of golf before returning to its plot. I liked the plot overall and felt the book had a good way of keeping you guessing, but by the middle of it all I was doing was keeping a mental countdown of how long it would be until I could finally finish it. ... Read more

Product Description

Dear Reader,

Kitchen Privileges is a book that I feel as though I have been writing ever since I was twelve years old.

In these pages, I've tried to show how my mother's belief in me kept alive my dream to be a writer. My father's early death left her with three young children to support. A generation later my husband's early death left me in exactly that position except that I had five children.

Mother supported us by renting rooms, allowing our paying guests to have the privilege of preparing light meals in the kitchen. I supported my family by writing radio shows. Very early in the morning I put my typewriter on the kitchen table before I went to work in Manhattan and spent a few privileged and priceless hours working on my first novel.

I have found that dreams do come true, and I hope that anyone reading this book may feel encouraged to follow his or her own dreams even when the odds against achieving them seem great. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Loved It
Couldn't put it down. Ms. Higgins has lived a rich life, not always easy, and she has deserved the rewards of her hard work.

About Kitchen Privileges....
Whether or not you are a Mary Higgins Clark fan, this makes a good read.A very quick read but worth it. Ms. Clark writes as well about her own lfe as she does her fiction stories.You can immerse yourself in the story and be sorry to have it end.Read and enjoy!

Mary Higgins Clark is a prolific author of suspense novels--many of which I've enjoyed.
Heard KITCHEN PRIVILEGES, a memoir written and read by Mary
Higgins Clark.

For those few who don't recognize the name, she's a prolific author
of suspense novels--many of which I've enjoyed . . . yet I was curious
as to what made her tick; hence, my interest in this book.

She grew up during the Depression . . . when her father died,
Mary's mother opened the home to boarders and placed a sign
next to the front door that read: "Furnished Rooms. Kitchen
Privileges."

Her family struggled to make ends meet . . . and she did, too,
when her first husband died leaving her a widowed mother of five
young children . . .determined to make a career for herself, she
turned to writing.

And that was the best part of the book . .I found myself
pulling for her, even as she went some six years and forty
rejections before getting her first story published.

My only regret is that I would have liked to have seen more
of her life after she became a successful writer . . . this
book only takes readers through her first bestseller, WHERE
ARE THECHILDREN? . . . a follow-up effort is definitely needed

Captured by Kitchen Privileges
I find this enormously entertaining and I am fascinated by autobiographies. This is a great book!!

DO NOTjudge THIS book by it's cover!
This memoir is truly a great example of what a special person Mary Higgins Clark is.

This woman was born under a special star and her mother had the wonderful insight to recognize it and encourage it to blossom.

As I read this I actually felt as if I were one of those neighbors who were privileged [but didn't know it at the time] enough to be allowed to came and sit and chat at the kitchen table and listen in to the wonderful stories.

Mary Higgens Clark has had her share of grief and yet she is humble enough to share those private moments with us and to managed to rise above the pain to become the wonderful sister, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and writer that she truly is.

I really felt honored to be allowed to share in her life story and was sadden when the book ended.

You won't regret reading this one!
I read it in one sitting and one day--I couldn't put it down. Trust me--you won't be able to either.
A-Must-Read for those who love Mary Higgens Clark and Memoirs. ... Read more

Product Description

A killer turns a young family's dream holiday into an unfathomable nightmare....Menley Nichols and her husband, Adam, a criminal attorney, rent a house on Cape Cod, in the hope of restoring their faltering marriage. The birth of their daughter, Hannah, has revitalized their relationship, but Menley has never stopped blaming herself for the accidental death of her two-year-old son. The serenity of the Cape promises a new start.

In Remember House, an eighteenth-century landmark with a sinister past, strange incidents force Menley to relive the accident that killed her son, and she begins to fear for Hannah's safety. Then Adam takes on a client suspected of murder when his wealthy young bride of only three months drowns in a storm -- and the family is drawn into a rising tide of terror. A confrontation on a dark, rain-swept beach leads to a harrowing climax that only Mary Higgins Clark could have created. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (79)

the one that got me hooked on this author
This was the very first Mark Higgins Clark book I had ever read, probably around 15 yrs ago, and it's the one that kept me coming back for more. I liked her style of writing so much I became hooked. She had me sympathizing with the main character from the very first page.

Best Mary Higgins Book Yet
This is the best book Mary Higgins Clark has written so far, I have read quite a few of her books.She is my favorite author.This book had me to where I could not put it down.Definately kept me wanting more..... and I hated to see the book end.Great story line.Love the ghost line of this story.Just a great book.High recommend.

a fan
Higgins used a unique opening device that successfully built suspense. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

my favorite book!!!!!!
i absolutely love the book and highly recommend to anyone who loves a good mystery

Remember Me
Mary Higgins Clark Is a Phenomenal writer. A real page turner novel. Can't put her books down till your finished them ... Read more

Product Description

Mary Higgins Clark, the Queen of Suspense, crafts a terrifying story of murder and obsession with "a slambam finish" (Los Angeles Times Book Review).

ALL AROUND THE TOWN

When Laurie Kenyon, a twenty-one-year-old student, is accused of murdering her English professor, she has no memory of the crime. Her fingerprints, however, are everywhere. When she asks her sister, attorney Sarah, to mount her defense, Sarah in turn brings in psychiatrist Justin Donnelly. Kidnapped at the age of four and victimized for two years, Laurie has developed astounding coping skills. Only when the unbearable memories of those lost years are released can the truth of the crime come out -- and only then can the final sadistic plan of her abductor, whose obsession is stronger than ever, be revealed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (141)

An Eye Opening and Frightening Thriller
Four-year-old Laurie Kenyon was a happy child, living a normal life with parents who loved her and her older sister. One day she sees a line of cars slowly driving by and, thinking it's a carnival, she goes outside to check and is abducted. Two years later a cashier in a café happens to see her and a couple hours later she's left by the side of the road and returned to her family.

However her abductors have told her what will happen to her if she ever tells, and for a little girl who has spent the last two years trapped with cruel and perverse people who had been abusing her, that wasn't a warning to be taken lightly.

Fifteen years later Bic and Opal Hawkins, the couple that had abducted little Laurie, are televangelists, making a slick buck doing God's work. However, though they may have their evil eyes on heaven, they have them on Laurie too, who is now a senior in college.

Laurie is going through a tramatic period. Her parents have been killed in a bus crash. Her sister is overly protective. She's left her boyfriend and doesn't seem to know why. she's apparently obsessing over one of her professors and begins writing him erotic letters. Then the prof is murdered and Laure is suspect number one.

Did she do it? Can her lawyer sister help her? Two good questions and before they can be answered, it's discovered that Laurie is suffereing from MPD, multiple personality disorder. It seems there is more than one person in Lauire's head, a result of when she was living with the evil abuductors. When her abuse got so bad she couldn't stand it anymore, she'd hide in her head, go to a safe place. Is she still doing it? Did one of her personalities kill the prof without letting Laurie in on it?

Of course, the God fearing, child rapers are keeping an eye out to see if Laurie remembers and that's what really makes this book a thriller. However, I must admit, I had a hard time thinking about the child abuse. The book did, though, open my eyes to MPD. Over all, I'd have to say this was a story well worth reading.

All Around The Town
One of her earlier ones, not as good as thr newer ones but still a good novel

She knows how to write
When you read a novel that:

Thrills you.

Could be true.

Gives you something to think about.

Shows you how to survive an ordeal.

Teaches you the meaning of love...

And you cry because you ended it.

The book deserves SIX stars.

She knows how to write
When you read a novel that:

Thrills you.

Could be true.

Gives you something to think about.

Shows you how to survive an ordeal.

Teaches you the meaning of love.

And you cry because you ended it.

The book deserves SIX stars.

it was good
i liked it. easy to read and fun. Not much of a brain buster but entertaining. A little forgettable, however... ... Read more

Product Description
Nancy Harmon long ago fled the heartbreak of her first marriage, the macabre deaths of her two little children, and the shocking charges against her. She changed her name, dyed her hair, and left California for the windswept peace of Cape Cod. Now remarried, she has two more beloved children, and the terrible pain has begun to heal -- until the morning when she looks in the backyard for her little boy and girl and finds only one red mitten. She knows that the nightmare is beginning again.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Good Storytelling!
Wow! I have to admit that I was thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed Mary Higgins Clark's writing. I can see how this book catapulted her career. It's not that the writing in the book was astonishing, poetic or mind altering but it was good. Good, old fashioned storytelling!
I have seen her books in stores all my life but had never considered reading her. To be honest, I assumed that she wrote romance novels....which I am not a fan of. I foolishly assumed, based off the covers, that her books would not hold my interest.
Luckily, I found out that I was wrong.

This book was a very enjoyable read. Well written, likable characters that I felt compassion for, a simple (yet interesting) plot to follow and enough suspense to capture, and maintain, my interest.
Everything flowed wonderfully and at no point was I aware of the fact that I was reading a piece of fiction. The characters were believable, as was their emotion.

Last, I love books that ar based in New England! I lived on Cape Cod and adored my time there. I miss it terribly! Mary Higgins Clark did a good job at describing the cape, the people who live there and the general ambiance of the place!!!

There's no reson not to pick up this book, provided you're considering reading it. It's very short at 280 pages, it's fast, enjoyable, suspenseful and delivers itself well!

The First One!
Mary Higgins Clark gave us the first one in Where Are the Children, and we never stop wanting more. I remember reading it in 1975 and being completely enthralled. I love the way she develops the story by showing different points of view - the good guys, the bad guy, the peripheral characters who contribute to the outcome - I find them all so interesting. I wanted those children to be found and unscathed so badly that I was at the edge of my chair throughout the reading of it. I wrote 3 books myself after reading Where Are the Children, and I love to re-read it from time to time hoping to find the key to her magic in creating the suspense.St. James Place

Remarkably Irresistible
One of Clark's most fascinating novels that will leave you craving for more. Clark creates her characters to fit the life of any ordinary human being. She knows her surroundings of the places where the main characters live in the book, it makes the reader feel as if they have lived there their entire life. This novel had me not wanting to put it down every minute I was reading it. The suspense in this book is always at it's climax and will leave the reader breath taken. Her writing, every word, just fits together perfectly. Clark must really know her knowledge and history to write something so remarkable.

A classic, and perhaps Ms. Clark's best
This is the book that made me a MHC fan. Read it when I was in my teens and it quickly became one of my favorites.

The Best
This book was thrilling, so filled with suspense and terror. Truly, a page turner. This has a richly developed and involved storyline. I absolutely loved it! For me, this is MHC's best work. There's a really good movie, of the same name, based on this book. I loved the movie too. Mary Higgins Clark has written some deliciously suspenseful novels.All the books she wrote before "You Belong to Me" were very good...excellent! Since then, her books are either average or just plain boring. I always read her new books...hoping for a "thriller" in the vein of her earlier works. So far, I have been disappointed, but not out of too much money. Now, I always get her books from the second hand store. ... Read more

Product Description
Four gripping audiobooks in one package from the #1 New York Times bestselling "Queen of Suspense."

Nancy Harmon flees her disastrous marriage and the deaths of her two children to Cape Cod, where she marries again and starts a new family. But when her two new children disappear, the nightmare begins anew.

I'LL BE SEEING YOU

While covering the story of a stabbing victim, television news reporter Meghan Collins stares at the body of a beautiful young woman in a New York City hospital. What she sees in the dead girl's face draws her into a terrifying web of treachery, where nothing is as it seems and the truth may be too devastating to pursue....

LOVES MUSIC, LOVES TO DANCE

Erin and Darcy aren't the kind of girls who normally answer personal ads. But when the two women agree to answer some on a lark, the glittering city turns deadly.

ALL AROUND THE TOWN

A professor is found stabbed to death in his New Jersey home. All the evidence points to an obsessed student, 21 year-old Laurie Kenyon. But what lies beneath a simple case of murder is a scarred past that is too hideous to recall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great Collection
The MHC Collection consist of 4 short mystery thriller stories, very well writtenwith extraordinary attention to details. I listened to these audiobooks more than a month ago, and they are still lingering in my memory, for some reason they stay with you. I hope you enjoy this audiobooks as much as I did, they made me a definitely Mary Higgins Clark fan!

Mary Higgins Clark CD
I purchased this as a gift for a family member in the hospital.She's a fan of Mary Higgins Clark but the first book was disturbing and not the right gift.I'm hoping she didn't get discouraged and not listen to the other books.Probably my last purchase of a CD when I'm unfamiliar with the author's works.

Great gift for the truck driver!
My husband was sooo thankful when this came in the mail.It kept him and his "ride along" employee entertained through 8 states!

Four of Mary Higgins Clark's Best
LOVES MUSIC, LOVES TO DANCE:Nona, a film maker, Darcy, owner of a small decorating business and Erin, a jewelry designer are good friends.Nona is filming a story about people and why they write personal ads.She talked Darcy and Erin into writing and answering a personal ad.

One night the three are to meet for dinner but Erin never shows up.Darcy becomes worried but Nona thinks Erin has just lost track of time.Unfortunately, Darcy's fears come true.Erin has gone missing.Even more to worry about is the re-investigation of a 15-year-old murder where the victim was found with one dancing shoe and one shoe she had been wearing.Can the two be related?Surely not!

There are three men in the picture.A doctor who is writing a book on people who write/answer personal ads, a philandering husband and a man who tells people he is Erin's agent.What do these three have to do with the fact that Erin is missing?Everything?Nothing?But wait; there is yet another man - the brother of the girl that was murdered 15 years ago.Darcy is attracted to him.Can this be a good thing or even a safe thing?

In investigating Erin's disappearance, more girls are found to have gone missing.Now the mates to the shoes found on the first victim turn up and other similar pairs are being found.What is happening?Where is Erin?Is Darcy safe?Grab a copy of LOVES MUSIC, LOVES TO DANCE and find out.


ALL AROUND THE TOWN: I have always been fascinated with the Multiple Personality Syndrome (MPS) and with the fact that one human being can inflict so much pain on another.With these two themes, Ms. Clark writes an engrossing tale of 4-year-old Lorie who is taken by Bic and Opal and kept for two years.She is then returned to her family with threats of death repeated to her many times before the couple lets her go.

Because of the fear Lorie lived with during those two years, other "people" have come to help her cope with life.Lorie is in college when one of her "people" show themselves to a professor.Then the professor is found dead and Lorie is accused. Sarah, Lorie's sister, is an attorney and takes up her case.A detective takes up Lorie's case to help Sarah prove her sister's innocence.Lorie goes into therapy to get help with the MPS and to discover who really killed the professor before the sentencing deadline causes Lorie to be sent to prison.

The story is fast-paced and well written.The two themes work well together and prove the listener with a tale that is hard to put down.


WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN:Nancy Harmon keeps to herself because seven years ago, she was on trial for murdering her two small children.During the trial, the prosecution's only witness goes missing so they are unable to prove Nancy committed the murders.Nancy is set free and flees to a small town in Maine where she meets and marries Ray Harmon, a real estate agent.Only Ray's assistant, Dorothy knows the truth about Nancy as Nancy wouldn't marry Ray until she told him the truth.Dorothy wants to be with Ray and Nancy but a client has scheduled a visit to a property that Ray has for sale.A Mr. Parrish lives in the apartment at the top of the house and isn't happy that Dorothy is showing the house this day.

Life begins again for Nancy and she has two more children, Michael and Missy.Nancy lets the children out to play and the horror of missing children begins all over again.Someone takes them and Nancy is the sheriff's main suspect.Now Nancy needs a lawyer and a neighbor comes to her aid.He is an attorney who is writing a book on the ten most famous unsolved murders, one of which is murder trial of Nancy.

Also in the mix is a psychiatrist that was a good friend of Nancy's mothers.When Nancy was put on trial for murder, he wanted to come to her aid but he didn't know if Nancy's mother had told her of their relationship and didn't want to add to her burden.But now he can't stay away and comes to help her try to remember the actual facts of the first set of missing children.

Her husband, Ray, doesn't believe for a moment that Nancy could hurt their children, nor does he believe she hurt her first children.With all the support of Ray, Dorothy, her attorney and her psychiatrist, Nancy is able to "let go" of some hidden thoughts.This, with the addition of a barely audible phone call from her son, Michael, brings the story to its conclusion.


I'LL BE SEEING YOU: Megan Collins is a news reporter with a law degree.Her mother, Katherine owns an Inn.Her father, Edwin, is supposedly dead almost a year because of a bridge/river accident but no body has ever been recovered.A few weeks before he died, he took all the cash value out of his insurance policies and the insurance company has yet to pay on the policies that is causing Katherine cash flow problems.

Megan is at the hospital covering a past senatorial candidate's illness when a stabbing victim comes in DOA.In covering the stabbing story, Megan sees a girl that looks to be her twin.She dismisses it.Then she is sent to cover a party held at the Infertility Clinic where all the children born with the help the Clinic provides gathers yearly.There is a mother about ready to give birth to her 3-year-old son's identical twin.What a story this will be Megan thinks. In the meantime, Megan goes to see Edwin's business partner, Phillip Cater and begins to clear out her fathers belongs so the firm can move on.

Not to give too much of the story away, Ms. Clark intertwines several stories into one and tells a story with all the intrigue only she can write.With a parking attendant and his mother, a former sweetheart and his son, a shady employee of Edwin's firm, a bio-geneticist doctor and several police and detectives, Ms. Clark brings the story to a spellbinding conclusion that only she can do. ... Read more

Product Description
In a riveting thriller, worldwide bestselling suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark brilliantly weaves the mystery of twin telepathy into a mother's search for a kidnapped child, presumed dead.

When Margaret and Steve Frawley come home to Connecticut from a black-tie dinner in New York, their three-year-old twins, Kathy and Kelly, are gone. The police found the babysitter unconscious, and a ransom note from the "Pied Piper" demands eight million dollars. Steve's global investment firm puts up the money, but when they go to retrieve the twins, only Kelly is in the car. The dead driver's suicide note says he inadvertently killed Kathy.

At the memorial, Kelly tugs Margaret's arm and says: "Mommy, Kathy is very scared of that lady. She wants to come home right now." At first, only Margaret believes that the twins are communicating and that Kathy is still alive. But as Kelly's warnings become increasingly specific and alarming, FBI agents set out on a desperate search. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

A Gripping Novel About Twins
Two Little Girls In Blue by Mary Higgins Clark is gripping right from the start. It's about Kathy and Kelly, a set of three-year-old twin girls being kidnapped for $8 million. The scheme is master minded by someone who is referred to as "The Pied Piper." He had a brilliant plan in place and collected the ransom with no difficulty, making the FBI look like fools; however, one of his partners in crime decided to double cross him and changed the plan. An interesting part of "Two Little Girls In Blue was the twins" being able to communicate when separated.This is a fast-paced page turner that I enjoyed very much because it is not filled with foul language and is well written!

I liked being "in" on the kidnapper's actions all through the book and actually got to know them better than the parents of the girls. I must admit, I guessed wrong as to who the "Pied Piper" was. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good crime novel. This book is excellent!I highly recommend it!

Not MHC's best work
Having read several other MHC books prior to this, I can't say that I was impressed by this one. The plot is cute, but the twin thing was played too much and came across as rather cheesy. Also, I was surprised to see who the bad guy was in her other books, it was always the person I least expected. However, with this one, I was able to guess who was responsible for the kidnapping. If you're new to MHC, do NOT get this book. There's plenty of other books she wrote that were enjoyable.

Not worth the time
Now I know why I had not read a book from MHC since my 20s : they are childishly written. The end seems to have been written in a hurry and is worse than the beginning. I can't find any more to say than this about the book. Very weak story.

Predictable, but a fast read
Three year old identical twin girls, Kathy and Kelly, are kidnapped from their home in the night.The kidnapper, known as The Pied Piper, demands an eight million dollar ransom.The family isn't rich, but the company the twins' father works for puts up the ransom so that the twins can come home safely.Unfortunately, only one of the twins is returned along with a note saying the other was accidentally killed.The mother has her doubts about Kathy being dead because Kelly is communicating with her telepathically.Now it's up to her to convince the rest of the family and the FBI that her daughter is alive before it's too late to save her.

This book has very short chapters that make for a quick, easy read.I did enjoy the story, mostly because I have identical twin girls and can identify with the bond that the twins in this story share.My girls aren't on the level that these two were, but I've seen some very amazing things take place between them including twin talk.I do have to say that I found the story predictable though.That's why it didn't get a higher rating from me.

2 little girls in blue
i ordered this book and never received it as of today.it was to be here by aug. 14 and now we are into the 24th.please let me know what happened to this book.

do not order from this person she never sends the book and keeps your money


... Read more

Product Description
It's a minor accident that brings prosecutor Kerry McGrath to the plastic surgeon's office with her beloved daughter, Robin. But even as the doctor assures Kerry that her daughter's scars will heal, she spies a familiar-looking beautiful woman in the waiting room and is seized by an overpowering sense of deja vu. When, on a return visit, she sees the same haunting face -- on another woman -- she has an intense flash of recognition: it's the face of Suzanne Reardon, the "Sweetheart Murder" victim, killed more than ten years ago! The case resulted in a guilty verdict and life sentence for Suzanne's husband, Skip. But for what possible reason would Dr. Smith be giving his patients the face of a dead woman?

As Kerry immerses herself in a fresh investigation, she is catapulted into the strange and ominous territory of those so obsessed with beauty they'll kill for it. Each new piece of evidence she unearths reveals a disturbing cache of questions. Not only does everyone involved want to keep the case closed, it's clear somebody will stop at nothing to keep it sealed forever. As she delves deeper she finds she's wrestling with a force so sinister that her own life -- and her daughter's -- is threatened with increasing peril....

Interweaving fascinating characters with deeply daring, staggeringly unpredictable plot twists, Mary Higgins Clark reminds us that she is, indeed, America's Queen of Suspense. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (80)

Let Me Call You Sweeatheart
One of her earlier ones, not as good as thr newer ones but still a good novel

Another one of her Best
I won't rehash the plot. I'll just say, this book was excellent. This one of those MHC nailbiters. You won't be disappointed.

Not upto MHC standards
It was an interesting read, but didn't seem like a plausible story.It took a while to get used to so many different characters.But I was most disappointmented by the end.I felt there were still several lose ends to be tied.For instance, who actually operated on Suzanne?Why did Grace feel that she had seen Jason Arnott?

Another highly successful lady fooled again
Don't get me wrong.I love MHC books.Maybe it was bad timing.But after reading "There's no Place like Home" and then this one, I couldn't help to see a familiar plot line.Sure, we have all the surroundings different, but the lead in each story is a successful lady who is on top of her game with one child and is fooled by someone they placed their trust in.

Kerry McGrath, for being on the verge of being nominated for a judge, seems to be just a half a step behind the obvious when she starts digging into a ten-year-old murder case.First she thinks the man in prision isn't convincing enough to be innocent, then she thinks that he threats against her daughter Robin are enough to worry more about getting the govenor to nominate her for a judge position, and finally when all the evidence starts slapping her around to the obvious, she decides it is time to solve the case.

A bit too long and too far-fetched for the MHC classics I have come to love to read.Still, it has the flair of this talented writer and if you are looking for a good story versus a good "whodunit", then this is the book for you.

DONT MISS IT!
VERY VERY VERY good novel from mary higgins clark, very easy to read lots of mistery, too many characters for me , but really good ending ... Read more

Product Description

Historian Jean Sheridan returns to Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, excited about her twenty-year high-school reunion at Stonecroft Academy. But a dear friend of hers soon becomes the fifth woman in the class to meet a sudden, mysterious end. Then Jean receives a taunting fax about a child she gave up for adoption, whose existence she had kept a secret but whose life may now be in danger. For present at the reunion is The Owl, a murderer on a mission of vengeance against women who once humiliated him...and Jean is his final intended victim. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (118)

Just bad
This book was just awful. A serial killer is killing his former classmates because he "felt" ridiculed by 6 of them during his school years. He's been killing them over a 20 year period. 20 years? Give me a break. What's taking so long? Currently, he is rich, successful and good looking, but he just can't let the feelings of ridicule go. So he kills. The majority of this storyline is set at their 20 year high school reunion.At the the reunion, another "mean" classmate goes missing. This killer goes around saying; "I am an Owwwwwl and I livvvve in a treeee."Yeah...just awful. Ridiculous...really. There was no suspense for me.I didn't care who the killer was. I'm in agreement with others. MHC has written some wonderful books with well drawn characters and storylines. I read a lot and have never known an author to, so totally, lose their ability to write. It's like she isn't the same author anymore....and she's probably not. I really believe her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, wrote this mess.I've read 2 books by her....picked up by mistake. I thought they were her Mom's.Their book covers are basically the same.She has a really juvenile, confusing and choppy writing style. Exactly, how this book was written.Unfortunately, her daughter is not a seriously talented writer. People who read alot are not stupid. If we like an author's work, we tend to read all of their books. You cannot make me believe MHC wrote this book. The person who wrote this book seemed confused and unsure of where to take the storyline and afraid to write the gory details of murder. They were just treading along.Still I will read MHC's books, hoping she'll evenually write another, but now I buy them second hand.However; this one was not worth the dollar I purchased it for.It was really bad. Carol, we've been "Snagged".... suspense writing is not for you. Your talent lieselsewhere.

VERY INTERESTING
I LOVE THIS BOOK, TRUE THAT IT HAVE ALOT OF CHARACTERS BUTUNTIL THE ENDING YOU DONT KNOW WHO IS THE KILLER.

Interesting read - not so thrilling end
It was a good read.Kept me guessing till the end about the killer.There were so many characters and anyone could have been the killer.I felt there were still a few loose ends to be tied.How did the killer really know about Lily?How was he friends with her family?Anyways, I enjoyed the book.

Interesting Mystery
Nine CD's is a lot of mystery! I enjoy hearing Jan Maxwell's voice reading the book. I load my CD player and listen to the story as I fall asleep at night. It really puts me out as I focus on the voice and the story. I just wonder why this book was so very long.I don't know if I would have been able to read it as it just seemed to take forever to make it's point.

No mystery to this novel
My, my, the Queen of Suspense certainly is slipping. I had the opportunity to read two of Ms. Clark's novels within a span of 15 days - "Two little girls in Blue" and "Nighttime is my time". Both of them were huge disappointments, although they helped me pass the time during my flights.

Ms. Clark had built her reputation and earned my interest in her earlier books by creating in each novel, a strong and slightly unique plot, characters who all subtly hint at sinister motives, a smart and strong-willed leading woman whose strength of character shines through out the story, a romance gradually made to progress through the plot twists and turns, the goings-on narrated from the unknown perpetrator's point of view and a grand finale where the evil is revealed and the good once and for all vanquishes the evil.

Now for "Nighttime is My Time":
1. It has what passes for a plot - a former tormented student killing off his/ her tormentors one by one at a high school reunion. Wow, never in a million years would I have imagined that plot for a mystery novel.
2. In an effort to keep us guessing, Ms. Clark has all characters at the reunion hint, nay, shout their sinister motives from roof-tops throughout the pages of the novel. The reason for this, I can't help but think, isbecause Ms. Clark hadn't decided until the last chapter whom the killer was going to be and to cover her bases built up everyone to be one... you know, just in case.
3. All that Ms. Clark lets the readers know of the leading lady is that she comes from a broken home, had given up a baby for adoption after high school, and now is a successful writer who is very very sad and always sad, never happy, in tears at times... in fact, I can't remember a single page where she was happy and smiling and sure about herself and her success except perhaps in the last two pages. Really Ms. Clark, you can't think of one single reason why this woman should be happy now - she made the toughest decision any woman can make at the most difficult point in her life and has succeeded despite or because of it, and all she can feel is sadness?
4. The premise for romance is very feeble and is limited to two cups of tea, two club sandwiches and some 5 minutes of soul-baring amid swirling doubts of "is he or isn't he" ...the killer, that is.
5. Now the narration from the owl's point of view is what dominates the novel and gets pretty tiresome pretty fast. A lot of pages devoted to convey absolutely nothing. I recommend skipping these pages. Another confirmation of my nagging suspicion that Ms. Clark hadn't decided on the identity of the killer yet.
6. The grand finale is over in a rush and the only information I was eager to get to was whom had Ms. Clark decided to be the killer, in that instant she started writing the paragraph that reveals him.

All in all, I would say the re-runs of "Murder, She Wrote" and "Matlock" easily trump the last two novels I read of Ms. Clark's. ... Read more

Product Description
From beloved storytellers Mary Higgins Clark, America's Queen of Suspense, and her daughter, bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark, two favorite suspense novels filled with holiday cheer.

Deck the Halls (first published in 2000) was the mother-daughter duo's first collaborative effort, a brilliant story of high-stakes intrigue and detection played out against a holiday setting. Christmas is only three days away when Regan Reilly, the dynamic young sleuth featured in the novels of Carol Higgins Clark, accidentally meets Alvirah Meehan, Mary Higgins Clark's sharp-witted lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, at a New Jersey dentist's office. When a call comes through on Regan's cell phone notifying her that her father and his driver, Rosita Gonzalez, are being held for $1,000,000 ransom, Alvirah insists that Regan allow her to lend a hand in gaining their release. Complicating the situation is the fact that Regan's mother, the famous mystery writer Nora Regan Reilly, has just been hospitalized with a broken leg, and a brutal winter storm is bearing down on them all. Regan must comfort her mother while trying to meet the harsh demands of her father's kidnappers, who are not just rank amateurs but also laughably inept -- making them all the more dangerous and unpredictable.

In The Christmas Thief (2004), Alvirah and Regan team up again to investigate another kind of kidnapping. When an eighty-foot blue spruce is chosen to spend the holidays as Rockefeller Center's famous Christmas tree, the folks who picked the tree have no idea that attached to one of its branches is a flask chock-full of priceless diamonds that Packy Noonan, a scam artist just released from prison, had hidden there over twelve years ago. When an excited Packy breaks his parole and heads to Stowe, Vermont, to reclaim his loot, he discovers that his special tree will be heading to New York City the next morning, so he and his bumbling crew have to act fast. Meanwhile Alvirah Meehan and Regan Reilly happen to be on a weekend trip to Stowe with their families when they learn that the tree -- and Alvirah's friend Opal, who won the lottery, but lost all her winnings in Packy's scam -- has gone missing.

With two novels filled with twists and turns, intrigue and danger, as well as a hearty dose of good cheer, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark offer stories that are as breathlessly suspenseful as they are heartwarming -- Christmas classics for many holiday seasons to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Two Holiday Suspense Novels in One Volume
Bestselling suspense novelist Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter and bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark joined together when they wrote Deck the Halls, first published in 2000. Their sleuths, Regan Reilly and Alvirah Meehan, team up again in the 2004 The Christmas Thief.

Although both stories were enjoyable, I especially liked the first novel, Deck the Halls. The writing was crisp and the storyline taut. While the underlying humor was interesting, the plot centered on how the inept kidnappers were going to pull everything together and whether the victims were going to be rescued in time to spend Christmas with their families. Although the ending was a given, the ride throughout was fantastic fun.

With The Christmas Thief, the criminals were just as inept, but the storyline just wasn't as interesting or mysterious for me. The authors spent too much time on the suspects and not enough on the main characters, whose lives prove to be much more interesting.

Fans of the authors will enjoy that these two stories are now combined in one book and available to read as we head into the Christmas season.

Deck the Halls/The Christmas Thief: Two Holiday Novels

entertaining lighthearted mysteries
Deck the Halls.California private detective Regan Reilley flies home to New Jersey to spend the holidays with her parents. Regan visits her mother, Nora a patient at the Manhattan Hospital for Special Surgery for a leg she broke tripping over a rug. At her mother's room, Regan also sees her father Luke, a funeral home owner, who quickly races off to attend the Goodloe funeral before going onto a dentist.However, Luke never makes his appointments as Petey the Painter and C.B. Dingle kidnap him for providing terrible financial advice.C.B. demands Nora send them one million dollars for the safe return of her spouse and his driver. Regan searches for her abducted father starting at the dentist's office where she meets local amateur detective Alvirah Meehan, who offers her help.

The Christmas Thief.Con artist Packy Noonan talked people into investing over 100 million in his phony shipping company, but though his confederates escaped Packy went to jail.After serving twelve years he heads to Stowe, Vermont to get the diamonds that are hidden in an eighty foot blue spruce tree belonging to his former employees Lenny and Viddy. He doesn't know the tree is heading to Rockefeller Center.Others head to Stowe like Alviah Meshim and Megan Reilly with a convergence about to occur.

These are reprints of entertaining lighthearted mystery collaborations of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark.Each entry is fun as stars from the mother daughter authors' solo books team up for the holidays.Although the underlying premises for the action are stretches, no one will care these are enjoyable Christmas suspense thrillers.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Product Description

Mary Higgins Clark, for several years, has given her readers a very special holiday gift -- short novels celebrating the Christmas season with tales of suspense and cheer. Now two of her most beloved stories are combined in one special volume -- a welcome gift for readers in all seasons.

In Silent Night, Brian, a seven-year-old boy, is in New York City at Christmas with his mother and ten-year-old brother to visit his father, critically ill in the hospital. They plan to give him a St. Christopher medal, in the belief that it will make him well. When Brian sees a woman steal his mother's wallet, with the medal in it, he embarks on a dangerous journey that changes the life of his mother and that of the thief.

With All Through the Night, two of Mary Higgins Clark's most endearing characters -- Alvirah, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, and her husband, Willy -- are caught up in a Christmas mystery that begins when a young mother leaves her newborn child on the doorstep of a church rectory on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and continues with the theft of a precious chalice from the church. It is a captivating tale of false identities and old wrongs made right, as well as a mystery that calls for all of Alvirah's deductive powers and Willy's world-class common sense.

Even one story by America's Queen of Suspense is cause for cheer, but this single-volume edition of Silent Night and All Through the Night is a treat for all of Mary Higgins Clark's devoted fans at any time of the year. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Exciting Short Suspense
Mary's stories are always interesting, life like, and easy to follow. Silent Night is another one that is like a story a friend or relative would tell but so much more exciting.The suspense is classic and rewarding.
All Through the Night is a great story using Alvirahs and Willy characters and we have always enjoyed their processes and sometimes luck.

Not good disks
I really love M H Clark, and was very disappointed that these disks would not play in my car.They skipped and would not play for very long stretches of time.

Clark has woven two delightful holiday stories that will warm you from head to toe
SILENT NIGHT - Catherine Dornan always had the picture-perfect life. Two healthy, happy sons - Brian and Michael - and a loving husband, Tom, who still had the power to make her feel like a teenager. Even with the long hours he must keep, making his rounds at the hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, where they make their home, their marriage and family life have never suffered. Until he's struck down with Leukemia, and must be rushed to New York City for emergency surgery - right before Christmas.

Cally Siddons has always struggled to provide a happy home life for her young daughter, Gigi. Doing so, however, has not been easy, what with her troublesome younger brother, Jimmy, constantly appearing and disappearing, leaving their lives in shambles with each new arrival and departure. Cally already spent over a year in prison for helping her ex-con brother, and doesn't plan on being separated from Gigi again. Especially not around the holidays. But when Jimmy escapes from prison, she just knows that he'll somehow find her again, and that's one thing she can't face.

The paths cross between these two individuals when, attempting to take Michael and Brian's minds off of the fact that their father is sick, Catherine takes her two sons out for a night on the town in Manhattan to view the holiday festivities. After a few hours spent singing carols, visiting Rockefeller Center, and viewing the Christmas displays at the upscale department stores, they plan on visiting Tom in the hospital and giving him a St. Christopher's medal. The family has faith that St. Christopher will help him through this difficult time in his life, and prompt him to get better. But when Cally Siddons steals Catherine's wallet - the very same wallet that contains the St. Christopher's medal - Catherine's youngest son, Brian, vows to get it back, and ends up in the midst of a deadly tango between a homicidal ex-con, and his naive, well-meaning younger sister. One that could mean a very silent night. 5 stars.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT - Seven years ago, when Sondra was just eighteen-years-old, the promising violinist trekked to New York City, in the dead of winter, to give birth to her baby, and leave the small child on the steps of St. Clement's Church in Manhattan. Knowing that she was unable to care for her child, what with taking care of her grandfather, and attending classes to fulfill her dream of becoming a professional violinist, the young mother believed that the child would fare better if brought up by the kindly Monsignor, or at least be placed in a proper home.

On that same night, when Sondra abandoned her tiny baby girl, Lenny, a petty thief, was casing St. Clement's. At the time, he was searching for money, and eager to steal a silver chalice, harboring a star-shaped diamond, which once belonged to Bishop Joseph Santori. At the time, Lenny knew that the star-shaped diamond would bring him a pretty penny. But as he's escaping St. Clement's after the successful heist, he stumbles upon a weatherworn stroller, and walks off with it. It is only when he arrives at his Aunt's apartment that he finds the tiny baby girl bundled up inside. In an attempt to ward off questions from his Aunt, he claim's the baby as his own, aptly naming her Star - Stellina, in Italian - and vows to raise her as his own.

Seven years later, Sondra is now 25-years-old, and back in Manhattan to play a violin concert at Carnegie Hall, her debut to the world. Unfortunately, the fate of her child is the only thing on her mind, making it difficult for her to concentrate on her coming performance. When she meets Alvirah Meehan, a lottery winner and amateur sleuth, she begins to think that all of her Christmas dreams have come true. Alvirah agrees to help Sondra find her little girl. Now, Alvirah has taken on two cases for the holidays. She can only hope that each will have a happy ending; otherwise, she may not sleep all through the night. 5 stars.

Over the years, I have read many of the Christmas novels that Mary Higgins Clark releases with her daughter, Carol; however, I have never delved into one of Mary Higgins Clark's own novels. SILENT NIGHT and ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT were wonderful stepping stones for me. While SILENT NIGHT is mystery-light, and centers more around a slightly suspenseful story, laced with thoughts of spending the holidays with the ones you love, I still found it extremely entertaining, and, oddly enough, heartwarming. Out of the two featured in this collection, however, I have to admit that ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT was my favorite. The characters, and the magic of the holiday truly came to life within this mystery, and display the true meaning of Christmas marvelously. Clark has woven two delightful holiday stories that will warm you from head to toe.

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Read this over Christmas break!
After Catherine Dornan's husband is diagnosed with leukimia, Cathering and their 2 sons go to New York so Mr.Dornan can a a life-saving operation.To get her son's minds off their father for a while they go to view Christmas decorations in the streets of New york.Catherine drops her wallet and a stranger, Cally Hunter, sister of escaped convict, Jimmy Siddons picks it up.The wallet holds a precious memento their grandmother just gave them, a St. Christopher medal.7-year-old Brian sees Cally and is unable to get his mother's attention so he follows Cally to get back the medal.Brian follows Cally all the way to her apartment where Jimmy Siddons gets a hold of hime and kidnaps Brian as he runs away from the cops.This book is written with warmth for the holiday seasons.It is very intriguing and puts you in suspense as you wonder what will happen next. ... Read more

Product Description

A young woman probing into the mysterious circumstances of her husband's death receives a message from a medium claiming to be his channel in Mary Higgins Clark's #1 bestselling thriller,

BEFORE I SAY GOOD-BYE.

When Nell MacDermott learns that her husband, architect Adam Cauliff, and three of his business associates have died in an explosion of his new cabin cruiser, she is not only devastated but wracked with guilt. The last time she saw Adam, they had a bitter quarrel over her plan to run for the congressional seat long held by her grandfather; she had told him not to come home.

As the investigation into the boat's explosion proceeds, Nell learns that it was not an accident but a bomb. Despite her skepticism, Nell is swayed by her great-aunt Gert, a believer in psychic powers, to see a medium claiming to be Adam's channel.

While trying to unravel the threads of Adam's past and his violent end, Nell consults the medium, who transmits messages to her with instructions from Adam. The story reaches a powerful climax in Nell's final encounter with the medium, in which she learns the truth about the explosion -- truth she can't be allowed to live and tell.Amazon.com Review
Mary Higgins Clark's 22nd romantic thriller is destined for bestsellerdom on the strength of her reputation alone. Which is not to say that Before I Say Good-Bye doesn't have a bit of all the ingredients of the Clark genre: a little mystery, a likable heroine, and even a nice guy who turns up midway through the novel and promises her romance and a second chance at happiness. But while the set-up is promising and the bare essentials of a compelling read are all here, only readers who are already Higgins fans will be kept completely spellbound.

Nell MacDermott is the politically ambitious granddaughter of a canny politician in Manhattan's silk stocking district, and her grandfather wants her to run for his old congressional seat. But there are rumors that Adam Cauliff, Nell's husband, has been involved in a real estate and construction scam, and until Nell gets to the bottom of this her political future will be clouded. When Adam and his assistant are killed in an explosion aboard his boat, Nell is determined to clear his name. Nudged into action by her nascent psychic powers and a medium who may be her only link to Adam, Nell learns more about her husband's mysterious past than she bargained for and--naturally--stumbles onto a conspiracy that puts her own life in danger. The narrative seems more like an outline for a novel than a novel itself; the characters are sketched rather than fully explored--particularly Nell, whose back story doesn't provide enough information to make her actions understandable. But the pacing is expert, and Clark's dedicated fans will doubtless forgive her for not making this her strongest outing. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (136)

Before I say Good-Bye
One of her earlier ones, not as good as thr newer ones but still a good novel

Delving into the psychic and spiritual realm
This book strikes gold and shows everything is not face value, especially in the case of Adam Cauliff. In her encounter with the medium she learns the truth about the death of her husband. He survived the explosion.The element of surprise is always present in this book.It kept me spellbound.

Was not impressed
This book was not worth reading. I wouldn't recommend it. Although, it was well-written,it didn't leave a good and lasting impression because the villain in the novel was unbelievable.

suspenful
well this book is packed with action and suspence. I felt like if I was watching a movie,very fast paced. It is a definite page turner. This is a must read book.

lackluster
I am a huge Mary Higgins Clark fan.I love to read her books in between some of the more intellectual books that I read b/c they are riveting page-turners with a complex plot...usually.I picked this book up at the supermarket and was excited to hear that there may be a supernatural twist.Not only is this incredibly downplayed throughout the book, but there is a sense of repetition that was slammed home by the following exchange.On page 223 of the paperback Nell is speaking to detectives about a safe deposit box to which a key has been found.She says, "Can't you take it to the bank and find out there?"They explain the difficulties of finding a box without knowledge of the bank where it is located.The repetition occurs on page 291 where the detectives visit Nell's home and speak to her about the box as if it is the first time (i.e. a new discovery).She says again, "Can't you just take it to the bank that issued it and find out what is in the lock box?"Prior to this, I felt time and again that the feelings of the characters and the facts of the story were being unnecessarily repeated.I always liked Ms. Clark for her wit and quickness and I don't enjoy being written to as if I were a small child.It makes me question whether this book had ever been edited.She claims her long-time editor is Michael Korda, and I wonder if he somehow dropped the ball on this one.Ms. Clark is truly the Queen of Suspense, but this book should be erased from her C.V.The supernatural suggestions are misleading and should have taken the place of the constant reiteration of the facts and feelings surrounding the main characters.All in all, a dud. ... Read more

Product Description

Even as a young girl, growing up in the Bronx, Mary Higgins Clark knew she wanted to be a writer, The gift of storytelling was a part of her Irish ancestry, so it followed naturally that she would later use her sharp eye, keen intelligence, and inquisitive nature to create stories.

Along with all Americans, citizens of the Bronx suffered during the Depression. So when Mary's father died, her mother opened the family home to boarders and placed a discreet sign next to the front door that read, "Furnished Rooms. Kitchen Privileges."

The family's struggle to make ends meet; her days as a scholarship student in an exclusive girls academy; the death of her beloved older brother in World War II; her marriage to Warren Clark; writing stories at the kitchen table; finally selling the first one for one hundred dollars, after six years and forty rejections -- all these experiences figure into Kitchen Privileges.

Her husband's untimely death left her a widowed mother of five young children. Determined to care for her family an& to make a career for herself, she wrote scripts for a radio show. In her spare time she began writing novels. Where Are The Children? became an international bestseller and launched her career.

When asked if she might consider giving up writing for a life of leisure, Marv has replied, "Never. To be happy for a year, win the lottery. To be happy for life, do what you love." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A peek into Mary Higgins Clark's formative years
In Kitchen Privileges, suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark writes about her formative years and the first half of her adult life.She does through through a series of vignettes and stories, showing the places, people and experiences that influenced her.

Her tone is honest, but modest, and often funny.Sometimes it assumes the tone of someone recollecting their favorite scenes from life, scenes which have a lot of meaning to the teller, but not so much to the listener.But Clark's spirit dances throughout the memoir, a spirit that gave her the persistence to continue writing despite years of rejections, to write, work and raise five children, to pursue her interests and values in an era where women were not given much freedom, and to continue to find joy even after the deaths of her parents, husband, brother-in-law, and all siblings.

The audio CDs are read by Clark herself, making her story very personal.Kitchen Privileges is worthwhile listening (or reading) for Clark fans or for those interested in a woman's life in mid-twentieth century America.For younger listeners, it's an interesting personal account of an era so different from today.

A GENEROUS SHARING OF LIFE EXPERIENCES
Does any reader have to be told who Mary Higgins Clark is?I think not.But, now with this remarkably candid and affecting memoir the author of 27 bestselling novels tells her personal story.Not only that, this recollectionis related in her own voice, making it all the more meaningful.Rather than through a fictional protagonist she speaks directly to us with words of encouragement and hope.

Beginning with a childhood in the Bronx during the DepressionMs. Clark had dreams - she dreamed of becoming a writer, and her mother encouraged her even though the older womanstruggled to make ends meet by renting out rooms.A sign was placed by the front door reading, "Furnished Rooms.Kitchen Privileges."

Ms. Clark's days as a student at an exclusive girl's school came to an end; she lost an older brother whom she deeply loved during World War II.She tells with affection and sensitivity of her marriage to Warren Clark, and the birth of their children.A devastating blow occurred when he died unexpectedly leaving her widowed with five young children.

Nonetheless, she soldiered on, writing at a kitchen table.For her labors?Forty rejections.Determined to reach her goal and support her family she wrote radio scripts and began work on a novel.

The rest is literary history.Ms. Clark generously shares her life experiences, reminding us that dreams can come true when someone is willing to persist and fight mightily for them.

- Gail Cooke

It should have been longer
A surprising glimpse into the world of Mary Higgins Clark from her childhood which took a sad turn with the early death of her father.Her mother then was forced to rent out rooms (with kitchen privileges)in order to try to make ends meet. Some of their tenants were interesting to say the least.

Before marrying, Ms. Clark was an airline stewardess and she has a few interesting stories about that.She married the man she had had a crush on and was blissfully happy until he suffered a fatal heart attack leaving her with 5 children.

She writes about her struggles to become published and also of her fantastic life since.

The only thing wrong with the book is that it is so brief.Like I said at the beginning, we only get a glimpse into the life of this fascinating woman. ... Read more

Product Description
The "Queen of Suspense," Mary Higgins Clark, delivers a gripping tale of deception and tantalizing twists that might have been ripped from today's headlines.

When Nicholas Spencer, the charismatic head of a company that has developed an anticancer vaccine, disappears without a trace, reporter Marcia "Carley" DeCarlo is assigned the story. Word that Spencer, if alive, has made off with huge sums of money -- including the life savings of many employees -- doesn't do much to change Carley's already low opinion of Spencer's wife, Lynn, who is also Carley's stepsister and whom everyone believes is involved. But when Lynn's life is threatened, she asks Carley to help her prove that she wasn't her husband's accomplice. As the facts unfold, however, Carley herself becomes the target of a dangerous, sinister group that will stop at nothing to get what they want.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (75)

The Second Time Around
This is one of her earlier ones, not as good as her newer ones but still a good novel

Bor-ing!
This book is a big bore!I am forcing myself to finish it b/c I have no other reading material right now.Clark might be a good authur, but she doesn't prove it with this book. If you want to try a Clark novel then try one that has greater than 4 stars.

ANOTHER ENJOYABLE READ
No spoiler here....I have this one only four stars simply because I did not feel this was one of her best works.That being said, she is still Mary Higgins Clark, and that means your in for a good read.There are plenty of twists and turns to this story as is the case with this authors novels.Here we have a reporter following a story with murder and mystry throughout.I do have to classify this one as a page turner.I like the way the author can handle some pretty horrible stuff but does it with class without being gross about it.For a good read, an enjoyable read, recommend this one highly.

Where is MHC?
Did Mary Higgins Clark even write this book?Or...did she draw up an outline, write the first and last chapters, and leave the rest to one of her minions?I've noticed this type of failure with many authors I follow.All of a sudden I'm questioning "Who wrote this book?"

There was a time that I expectantly awaited the release of a new Mary Higgins Clark.I've read them all and have even had them signed, at "Boston Globe's Authors' Luncheons" where Ms. Clark has been one of my favorite guest authors on more than one occasion.

At some point in time, though, I wondered if the hardcover price was worth an evening's entertainment...as I generally consumed her books in one sitting.Then the fact that she (like Stephen King) often put children or young people in jeopardy began to bother me.

I've wondered if this is a good thing.Certainly from an author's standpoint, it works.Talk about a hook...how many people can read one of these books and think "That could be my...son, daughter, niece, nephew, student."...not many.

Anyway...I started waiting for the publication of paperbacks...and now, get the hard covers at the library.Next on my list was "Two Little Girls in Blue." But...after this book,I'm seriously wondering if I'll ever pick up another Mary Higgins Clark.

I have this bad habit of "reading forward"...scanning future chapters, reading the ending...out of sequence.Not this time.I wasn't interested enough to do so.I doggedly read it, page by page, thinking "Eventually something of interest will happen." but it never did.

I've given this book two stars...as I did manage to finish it, rather than toss it aside, halfway through."The Second Time Around" is, by far, one of the most disappointing novels I've read in years.

Good but the Same
I love Mary Higgins Clark and this book was no different.However, it was really preictable and much like her other books. I figured it out within the first chapter. Not one of her better books but still an enjoyable read. ... Read more

Product Description
Mary Higgins Clark, America’s Queen of Suspense, and her daughter, bestselling mystery writer Carol Higgins Clark, have again joined forces to create a suspenseful and humorous holiday tale.

The folks who picked a beautiful eighty-foot blue spruce from Stowe, Vermont, to be Rockefeller Center’s famous Christmas tree don’t have a clue that Packy Noonan, a scam artist just released from prison, hid priceless diamonds in it more than twelve years ago. But when Packy learns that his special tree will be heading to New York City the next morning, he knows he has to act fast.

What Packy does not know is that Alvirah, everyone’s favorite lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, and savvy private investigator Regan Reilly are visiting Stowe with their friend Opal, who lost all her lottery winnings in Packy’s scam. And just when they’re supposed to head home, they learn that the tree is missing . . . and that Opal has disappeared. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

An easy light read mystery
All Mary Higgins Clark books are a delight to read. When a book is written not only by her but also by her daughter Carol I know it will be a quick easy-read of a light mystery with funny parts to it. I was not disappointed this time either!

Disappointing
I've enjoyed several of MHC's books, and was curious to read a joint effort between her and her daughter. I got a bunch of MHC books from a coworker and this was one of them. I sure am glad I did not spend money on it. This book was unfortunately lacking in any flair or anything special. Nothing personal against these two ladies, but this simply was not a very good effort. It is a very 'light' read, without real substance. I found myself easily bored with it and had to force myself to finish it. Sure, there were a couple of interesting characters, like Packy Noonan, but really, this book is not worth checking out even for free. I quickly got rid of my copy.

The Worst MHC book I've read
My title says it all...don't waste your time with this book. I am a fan of Mary Higgins Clark but this one is so bad it's not worth the time it took to read it. Only redeeming factor is it's a short book.

A Nice Try

I had been hopeful when I read the description of the plot of The Christmas Thief. It sounded like a fun read to pass the time. Even the characters sounded interesting at least at the beginning of the novel. Something happened halfway through, I lost interest. The novel idea of hiding diamonds in a Christmas tree while at first intriguing became uninteresting as the plot developed. This novel needed a few other twists to keep me interested. It won't stop me from reading her other endeavors but it will make me more cautious.

A Ho-Hum Holiday Read!
I found this one in a stack of books I'd forgotten about. I chose it as one of my holiday reads this year, and am feeling a little disappointed after having read it. The premise of the story, diamonds hidden in a tree that is selected for the Rockefeller Center Tree in New York, appealed to me greatly. However, there were flaws in the story, as this eighty foot tree was stolen by only three, thats right, three men (a little unbelievable). Not much of a Christmas story either other than it takes place in the winter during the holiday season. MHC and CHC, you've have done better. ... Read more