Bio
Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark was born on the 24th of December, in the year of 1927, in Bronx, New York, United States of America. Clark was a prolific American novelist, most notably of suspense books. All of her books, a number north of fifty, were US bestsellers.
Life
Clark was born on the eve of Christmas in 1927, though it should be noted that other sources note the year 1929, but the former is the more widely accepted one. The mother and father of Mary were both of Irish heritage, though her mom was born in America, while her dad was an immigrant from Ireland.
Best Mary Higgins Clark Books
The Young Days
Even from the youngest of ages, Clark showed a proclivity for writing and storytelling, with her first poem coming when she was seven. Mary even kept a journal throughout her childhood and youth years. Mary and her family had an Irish pub and they made enough money from there to live comfortably, though, by the time that Mary was ten, the financial troubles came knocking at the door.
Alvirah & Willy Series
Adored Series
The most notable series from the author’s talented hands is Higgins Clark’s Alvirah and Willy series. It is an eleven-book series, one that we absolutely love and adore and we think it’s one of the best Higgins Clark series ever. These Higgins Clark’s books in order are:
- Weep No More, My Lady
- The Lottery Winner
- All Through the Night
- Deck the Halls
- The Christmas Thief
- Santa Cruise: A Holiday Mystery at Sea
- Dashing Through the Snow
- I’ll Walk Alone
- The Lost Years
- As Time Goes By
- All by Myself, Alone
Coming to Terms With Loss
Elizabeth Lange has just arrived in Pebble Beach, California, namely at the Cypress Point Spa. Lange is still grief-stricken from the loss of her sister, an actress that fell to her death from her penthouse. It was Ted Winters, a millionaire, that was alleged to be the killer, but Elizabeth thinks it’s someone else altogether.
Elizabeth takes it upon herself to find out the truth and see why Leila was killed, how she was killed, and who did the killing. As far as Higgins Clark series list is concerned, this particular novel is one of the top ones.
The Bottom of the Mystery
On her way towards this discovery, however, she will have to face many obstacles and own up to herself if she has any hope of achieving these ambitions. It is no surprise why this is considered to be one of, if not the best Mary Higgins Clark series. It even has some of the best Higgins Clark Christmas books, too.
Under Suspicion Series
Multiple Names
Higgins Clark’s Under Suspicion series is a fantastic series, by its own, and one of the best all-around works of Clark. The books herein are also called Higgins Clark’s and Alafair Burke’s books because the series is a collaboration.
Oftentimes, one can hear the name Higgins Clark’s Laurie Moran series, but the two series point to the same books. With that said, let’s now take a look at this particular Higgins Clark’s series in order:
- I’ve Got You Under My Skin
- The Cinderella Murder
- All Dressed in White
- The Sleeping Beauty Killer
- Every Breath You Take
- You Don’t Own Me
A Sight to Haunt
Timmy, a three-year-old, is the only person that witnessed the gruesome murder of Laurie Moran’s spouse. Half a decade later, the terrible, blue eyes of the perpetrator still force the, now, eight-year-old Timmy to shiver in fear.
Laurie, on the other hand, is more fearful of the threat that the blue-eyed fiend gave to her son just as he was leaving the scene. He noted that his mother, Laurie, would be the next to go, and then it’s Timmy. With a premise like this, it’s obvious why this is one of the best Mary Higgins Clark books ever.
It’s All Connected
Right now, Laurie is tackling the notion of murder still, as she is a TV show producer for a true-crime series. Betsy Powell is the first case, a case that’s two decades old, where Betsy, a notable socialite, was choked and murdered in her bed following a celebration.
As the case is reopened, in a sense, by Laurie, it soon becomes clear that something fishy is going on. We recommend picking up all of Higgins Clark’s Under Suspicion novels as they are some of the greatest you’ll ever read. This is also our favorite Higgins Clark series.
Where Are the Children?
Getting Away
Getting AwayWhere Are the Children? was the debut novel from Clark and one that stays, to this day, as one of her most thrilling. One could even say that we wouldn’t have gotten the other Mary Higgins Clark suspense novels if not for this one, which we consider to be one of the top Mary Higgins Clark books.
Where Are the Children?, a 1975 novel, follows our main character, Nancy Harmon. Nancy Harmon got away from the plight and the sorrow that her first marriage brought to her. Her two young children were murdered in cold blood in a brutal and heartbreaking fashion, and she was the one towards whom the allegations pointed. Having no other recourse, Nancy went away and, for better or worse, tried to start anew.
It All Comes Back
Nancy Harmon took her name and threw it away and since then has utilized a different alias, she dyed and changed the color of her hair, and left for Cape Cod. At the present moment, Nancy is once again married, she once again has two children of her own, and the horrible suffering she endured has slowly, steadily begun to mend itself.
That is, until one day she walks into her backyard where her children were supposed to be and she finds nothing save a red mitten. A book that might just be the best Mary Higgins Clark novel.
Loves Music, Loves to Dance
Lover of Music
Lover of MusicLoves Music, Loves to Dance is among the most popular Higgins Clark books and it trades blows with the best-selling Higgins Clark books, as well. Loves Music, Loves to Dance was published in the year of 1991, spanning about three-hundred pages.
Loves Music, Loves to Dance is a novel that we can’t not recommend to our readers seeing as how much we love it and how often we find ourselves rereading it. It is one of the best-rated Higgins Clark books.
The novel sees a serial killer, a fiendish, vile one, that leaves his victims with nothing more than a dancing shoe on their feet. It’s known that the serial killer finds and acquaints himself with his victims via personal advertisements, but he is quite slick about them.
Luring the Fiend
When it just so happens that Erin bites the bullet, figuratively speaking, and the killer takes that life as well, the best friend of Erin decides to put up a personal ad, too, as a means to lure the fiend out, though he is already planning on her being the next victim.
Vince D’Ambrosio, an NYP detective finds this intriguing and fascinating, while Doctor Michael Nash, her boyfriend, shows support, but little could they all have known of the prowler and his schemes. One of the best books by Mary Higgins Clark.
Two Little Girls in Blue
Provocative
ProvocativeTwo Little Girls in Blue isn’t just another book on the list of Higgins Clark’s novels, but an enticing and provocative novel. Two Little Girls in Blue was published in the year of 2006, spanning about four-hundred pages. Perhaps even deserving of the title of the best Mary Higgins Clark book, too.
They’re Gone
As Margaret and Steve Frawley were coming back home to Connecticut from a fancy dinner in New York, they could little have expected what they would find home. Their two children, the twins Kelly and Kathy, had vanished.
The babysitter was knocked out and a ransom note asking for some eight-million dollars is all that was left. The company of Steve gets him the money, so when he accepts to go to the ransom, he’s carrying all eight-million. However, when he gets there, he finds that only Kelly is present.
A Chance Given
The driver of the car where Kelly was had seemingly killed himself and left a note saying that by doing this, Steve had killed Kathy.
When the time comes for the memorial, Margaret hears Kelly as she notes that Kathy was frightened by a certain lady. For better or worse, the two twins seem to be communicating in some way, leaving little time to waste.
All Around the Town
A Case Against You
A Case Against YouAll Around the Town is a 1989 novel, one we think is an easy to choose novel for Higgins Clark’s best books for a variety of reasons. Of all Clark’s books, All Around the Town is one with the most unique atmosphere pervading through the pages. Laurie Kenyon is a student going to college and she is currently aged twenty-one.
However, she has just been informed of the allegations against her, namely that she had murdered her professor of English, but she can’t recall a single detail of such an event. The scene of the crime, though, seems to be riddled with Laurie’s fingerprints. Knowing no better, Laurie calls up her attorney sister, Sarah, to help her out on this one, but Sarah gets Justin Donnelly to come with her, a psychiatrist.
Trauma and Its Slender Fingers
We learn that when she was aged merely four, Laurie Kenyon had been abducted and kept for some two years, and this period of her life has logically left its scars and traces.
As Laurie and Donnelly try to get at the meat of the problems of Laurie and her trauma, it becomes clear that there is something important that needs to be unearthed. Of all Higgins Clark’s books ranked that we’ve given as of yet, All Around the Town is the most special.
You Belong to Me
Talking About the Hushed Things
Talking About the Hushed ThingsYou Belong to Me, by no means just another book among the many Mary Higgins Clark book reviews, is among Higgins Clark’s best novels. You Belong to Me was published in the year of 1998 and it has a page count of nearly four-hundred pages.
Doctor Susan Chandler made a decision to utilize the means of a daily radio talk show as a chance to examine some of the odd, bizarre, and even frightening cases of woman that have vanished and that later turn out to have been victims of serial killers that find the lonesome, with a shot self-esteem women to be easy pickings. However, Susan could by no means have anticipated that she would be opening herself up to such things, as well.
Inviting Someone In
Chandler tries to go through with her resolute search for a certain woman’s attempted murderer. The woman had called in on the talk show and spoken about information regarding a cruise ship disappearance, where Regina Clausen had vanished. Before long, Susan finds herself trying to survive in battle with a vicious, stone-cold serial killer. Perhaps even Higgins Clark’s best book.
While My Pretty One Sleeps
Fantastic Read
Fantastic ReadWhile My Pretty One Sleeps, a book that bears many resemblances to Under Suspicion books, is a fantastic treat to read. While My Pretty One Sleeps was published in the year of 1989, spanning about three-hundred pages.
A Likeness Too Great
Ethel Lambston was a columnist who wrote most notably of gossip and, as such, she was a person that had a proclivity for finding out things about people that were worth knowing about. With that said, it really only broadens the scope of the potential suspects in the case of her murder.
Neeve Kearny, however, a Madison Avenue boutique owner, senses that the murder of one of her favorite customers is quite similar to one that happened many years ago – where her mother was the victim.
Not Going Away
Before she can make heads or tails, however, Neeve Kearny is dragged into the investigation of the ominous quest for the perpetrator of Ethel Lambson’s slaying.
From the beautiful palaces and villas of the wealthy New Yorkers to the scary underworld of the mob, Neeve Kearny is resolute about the journey in front of her, even if she finds herself on the killer’s list. One of the best Mary Higgins Clark novels ever.
I’ve Got My Eyes on You
Going Awry
Going AwryI’ve Got My Eyes on You is one of the new books by Mary Higgins Clark as it was published in the year of 2018. However, this is also a volume that shows that Clark’s writing prowess and her ability for storytelling have not waned one bit from even her earliest days. It’s among Higgins Clark’s latest books, but still one of the best.
The two-hundred-and-fifty or so page novel at hand begins with a party. At this party, for which the mother and father of Kerry Dowling, eighteen, were absent, things were seemingly going as well as they can at a party. However, following the party, Kerry Dowling’s body was found at the family pool’s bottom, where she was completely dressed.
A Whodunnit
The person that is immediately the suspect for the slaying of Kerry Dowling is her boyfriend as she and he had had a voluble and somewhat heated argument at the same party. On the other hand, there’s a like-aged neighbor that wasn’t invited to this party that embittered him.
Then again, there could be someone else that they aren’t even thinking of. This is where Aline, Kelly’s elder sister, steps in to find out the truth.
Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry
Killing the Informant
Killing the InformantKiss the Girls and Make Them Cry is a fantastic novel and not a book that we could just set aside as being another entry on our list. It was also one of the final books that Clark published prior to her death earlier this year.
When Gina Kane, an investigative journalist, got an e-mail from a user named CRyan talking about the horrible time she had had while at REL, a notable news network, what intrigues Gina Kane is when CRyan says that she isn’t the only one. However, soon after this, CRyan stops replying and Gina is a bit worried about her. Then, Gina finds out that she had died in a Jet Ski accident.
Under the Rug
Michael Carter, on the other hand, is a REL counsel that is in a pickle, to put it lightly. A number of female workers have spoken out about the sexual harassment and unethical ways they were treated.
Carter speaks with the company’s CEO so as to pay off the ladies and to stop the movement from getting traction. However, there is nothing that can stop Gina Kane and her desire to find out the truth. Of all the books on the Mary Clark books list, this is the timeliest one.
There’s More
On the Street Where You Live and Remember Me are two other novels we suggest picking up from the authoress.
Alissa Wynn
Alissa is an avid reader, blogger, and wannabe writer. (She's a much better cook than a writer actually). Alissa is married, has one human, one feline, and two canine kids. She always looks a mess and never meets a deadline.
