The Queen of Suspense herself.
Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark (December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author specializing in suspense and murder mystery novels. Over the course of her five decades-long career, Higgins Clark wrote over 50 novels, many of which have been bestsellers, and became one of the better-known suspense writers of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, leading to her being dubbed the 'Queen of Suspense'. As of 2015, none of her books have gone out of print.
Higgins Clark's life was quite checkered and novel-worthy in its own right (she published a memoir in 2001). She was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City; her father was an Irish immigrant while her mother was also of Irish descent. She was her parents' second child and their only daughter. She had a lifelong interest in writing and began journal-writing when she was seven. Her family was initially well-off financially but were negatively impacted by the Great Depression; her father was forced to lay off staff at their family-owned Irish pub and work longer hours to make ends meet. In 1939, twelve year old Mary returned home from Mass to find that her father had died in his sleep, throwing the family into further financial turmoil. Her mother struggled to find work as few employers were willing to hire a housewife in her fifties. While still attending high school, Mary took a job as a switchboard operator at a hotel to help support the family, though they still ended up losing their home and having to move into a small apartment. Higgins Clark's brother Joseph enlisted in the Navy upon graduating high school in 1944, although tragedy struck the family yet again when he contracted spinal meningitis and died six months into his enlistment. There was a slight silver lining, as Joseph's mother received a life pension from the Navy and so no longer needed to rely on her daughter for financial support.
After graduating high school, Higgins Clark had various jobs, including working in Remington Rand's internal advertising division and as a flight attendant for Pan Am. She gave up her job to become a housewife after marrying her first husband; although she continued to write stories during this period, after she was widowed she began seriously pursuing her dream career as a novelist, gaining success with the publication of Where Are the Children? in 1975.
Higgins Clark was married three times; her first husband Warren Clark passed away in 1964, leaving her to raise their children alone while working as a radio scriptwriter. She described her second marriage as "disastrous" and it ended in an annulment in 1986. Her third marriage to John J Conheeney lasted from 1996 to her husband's death in 2018. She had five children; her daughter Carol Higgins Clark also became a writer, with mother and daughter even writing some novels together.
Novels with their own pages (in order of publication):
- Where Are the Children? (1975)
- A Cry in the Night (1982)
- While My Pretty One Sleeps (1989)
- Let Me Call You Sweetheart (1995)
- Moonlight Becomes You (1996)
- On the Street Where You Live (2001)
- Daddy's Little Girl (2002)
- Nighttime Is My Time (2004)
- Two Little Girls in Blue (2006)
- I Heard That Song Before (2007)
- Under Suspicion (2014–20) — co-authored with Alafair Burke
- I've Got You Under My Skin (2014)note
- The Cinderella Murder (2014)
- All Dressed in White (2015)
- The Sleeping Beauty Killer (2016)
- Every Breath You Take (2017)
- You Don't Own Me (2018)
- Piece of My Heart (2020)
Her other works include:
Standalone novels
- Aspire to the Heavens (1968): Reissued in 2002 as Mount Vernon Love Story
- A Stranger is Watching (1977)
- The Cradle Will Fall (1980)
- Stillwatch (1984)
- Loves Music, Loves to Dance (1991)
- All Around the Town (1992)
- Pretend You Don't See Her (1997)
- You Belong To Me (1998)
- We'll Meet Again (1999)
- Kitchen Privileges (2001): Memoir
- The Second Time Around (2003)
- No Place Like Home (2005)
- Ghost Ship (2007): Illustrated by Wendell Minor
- Where Are You Now? (2008)
- The Magical Christmas Horse (2011): Illustrated by Wendell Minor
- Daddy's Gone A Hunting (2013)
- I've Got My Eyes on You (2018)
- Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry (2019)
- Where Are the Children Now? (2023) — sequel to Where Are the Children?, co-authored with Alafair Burke
Alvirah and Willy seriesnote
- Weep No More, My Lady (1987)
- The Lottery Winner (1994) - short story collection
- All Through the Night (1998)
- Deck the Halls (2000) - co-authored with Carol Higgins Clark; crossover with the Regan Reilly Mysteries
- The Christmas Thief (2004) - co-authored with Carol Higgins Clark; crossover with the Regan Reilly Mysteries
- Santa Cruise (2006) - co-authored with Carol Higgins Clark; crossover with the Regan Reilly Mysteries
- Dashing Through the Snow (2008) - co-authored with Carol Higgins Clark; crossover with the Regan Reilly Mysteries
- I'll Walk Alone (2011)
- The Lost Years (2012)
- As Time Goes By (2016)
- All By Myself, Alone (2017)
Tropes associated with the author and her other works include:
- Age-Gap Romance: In Stillwatch, the heroine nixes her budding romance with a politician given that he's 25 years older than she and married. They rekindle things after his wife dies and agree to work through any qualms about their age difference.
- Always Murder: The vast majority of her novels revolve around a murder mystery; it'll either be obviously a murder right out the gate, a missing person is discovered to have been murdered, or a death turns out to be foul play. Sometimes, all three scenarios are featured in the same story, as there's often Never One Murder.Erin Moriarty: Do you have any idea how many people have died at your hands?
Mary Higgins Clark: Well, at least one a book. - Anonymous Killer Narrator: She often uses this tactic, right until the final confrontation.
- Big Sister Instinct: In All Around the Town, Sarah Kenyon has spent years looking out for her little sister, Laurie. When she's arrested for a murder she doesn't remember committing, Sarah actually quits her job as a prosecutor so she can serve as Laurie's defense attorney.
- Breakthrough Hit: Where Are the Children?, her second published novel. Previously, she'd only written short stories and a historical novel that sold poorly. Where Are the Children? quickly became a bestseller and launched her long, successful career as a suspense novelist.
- Christianity is Catholic: Several of Mary Higgins Clark’s protagonists are mentioned as having some kind of religious beliefs, and it's usually strongly implied or stated outright that they’re Catholic (such as attending Mass). This is likely because Higgins Clark herself was Catholic; many of her protagonists also tend to have implied or stated Irish heritage (as did the author), with Catholicism being one of the most common religions followed by Irish Americans. Notably, her protagonists tend to be more relaxed in their beliefs; they’ll occasionally go to church and pray to God for help, but they’re also not opposed to things like divorce and remarriage.
- Cool Old Lady: She continued writing well into her nineties, although not without the inevitable help of a ghostwriter.
- Creator Provincialism: A lot of her novels are set either in New York (both the city or the state), New Jersey or both (with the characters commuting). Higgins Clark was born in the Bronx and lived in New York for many years.
- Creator Thumbprint: A lot of Higgins Clark's novels have this in common:
- A strong-willed and intelligent heroine who gets caught up in sinister goings-on, especially murder mysteries, and launches her own informal investigation (either because It's Personal or because she just can't shake the feeling something ain't right). She'll usually have a career in either law or the arts.
- A romantic subplot with some level of relevance to the main plot; how closely they're linked varies. The love interest is usually some bloke who helps the heroine with her investigations and/or acts as a support person, enabling them to grow closer over the story. Occasionally, the love interest will be a suspect in the central crime, creating conflict between him and the heroine, only for the heroine to realize she has misinterpreted the situation. On rare occasions though, the love interest (or one of two love interests) does turn out to be the villain.
- The villain tends to be someone known to and trusted by the heroine.
- Scenes taking place in Big Fancy Houses, especially out in the countryside (they may even form the main setting); dinner/cocktail parties are optional, often used to stage some important exposition or revelations.
- Creator's Oddball:
- Higgins Clark's debut novel, Aspire to the Heavens (later republished as Mount Vernon Love Story) is a historical romance novel about George and Martha Washington. It's completely different from the contemporary suspense novels she became well-known for. Aspire to the Heavens didn't sell particularly well, so Higgins Clark decided to go for something completely different for her second novel, Where Are the Children?...and that one proved to be a bestseller.
- There's also Ghost Ship, a children's mystery story with a Friendly Ghost, and The Magical Christmas Horse, a Christmas story for children, both of which are significantly Lighter and Softer than most of her works.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Higgins Clark tends to have her protagonists go through numerous trials and tribulations and gives them at least one Near-Death Experience, but they usually come out on top and get a mostly happy ending they've definitely worked for.
- The Film of the Book: Several of her books have been adapted into film. Most of these adaptations are Made For TV Movies, although two, A Stranger Is Watching (1982) and Where Are the Children? (1986), received theatrical releases.
- Gollum Made Me Do It: In All Around the Town, Laurie is arrested for killing her college professor after he rejected her advances, but it appears one of her other personalities was in control at the time, as she cannot remember what happened and has no motive to harm him that's she's consciously aware of; she doesn't remember writing him love letters, either. Her therapist tries to bring out her other personalities to determine what happened. The big twist is that none of Laurie's alternate personalities killed anyone; 'Leona' went to the professor's house intending to kill herself after being rejected by him and discovered he was already dead, at which point 'Lee' took over to try and protect Laurie, inadvertently incriminating Laurie in process.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Higgins Clark rarely includes graphic violence in her books; although most of her stories involve murder, she tends to skip depicting the crime itself to focus on the aftermath and the reactions of the characters.
- If I Can't Have You…: In All Around the Town Laurie is believed to have murdered her college professor for rejecting her love letters, though Laurie herself doesn't remember this and insists she would never have harmed him. It's revealed that Laurie is innocent and it was in fact the professor's wife who killed him for this reason, as she had found out he was planning on leaving her for another woman.
- Internal Reveal: She utilises this in just about all her books, revealing more information, clues and context about the central mystery to the reader than the protagonist until the climax, primarily to ramp up suspense. In many cases, the protagonist finally pieces together all the clues and realises she's in mortal danger, while the reader will often already have been made aware that the heroine is Alone with the Psycho or has been Lured into a Trap.
- Lighter and Softer: The Christmas-themed mystery novels she co-wrote with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, tend to be much lighter and more comedic compared to her other books, which are mostly more serious and suspenseful in tone.
- Missing Child / Would Hurt a Child: Many examples. Some of her books that particularly revolve around this include:
- Where Are the Children?: A woman's children go missing under suspicious circumstances. Years later, the same thing happens again with her new family.
- Two Little Girls in Blue: A couple's twin daughters are kidnapped and held for ransom.
- All Around the Town: A young girl is abducted by predators.
- Daddy's Little Girl: A teenage girl is murdered by her abusive boyfriend and her little sister finds the corpse. And it turns out he may have harmed other girls, too.
- A Cry in the Night: A single mother marries a seemingly perfect man who turns out to be a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing; she plans on leaving him, but finds out she's pregnant and has to find a way to escape while keeping both her children safe.
- Multi-Gendered Split Personalities: Downplayed with Laurie in All Around the Town; most of her other personalities are female, but one is a young boy named Lee.
- Never the Obvious Suspect: Chances are if there's a suspect that seems likely, they didn't do it. It's usually a supporting character who is heavily present throughout the story, but isn't regarded as a suspect until certain revelations come to light. Some notable exceptions are in Daddy's Little Girl, where the killer's already been caught and Ellie wants to ensure he can't get himself falsely exonerated, and All Around the Town, where we know who abducted Laurie, but she herself can't fully remember and so no one else knows, either.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. Higgins Clark occasionally reuses first names.
- In I Heard That Song Before Kay's grandmother is named Maggie, which is also the name of the protagonist of Moonlight Becomes You.
- I Heard that Song Before and Let Me Call You Sweetheart both have characters named Grace and Jonathan; in Let Me Call You Sweetheart there's married couple Grace and Jonathan Hoover, while I Heard That Song Before has Grace Meredith Carrington and Jonathan Lansing.
- No Place Like Home and You Belong To Me both feature a male love interest named Alex; both of whom, somewhat amusingly, wind up being revealed as their respective book's main villain.
- No Place Like Home also features a man called Will who is the protagonist's beloved late father, and On The Street Where You Live has a major character called Will as well, though they are short for William and Willard, respectively.
- A semi-example lies in A Cry in the Night and You Belong To Me, which feature a Caroline and a Carolyn, respectively.
- The name "Kathy" pops up in Clark's novels fairly frequently as well.
- Preppy Name: Higgins Clark wrote a short novel about George and Martha Washington; Martha Washington's wealthy first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, and their son and grandson, John Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, may have been her inspiration for Rob's middle name in Daddy's Little Girl.
- Psychological Thriller: All Around the Town, which revolves around a troubled young woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder, who ends up committing a murder while one of her other personalities was in control and cannot remember what happened. Her therapist and attorney sister try to help her recover her memories, both of the murder and of her childhood abduction, to help her. Oh, and her abductors have rocked up in town and have begun stalking her, which doesn't improve her mental state.
- Reunion Revenge: The villain of Nighttime Is My Time is seeking this on the girls who bullied or rejected him in high school. At the beginning of the book, he's already killed five of them.
- Reverse Whodunnit:
- In All Around the Town, the reader knows the identities of the couple who abducted Laurie and are currently stalking her, but the protagonists don't (Laurie herself is so traumatized she's tried to block her abductors from her mind). Part of the plot revolves around the protagonists trying to identify and catch the kidnappers before they can do Laurie anymore harm.
- Two Little Girls in Blue is a partial example; the reader knows who the kidnappers are, with the protagonists trying to figure this out and hunt them down. However, the identity of mastermind behind the kidnapping is hidden for most of the novel.
- Science Marches On: A mild example with All Around the Town, which was first published in 1992. Laurie is diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, which is now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder; the name change occurred in the DSM-IV, which wasn't published until 1994 (and received further revision in 2000).
- Serial Killer: The villain of Loves Music, Loves to Dance is a serial murderer who leaves a single dancing shoe on the foot of each victim.
- Sequel Gap: Where Are the Children? eventually received a sequel, Where Are the Children Now?, co-authored with Alafair Burke. The first novel was published in 1975, while the sequel was published in 2023 (a few years after Higgins Clark had already died), a whopping 48 years after the original's release.
- Sexier Alter Ego: In All Around the Town, one of Laurie's alternate personalities, Leona, is a lot more flirtatious and provocative than Laurie, who is more reserved and afraid of some forms of physical intimacy. Her therapist theorizes that Leona represents Laurie's sexuality and desire for intimate relationships, which she has otherwise suppressed due to childhood trauma.
- Split Personality: Laurie Kenyon in All Around the Town is revealed to have Multiple Personality Disorder. note She developed the disorder as a child after she was abducted and raped, to try and cope with her ordeal. For many years the disorder never manifested as she was in a safe environment, but it became prominent again after her parents died in a car accident (on top of the fact she never really resolved her earlier trauma). Laurie's alternate personalities tend to represent parts of herself she's suppressed; one is a little girl named Debbie who represents Laurie's lost innocence, one is an older woman named Kate who represents Laurie's desire to be independent and in-control of her life, Leona represents Laurie's desire for intimate relationships in spite of her Paralyzing Fear of Sexuality and Lee, a young boy, is a defence mechanism against things that might harm Laurie if she feels she cannot protect herself.
- Split-Personality Merge: At the end of All Around the Town, Laurie's alternate personalities merge into one. She unconsciously created them in the first place because she couldn't cope with her trauma and/or needed an outlet for her repressed feelings. After she addresses her trauma and starts seeking therapy, she no longer needs to do this and so can be herself completely.
- Theme Naming: A lot of the titles of her novels are taken from song lyrics; the songs in question often play some role in story.
- Trauma Button: Poor Laurie in All Around the Town has a few of these due to being abducted as a child. She distrusts men with hairy arms, dislikes gospel music, and completely freaked out and dumped her boyfriend when he playfully tickled her despite being okay with him kissing her; this is because it all reminds her of the man who abducted her and sexually abused her. What really takes the cake is finding a photograph of herself with her head cut off and a chicken's severed head outside her therapist's office, both of which cause her to become completely hysterical. Her abductors deliberately send these to her to mess with her, reminding her of an incident where her kidnapper beheaded her pet chicken in front of her and threatened to do the same to her if she ever told anyone what happened.
- Write What You Know: Most of her heroines and other characters are of Irish ancestry, as she was.
