Clark, Mary Higgins

(US, 1929– )

Mary Higgins Clark writes gripping psychological suspense novels. While My Pretty One Sleeps (1989) is set in the glamorous New York fashion industry and involves Neeve Kearny, daughter of the former Police Commissioner, in trying to unravel the murder of gossip columnist Ethel Lambston. All around the Town (1992) finds student Laurie Kenyon accused of the murder of her professor and defended by her sister Sarah who believes that Laurie's childhood experience of kidnapping and abuse might lie behind the killing. In Pretend You Don't See Her (1997) Lacey Farrell is witness to a murder and recovers the diary that could lead back to the killer. Lacey assumes a new identity under the Witness Protection Program but eventually the murderer traces her and she begins a race against time to uncover the secrets of the diary before she too is killed. The stories bring tension and danger into everyday life and often include romance.

Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine), Robin Cook  CS