The world of suspense and mystery lost one of the greats this weekend as Mary Higgins Clark, author (or co-author) of 56 bestselling (yes, all of them) books passed away at the age of 92. As librarians will tell you, mysteries are among the most popular and checked out books as readers race through each one to uncover the culprit or unravel the twisty plot. Higgins Clark was a master of building suspense and constructing chapter-ending cliffhangers that made it near impossible to resist reading one more chapter—no matter how late the hour.

Mary Higgins Clark had strong ties to New York City. She was born in the Morris Park section of the Bronx in 1927 and moved to Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan with her husband, Warren Clark, in 1949. She eventually moved to New Jersey, but was active in the City and earned a philosophy degree from Fordham University at Lincoln Center in 1979 (after the publication of her first books).  Although best known for her suspense-novels (many of which were adapted for film and television), Mary Higgins Clark also published two children's books, a historical novel, four short story collections and her memoir, Kitchen Privileges.

Higgins Clark's last novel, Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry, was published in November 2019. You can find it and many, many of her books at the Library. 

 

Her First Suspense Novel
Where Are the Children?

Nancy Harmon is leading a quiet life on Cape Cod, until a newspaper article and the disappearance of her two young children brings to light the story of her first marriage, the deaths of her first two children, and her trial for murder in California.

 

 

 

Her Memoir
Kitchen Privileges

In a charming, bittersweet memoir of growing up in the Bronx during the Depression, America's Queen of Suspense shares her recollections of her father's death in 1939, her family's financial woes, and her mother's creation of a rooming house, bringing in a colorful assortment of tenants who will change the lives of the Higgins clan.

 

 

One of Two Children's Books She Wrote
Ghost Ship: A Cape Cod Story

While visiting his grandmother on Cape Cod, nine-year-old Thomas encounters Silas Rich, a ship's cabin boy from centuries past, who tells Thomas of his adventures aboard the  Monomoy.  

 

Includes One of Her Short Stories
It Occurs to Me That I Am America : New Stories & Art

A provocative anthology of original short stories by 30 best-selling and award-winning writers, including Mary Higgins Clark, Alice Walker, Alice Hoffman and Lee Child, considers the fundamental ideals of a free, just and compassionate democracy as expressed through fiction and graphic artwork.

 

Her Last Book
Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry

Journalist Gina Kane investigates harassment complaints against a high-profile television news network, only to have her source die under suspicious circumstances, as the company scrambles to deal with the allegations.

 

 

 

Learn more about Mary Higgins Clark:

• Read her obituary in the New York Times, Time, and the Los Angeles Times
• Watch her discuss her career and process on CBS Sunday Morning, Bookmark, and various videos that can be found on her website
• A discussion of Higgins Clarks' "likeable heroines" at The Guardian

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.