On the Street Where You Live: Amazon.co.uk: Mary Higgins Clark: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Emily Graham knows what it's like to have enemies in Mary Higgins Clark's On the Street Where You Live. The pretty New York attorney--a millionaire due to a lucky stock market break--has been sued by her greedy ex-husband and stalked by a man who thinks she helped his mother 's murderer escape punishment. But when she buys her great-great-grandmother's childhood home in the sleepy resort town of Spring Lake, Emily thinks her new life will be saner, even though five other young women, including Emily's ancestor Madeline Shapley, have disappeared from Spring Lake under creepy circumstances over the past century.

No sooner has Emily moved in than she starts receiving frightening anonymous messages. Worse, when she breaks ground for a backyard pool, the backhoe brings up the body of Martha Lawrence, who vanished four years ago, and whose dead hand clutches the finger bone of Madeline Shapley, identified by her sapphire ring. Both women disappeared on September 7, 105 years apart. When the cops and Emily realise that a similar parallel exists between two other missing women and that the anniversary of yet another girl's disappearance is fast approaching, they quickly surmise that a sixth murder will be attempted in just a week. But by whom? Is today's serial killer a copycat of the Spring Lake murderer of the 1890s--or a reincarnation? Fueled by fear, anger and scary little notes from the killer, Emily's actively researching the murders, but even she doesn't realise how many suspects there are: the retired college president who's being blackmailed, and his perpetually angry wife; the town's bankrupt restaurateur with a weakness for pretty blondes; the middle-aged detective with his finger right on the pulse of the crimes. Even Emily's friend Eric, the software CEO who made her rich,and Nick, her new co-worker, seem to show up at suspiciously convenient times.

Mary Higgins Clark's cast of characters may be overly large; in going for quantity she skimps on the characterization, and all of them, including Emily, are rather wooden. But characteriation isn't what's made this 24-book author a bestseller-list regular. The cleverly complex plot gallops along at a great clip, the little background details are authentic and the identities of both murderers come as an enjoyable surprise. On the Street Where You Live just may be Clark's best in years. --Barrie Trinkle, Amazon.com

Review

Get ready to be scared with this great thriller from best-selling author, Mary Higgins Clark. Defence lawyer Emily Graham, recovering from a horrific stalking experience, buys back her ancestral home in the beautiful Victorian resort of Spring Lake, a prestigious enclave with a disturbing past - one that is about to be linked to the present in terrifying circumstances. Within a day of moving into her new home, police discover two bodies in Emily's backyard - their deaths separated by exactly a century. It soon appears that the old death is more than casually connected to the more recent one and further enquiries reveal that another two murders committed at the end of the 19th century are also tied to the disappearances of two young girls in the same area within the last few years. Similarities abound and the question is soon raised as to whether the late 19th century killer has been reincarnated... Fast-moving, page-turning action is accompanied by several sub-plots designed to keep the reader on tenter hooks till the final climactic finish. Not to be missed by any crime afficionados who like a touch of the supernatural. - Lucy Watson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

Gripping Mystery 8 Dec 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Once you've read one Mary Higgins Clark book you're hooked! This latest mystery is an excellent read, with as always, a strong central character, twisting plot, suspense and a hint of romance. The setting (a New Jersey seaside town) is atmospheric and the characters are well drawn. It's one of those books that you just can't put down and when you finish you're craving the next!
Excellent:read it!

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

A Double Whodunnit 7 May 2004

By Larisa Duran Camfferman

Format:Paperback

I first started reading Mary Higgins Clark when my aunt was in the hospital. She was in there for a long time and did nothing but read, be sick and receive visitors. Her favourite was MHC and since then, I've also been an avid reader of MHC.

I've made the mistake once of buying one of her daughter's books, Carol Higgins Clark. Carol has a very different writing style than her mother and I was disappointed, not because it was badly written, but because I expected Mary's famous mixture of romance, detective work and a hint of the supernatural.

In On The Street Where You Live I was not disappointed. Emily decides to buy a Victorian house in Spring Lake that was once her family home.

The murderer has found the diary of the 1891 murderer that once made Spring Lake unsafe, and starts re-enacting those murders. The body of his murder, as well as the body of a girl who vanished in 1891, is found in the garden of Emily's new home.

As if that isn't enough to make her feel unsafe in what was to be her dream house, the stalker who was arrested some years ago appears to have reappeared in her life.

MHC manages to introduce a multitude of characters in her story, each with their own personality. You are witness of their inner turmoils, which makes the story so much more life-like.

Good read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

Once caught, always hooked 5 Mar 2006

By bookaholic VINE™ VOICE

I've read a few of Higgins Clark's books and have enjoyed them all immensely. Some of them are a bit predictable, but that is outweighed by Clark's prose - a prose that catches you in its hooks and refuses to release you (or at least me). I like her style of writing and am a long-time fan of suspense stories. I am a voracious reader and have to say that Clark is among the better writers in my library.

In this book, I find it highly believable that Emily trusts the people she does even though one or two of them is destined to betray her. She seems a fairly decent person whose intentions are above-board. Her only problem is that she is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The culprits are not easy to spot, even though the identity of her stalker becomes fairly obvious after a short time. The murderer though, manages to hide until the last few chapters. Knowing who the murderer is does not make the story less tense. In fact I find it enjoyable following Emily's road to discovery.