Daddy's Little Girl

From Publishers Weekly Writing in the first person a rarity for this veteran author has inspired and energized Clark. Her 21st novel of intrigue is her best in years, a tightly woven, emotionally potent tale of suspense and revenge. Clark's new heroine is Atlanta investigative journalist Ellie Cavanaugh, who was seven when her sister, Andrea, 15, was beaten to death by 20-year-old Rob Westerfield, scion of the wealthiest family in a small Westchester town. Now Westerfield is up for parole, so Ellie, now 30, returns home to speak out against him. When Westerfield is released, Ellie begins to write a book aimed at re-proving his guilt. Digging for evidence, she uncovers clues that Westerfield may have committed another murder as a youth, but that digging also enrages the Westerfields and other town members who think the man was railroaded. Before long, Ellie's life is in danger, as someone breaks into the house she's staying in, then later sets fire to it, nearly killing her, and as Westerfield himself begins to shadow her moves. What makes this novel work isn't only the considerable tension Clark teases from Ellie's precarious position, but the thoughtful backgrounding to the action. Ellie is cast as a lonely woman, without a lover and estranged from her father and half-brother: will she accept one or the other into her guarded life?; and she carries a heavy load of guilt for her sister's death, wondering at times if she is blinded by her thirst for vengeance. With its textured plot, well-sketched secondary characters, strong pacing and appealing heroine, this is Clark at her most winning. (On sale, Apr. 16)Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal At the parole hearing for Donald Waring, Trish Duncan begins to wonder whether he was wrongly convicted of killing her sister 20 years ago. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Clark's latest thriller deviates from her usual, by-the-book whodunit by revealing the villain early on. Rob Westerfield, a rich, sociopath, beat Andrea Cavanaugh to death when he was only 19. Andrea's family is torn apart--her parents divorce, and her younger sister, Ellie, becomes obsessed with the murder and Westerfield's guilt. When, 23 years after the murder, Westerfield is up for parole, Ellie, now an investigative reporter, vehemently opposes it. Rob has never admitted his guilt, and now his family has found a witness who says someone else committed the murder. Will Nebels, a local handyman, points the finger at Paulie Stroebel, a sweet but slow man who had a crush on Andrea. Ellie is incensed; she is totally convinced of Westerfield's guilt and knows that this new witness is merely a ploy to prevent Rob's grandmother from disinheriting him. Ellie begins an investigation to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Westerfield is guilty. Though many people are afraid to talk to her because of the Westerfields' clout, Ellie does manage to find a few people who will tell her about Rob's cruel behavior prior to Andrea's murder. She is also shocked to uncover what may be another murder. But as Ellie probes more deeply into Rob's past, enemies dog her, burning the apartment she's staying in and even threatening her life. A solid if unremarkable page-turner. Kristine Huntley Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Andrea, a 15-year-old girl, is bludgeoned to death and her boyfriend Rob is jailed, based on the evidence given by her younger sister Ellie. More than 20 years later he is released and is determined to clear his name, using the evidence of an alleged new witness that frames someone else. Ellie, now an investigative reporter, has always felt partially to blame for Andrea's murder and wants to foil Rob's efforts. She takes leave from work and dedicates her time to creating a website detailing his irascible behaviour in the hope that this will prove his culpability, without a care for the danger she is putting herself in. This is a clever and gripping page-turner from Mary Higgins Clark, the 'Queen of Suspense'.<br /><br />Mary Higgins Clark, the 'Queen of Suspense', has more than 20 thrillers behind her and a large, dedicated readership. Renowned for her fast-moving prose and dazzling plot twists, in this novel she experiments with a first-person narrative and a more straightforward structure. Aged seven, Ellie Cavanaugh discovers her fifteen-year-old sister Andrea savagely beaten to death. Ellie's testimony helps convict wild child and rich kid Rob Westerfield, Andrea's boyfriend. 22 years later, Westerfield is up for parole, and Ellie is determined to stop him getting it, to prove to everyone that he was indeed guilty and that he continues to be a danger to society. She begins a relentless search for the truth. The story starts well and it's readable enough, but the plot is disappointingly predictable and there is no build-up to a dramatic finale. It is only within the final few pages that the author has the criminal make his move and be revealed, in something of an unsatisfying rush. The characterization is poor. The perpetrator is referred to as some sort of terrifying sociopath but he inspires no fear in the reader, coming across as merely annoying. The heroine is also somewhat two-dimensional: bloody-minded certainly, but not inspiring any real empathy. She is fortunate to be supported in her detective efforts by a cast of very cooperative ex-cons and other associates of the murderer, who are unbelievably forthcoming with information. The police are portrayed as utterly dense, but even so it seems improbable that they did not uncover the evidence about the serial killer's true nature and crimes in the first place. There is little to be recommended here. It can only be hoped that Mary Higgins Clark returns to form in her next book. (Kirkus UK) --Tulsa World Tulsa World After [more than 20] bestselling suspense novels, you might think Clark could not improve. You'd be wrong....A superb suspense story.<br /><br /> Boston Globe Clark doesn't let the reader off the hook until the very last word. --Boston Globe Mary Higgins Clark 's books are world-wide bestsellers. In the U.S. alone, her books have sold over 85 million copies. She is the author of twenty-seven previous suspense novels. Her first book, a biographical novel about George Washington, was re-issued with the title, Mount Vernon Love Story , in June 2002. Her memoir, Kitchen Privileges , was published by Simon & Schuster in November 2002. Her first children's book, Ghost Ship , illustrated by Wendell Minor, was published in April 2007 as a Paula Wiseman Book/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. She is co-author, with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, of four holiday suspense novels Deck the Halls (2000), He Sees You When You're Sleeping (2001), The Christmas Thief (2004) and Santa Cruise (2006). Mary Higgins Clark was chosen by Mystery Writers of America as Grand Master of the 2000 Edgar Awards. An annual Mary Higgins Clark Award sponsored by Simon & Schuster, to be given to authors of suspense fiction writing in the Mary Higgins Clark tradition, was launched by Mystery Writers of America during Edgars week in April 2001. She was the 1987 president of Mystery Writers of America and, for many years, served on their Board of Directors. In May 1988, she was Chairman of the International Crime Congress. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Chapter 1 When Ellie awoke that morning, it was with the sense that something terrible had happened. Instinctively she reached for Bones, the soft and cuddly stuffed dog who had shared her pillow ever since she could remember. When she'd had her seventh birthday last month, Andrea, her fifteen-year-old sister, had teased her that it was time to toss Bones in the attic. Then Ellie remembered what was wrong: Andrea hadn't come home last night. After dinner, she had gone to her best friend Joan's house to study for a math test. She had promised to be home by nine o'clock. At quarter of nine, Mommy went to Joan's house to walk Andrea home, but they said Andrea had left at eight o'clock. Mommy had come back home worried and almost crying, just as Daddy got in from work. Daddy was a lieutenant in the New York State Police. Right away he and Mommy had started calling all of Andrea's friends, but no one had seen her. Then Daddy said he was going to drive around to the bowling alley and to the ice cream parlor, just in case Andrea had gone there. "If she lied about doing homework until nine o'clock, she won't set foot out of this house for six months," he'd said angrily, and then he'd turned to Mommy: "If I said it once, I've said it a thousand times -- I don't want her to go out after dark alone." Despite his raised voice, Ellie could tell that Daddy was more worried than angry. "For heaven's sake, Ted, she went out at seven o'clock. She got to Joan's. She was planning to be home by nine, and I even walked over there to meet her." "Then where is she?" They made Ellie go to bed, and, eventually, she fell asleep waking only now. Maybe Andrea was home by now, she thought hopefully. She slipped out of bed, rushed across the room, and darted down the hall to Andrea's room. Be there, she begged. Please be there. She opened the door. Andrea's bed had not been slept in. Her bare feet silent on the steps, Ellie hurried downstairs. Their neighbor, Mrs. Hilmer, was sitting with Mommy in the kitchen. Mommy was wearing the same clothes she had on last night, and she looked as if she'd been crying for a long time. Ellie ran to her. "Mommy." Mommy hugged her and began to sob. Ellie felt Mommy's hand clutching her shoulder, so hard that she was almost hurting her. "Mommy, where's Andrea?" "We...don't...know. Daddy and the police are looking for her." "Ellie, why don't you get dressed, and I'll fix you some breakfast?" Mrs. Hilmer asked. No one was saying that she should hurry up because the school bus would be coming pretty soon. Without asking, Ellie knew she wouldn't be going to school today. She dutifully washed her face and hands and brushed her teeth and hair, and then put on play clothes -- a turtleneck shirt and her favorite blue slacks -- and went downstairs again. Just as she sat at the table where Mrs. Hilmer had put out juice and cornflakes, Daddy came through the kitchen door. "No sign of her," he said. "We've looked everywhere. There was a guy collecting for some phony charity ringing doorbells in town yesterday. He was in the diner last night and left around eight o'clock. He would have passed Joan's house on the way to the highway around the time Andrea left. They're looking for him." Ellie could tell that Daddy was almost crying. He also hadn't seemed to notice her, but she didn't mind. Sometimes when Daddy came home he was upset because something sad had happened while he was at work, and for a while he'd be very quiet. He had that same look on his face now. Andrea was hiding -- Ellie was sure of it. She had probably left Joan's house early on purpose because she was meeting Rob Westerfield in the hideout, then maybe it got late and she was afraid to come home. Daddy had said that if she ever lied again about where she'd been, he'd make her quit the school band. He'd said that when he found out she had gone for a ride with Rob Westerfield in his car when she was supposed to be at the library. Andrea loved being in the band; last year she'd been the only freshman chosen for the flute section. But if she'd left Joan's house early and gone to the hideout to meet Rob, and Daddy found out, that would mean she'd have to give it up. Mommy always said that Andrea could twist Daddy around her little finger, but she didn't say that last month when one of the state troopers told Daddy he'd stopped Rob Westerfield to give him a ticket for speeding and that Andrea was with him at the time. Daddy hadn't said anything about it until after dinner. Then he asked Andrea how long she'd been at the library. She didn't answer him. Then he said, "I see you're smart enough to realize that the trooper who gave Westerfield the ticket would tell me you were with him. Andrea, that guy is not only rich and spoiled, he's a bad apple through and through. When he kills himself speeding, you're not going to be in the car. You are absolutely forbidden to have anything to do with him." The hideout was in the garage behind the great big house that old Mrs. Westerfield, Rob's grandmother, lived in all summer. It was always unlocked, and sometimes Andrea and her friends sneaked in there and smoked cigarettes. Andrea had taken Ellie there a couple of times when she was babysitting her. Her friends had been really mad at Andrea for bringing her along, but she had said, "Ellie is a good kid. She's not a snitch." Hearing that had made Ellie feel great, but Andrea hadn't let Ellie have even one puff of the cigarette. Ellie was sure that last night Andrea had left Joan's house early because she was planning to meet Rob Westerfield. Ellie had heard her when she talked to him on the phone yesterday, and when she was finished, she was practically crying. "I told Rob I was going to the mixer with Paulie," she said, "and now he's really mad at me." Ellie thought about the conversation as she finished the cornflakes and juice. Daddy was standing at the stove. He was holding a cup of coffee. Mommy was crying again but making almost no sound. Then, for the first time, Daddy seemed to notice her: "Ellie, I think you'd be better off in school. At lunchtime I'll take you over." "Is it all right if I go outside now?" "Yes. But stay around the house." Ellie ran for her jacket and was quickly out the door. It was the fifteenth of November, and the leaves were damp and felt sloshy underfoot. The sky was heavy with clouds, and she could tell it was going to rain again. Ellie wished they were back in Irvington where they used to live. It was lonesome here. Mrs. Hilmer's house was the only other one on this road. Daddy had liked living in Irvington, but they'd moved here, five towns away, because Mommy wanted a bigger house and more property. They found they could afford that if they moved farther up in Westchester, to a town that hadn't yet become a suburb of New York City. When Daddy said he missed Irvington, where he'd grown up and where they'd lived until two years ago, Mommy would tell him how great the new house was. Then he'd say that in Irvington we had a million-dollar view of the Hudson River and the Tappan Zee Bridge, and he didn't have to drive five miles for a newspaper or a loaf of bread. There were woods all around their property. The big Westerfield house was directly behind theirs, but on the other side of the woods. Glancing back at the kitchen window to make sure no one had seen her, Ellie began to dart through the trees. Five minutes later she reached the clearing and ran across the field to where the Westerfield property began. Feeling more and more alone, she raced up the long driveway and darted around the mansion, a small figure lost in the lengthening shadows of the approaching storm. There was a side door to the garage, and that was the one that was unlocked. Even so, it was hard for El Read more