- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Lrg edition (Oct 24 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743212282
- ISBN-13: 978-0743212281
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 14.2 x 3.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 499 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #868,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
On her own, each Clark has written reliably entertaining mystery/thrillers that occasionally exhibit storytelling magic. The authors' first collaborationDwhich also sees a collaboration by their respective publishers, as well as the teaming of two of their best-known sleuthsDis only middling, however, though it will please their many fans. Three days before Christmas, Luke Reilly, who owns a string of funeral homes, and his young female driver, Rosita Gonzalez, are kidnapped for ransom. Luke is the husband of Nora Regan Reilly, a bestselling mystery writer based somewhat on Mary Higgins Clark; both are parents to Regan Reilly, Carol Higgins Clark's series detective (Twanged, etc.). Regan gets on the case at once, but she doesn't make much headway until she pairs up with Alvirah Meegan, the cleaning woman who turned private eye after winning a $40-million lottery in Mary Higgins Clark's Weep No More My Lady. (Here, Regan and Alvirah make each other's acquaintance at a dentist's office.) Meanwhile, Luke and Rosita remain chained on a small boat offshore from New Jersey as their two bumbling kidnappers plan, execute and bobble a ransom run. The boat starts to sink. Will Luke and Rosita drown? There's probably not a reader alive who thinks they will, and it'll surprise no one when Regan and Alvirah trip over clues as big as Christmas trees to save the day. But if the novel generates little suspense, it does go down like roasted chestnuts, and fans will greatly enjoy the pairing of two favorite detectivesDand two popular writersDin a lightweight but amiably lighthearted Christmas ornament of a book. (Nov. 1)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
It's Christmas time, but C. B. Dingle has no Christmas spirit. His departed Uncle Goodloe left his fortune to the Sod, Plant, Bloom, and Blossom Society, and Dingle is distraught. He's so upset, in fact, that he's bent on revenge. The plan is to kidnap Luke Reilly, owner of the funeral home that set dear old Uncle on the garden path. But Dingle's partner, Petey, accidentally drops the ransom in the drink (the East River, to be exact), which gives the assorted investigative types--including Reilly's daughter, the PI star of several Carol Higgins Clark novels, and Alvirah Meehan, the amateur detective featured in a few Mary Higgins Clark books--a second chance to find dear Dad, which they do just in time. Happy Christmas to all. This first collaboration by the mother-daughter team is a lightweight bit of fluff that readers will speed through in no time. The writing styles mesh seamlessly, but the goofy goings-on and the coincidences (a detective name Jack Reilly--no relation!) add a layer of comedy that isn't quite in tune with the suspense, leaving readers to wonder if it's all supposed to be a big joke. No matter. Clark, the prolific mom, and Clark, the daughter, who now has several books to her credit, have enough loyal fans between them to gather a hefty readership, even if the product is a bit thin. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Regan Reilly sighed for the hundredth time as she looked down at her mother, Nora, a brand-new patient in Manhattan's Hospital for Special Surgery. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Regan Reilly sighed for the hundredth time as she looked down at her mother, Nora, a brand-new patient in Manhattan's Hospital for Special Surgery. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
No suspense, no mystery, and not a thriller,
By
This review is from: Deck the Halls (Mass Market Paperback)
Why did the queen of suspense become involved with this novel? I assume it was to fulfill a lifelong goal for mother and daughter to write together or for a contract because that is all that was achieved. I've never read Carol Higgins Clark, therefore I do not know if her other books were as boring. Mary Higgins Clark, however, has kept me spellbound for hours. The plot was mediocre -- Luke Reilly and Rosita Gonzazles are kidnapped for ransom. They are held in a leaky boat until the inept culprits get paid. The stupidity of these criminals comes through in their conversation and actions. The characters were one-dimensional and gratuitous, and it seemed their only purpose was to give names for identification while reading. I was surprised by the immature style of writing. Even though we run into people with our name, it is not a good story approach because it can be confusing - two sets of Reilly's make for difficult character identification. Long time writers rarely make the mistake of switching the point of view (POV) multiple times within short segments or changing the verb tense from past to present while doing so. Perhaps I see this clearly because I'm an editor, but I think the sudden switches would be unwelcome by most readers. The book needed to be proofread, and may have been, but there were so many grammatical errors that I doubt if the authors even read it. Some of these items are question marks or periods immediately followed by a comma, or double period marks, and some misspellings. Every book has some proofread errors, and I, like most people, simply ignore them. There were too many to be ignored. In my opinion, this book was published because of the author's names. Period. I do not recommend it. Victoria Tarrani
3.0 out of 5 stars
A bit of fluff !!,
By
This review is from: Deck the Halls (Hardcover)
Deck the Halls by the mother and daughter team of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark is ideal for an afternoons read by the fire.Two private detectives, each a favourite character in the respective writers novels, team up to solve a kidnapping.It's a light,pleasant bit of flummery and, being such a slim volume, takes only a couple of hours to read without any brain strain. The crooks are bumbling idiots and the outcome is very obvious right from the beginning. Another thing that bothered me was the writing style-I seem to remember this speech pattern from my schoolgirl stories when I was a child and it just doesn't suit adult books.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly, Suspenseful Halls,
By
This review is from: Deck the Halls (Hardcover)
Actually I would give "Deck the Halls" 3.5 stars a notch slightly above "Silent Night" another recent read of mine for the holidays. This book involves a kidnapping, a mystery writer's husband and oddly enough the bumbling kidnappers decide to use her mystery novels as a plan for the ransom drop. Add in some little subplots (including a recently rich sleuth, Alvirah my favorite character for gutsy and nosey determination) that help flesh out the story and you have an effective little suspense novel written by a good mother and daughter writer team. I am interested in reading the other "Christmas" novels in Mary and Carol Higgins Clark chain, but I think I will wait until next year. I'm kind of surprised that the television networks haven't already optioned this.
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