While my Pretty One Sleeps was a typical Mary Higgins Clark novel, filled with suspense, mystery, and murder. While it was a good book, it wasnï¿t one of Clarkï¿s better novels. Clark is a good writer, however; While my Pretty One Sleeps isnï¿t as good as some of her others like All Around the Town for example. The plot was well developed and the characters were believable.
Neeve Kearny is a high-class New York clothing storeowner who has a good intuition of the disappearance of one of her best customers, Ethel Lambston. Ethel is a famous gossipy author, who suddenly disappears without a trace. No one seems to notice or cares that Ethel is missing except for Neeve. After police finally realize she is missing and not out on one of her infamous get-a-ways, they find her body in a nearby park. Suspects start popping up and the police start a search for Ethel Lambstonï¿s murderer. Ethelï¿s nephew moves into her apartment and starts inheriting her fortune. Him being her only kin he is surprisingly not disturbed by his auntï¿s death, which makes him a main suspect for the police. Another suspect pops up which is Ethelï¿s ex-husband. He was the last to see Ethel alive and neighbors heard them in an enraged argument. Neeve Kearny struggles with her friendly clientï¿s death and it brings back memories of her mothersï¿ death, which happened 2 decades before. With a twisting and mysterious ending the two deaths are intertwined with a shocking murdered.
This was my forth Mary Higgins Clark novel that I have read, even though it was good, I must say it wasnï¿t one of the best. I like the kind of book that when Iï¿m reading it I canï¿t seem to put it down, with While my Pretty One Sleeps it wasnï¿t hard for me to put it down and walk away from it. Only because the suspense wasnï¿t there until the last few chapters. Most of the book is just setting up the characters and circumstances for the suspenseful ending.
Clarkï¿s character development was definitely good and made each character come to life and seem somewhat real. Iï¿ve read other books and not really felt I knew the characters by the end of the book, but with this one I could. Neeve, the main character, was a complex character having to deal with Ethelï¿s death and then her past with her motherï¿s death. Clark did a good job getting into the minds of each character and why they felt how they did.
Even though she once again wrote another murder mystery book I could honestly say it was believable. The circumstances and how each person reacted to them were completely believable in the sense that the plot could easily happen. The plot of the story was well developed. Bringing the past and how Clark connected it to the climax of the book shows how well of a writer she is. One of the best things about this book was how easy it was to read. I wasnï¿t struggling to find definitions to big words and getting lost in point of view or flashbacks the whole time.
I do recommend this book to other Mary Higgins Clark readers only because itï¿s an OK read for one of her novels. I do not recommend this book to someone who has never read any of her books. I would suggest to start out on another novel of hers like All Around the Town or Remember Me. They are good and really get you deep into the book. Over all I rate While my Pretty One Sleeps 3 stars.
