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Mary Higgins Clark, America's Queen of Suspense, and her daughter, bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark, have joined forces for the first time to create a brilliant and exciting story of high-stakes intrigue and detection in a kidnapping played out against a holiday setting.Three days before Christmas, Regan Reilly, the dynamic young sleuth featured in the novels of Carol Higgins Clark, meets Alvirah Meehan, the famous lottery winner and amateur detective who has appeared in several previous books by Mary Higgins Clark, when they both arrive at a New Jersey dentist's office. Alvirah is to accompany her husband home after a particularly grueling session, while Regan is there in hopes of connecting with her busy father, who is scheduled for a routine visit.Once it becomes apparent that Luke Reilly is not going to keep his appointment, Alvirah offers the deeply troubled Regan a lift home. When a call comes through on Regan's cell phone, telling her that her father and his driver, Rosita Gonzalez, are being held for $1,000,000 ransom, Alvirah insists that Regan allow her to lend a hand in trying to gain their release, for while Regan may be a licensed private detective, based in Los Angeles, Alvirah has many valuable contacts among the ranks of New York's law enforcement community.Further complicating the situation is the fact that Regan's mother, the popular and very successful mystery writer Nora Regan Reilly, was hospitalized only the day before with a badly broken leg, and Regan must comfort her while trying to meet the harsh demands of her father's kidnappers -- and their tough deadline.With Alvirah's help, Jack Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, is called back from his Christmas holiday to lead the investigation, which becomes more and more tricky as the kidnappers, two men who are not just rank amateurs but also laughably inept -- and, therefore, all the more dangerous and unpredictable -- make known their demands.Meanwhile, Luke and Rosita, held captive in a decrepit houseboat moored in the Hudson River, become increasingly concerned not only for their welfare, but for that of their loved ones as well. Luke's wife is in the hospital, and Rosita's two small boys are with a young, unreliable babysitter, while a winter storm gathers force, further endangering them and complicating events.InDeck the Halls,a story filled with twists and turns, intrigue and danger, as well as a hearty dose of holiday cheer, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark have created a breathless and at the same time remarkably heartwarming story of suspense -- a Christmas classic for many holiday seasons to come.

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Deck The Halls 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. "And to think I bought you that dopey crocheted rug you tripped on," she said. "You only bought it. I caught my heel in it," the well-known mystery writer said wanly. "It wasn't your fault I was wearing those idiotic stilts." Nora attempted to shift her body, which was anchored by a heavy plaster cast that reached from her toes to her thigh. "I'll leave you two to assess the blame for the broken leg," Luke Reilly, owner of three funeral homes, husband and father, observed as he hoisted his long, lean body from the low bedside armchair. "I've got a funeral to go to, a dentist's appointment, and then, since our Christmas plans are somewhat altered, I guess I'd better see about buying a tree." He bent over and kissed his wife. "Look at it this way: you may not be gazing at the Pacific Ocean, but you've got a good view of the East River." He and Nora and their only child, thirty-one-year-old Regan, had been planning to spend the Christmas holiday on Maui. "You're a scream," Nora told him. "Dare we hope you'll arrive home with a tree that isn't your usual Charlie Brown special?" "That's not nice," Luke protested. "But it's true." Nora dismissed the subject. "Luke, you look exhausted. Can't you skip Goodloe's funeral? Austin can take care of everything." Austin Grady was Luke's right-hand man. He had handled hundreds of funerals on his own, but the one today was different. The deceased, Cuthbert Boniface Goodloe, had left the bulk of his estate to the Seed-Plant-Bloom-and-Blossom Society of the Garden State of New Jersey. His disgruntled nephew and partial namesake, Cuthbert Boniface Dingle, known as C.B., was obviously bitter about his meager inheritance. After viewing hours yesterday afternoon, C.B. had sneaked back to the casket where Luke had found him stuffing rotted bits of house plants in the sleeves of the pin-striped designer suit the fastidious Goodloe had chosen as his last outfit. As Luke came up behind C.B., he heard him whispering, "You love plants? I'll give you plants, you senile old hypocrite. Get a whiff of these! Enjoy them from now until Resurrection Day!" Luke had backed away, not wanting to confront C.B., who continued to vent verbal outrage at the body of his less-than-generous uncle. It was not the first time Luke had heard a mourner telling off the deceased, but the use of decaying foliage was a first. Later, Luke had quietly removed the offensive vegetation. But today, he wanted to keep an eye on C.B. himself. Besides, he hadn't had a chance to mention the incident to Austin. Luke considered telling Nora about the nephew's bizarre behavior, but then decided not to go into it. "Goodloe's been planning his own funeral with me for three years," he said instead. "If I didn't show up, he'd haunt me." "I suppose you should go." Nora's voice was sleepy, and her eyes were starting to close. "Regan, why don't you let Dad drop you off at the apartment? The last painkiller they gave me is knocking me out." "I'd rather hang around until your private nurse gets here," Regan said. "I want to make sure someone is with you." "All right. But then go to the apartment and crash. You know you never sleep on the red-eye flight." Regan, a private investigator who lived in Los Angeles, had been packing for the trip to Hawaii when her father phoned. "Your mother's fine," he began. "But she's had an accident. She broke her leg." "She broke her leg?" Regan had repeated. "Yes. We were on our way to a black tie at the Plaza. Mom was one of the honorees. She was running a little late. I rang for the elevator . . ." One of Dad's not very subtle ways of getting Mom to hurry up, Regan thought. "The elevator arrived, but she didn't. I went back into the apartment and found her lying on the floor with her leg at a very peculiar angle. But you know your mother. Her first question was to ask if her gown was torn." That would be Mom, Regan had thought affectionately. "She was the best-dressed emergency-room patient in the history of the hospital," Luke had concluded. Regan had dumped her Hawaii clothes out of the suitcase and replaced them with winter clothes suitable for New York. She barely made the last night flight from Los Angeles to Kennedy, and once in New York had paused only long enough to drop off her bags at her parents' apartment on Central Park South. From the doorway of the hospital room, Luke looked back and smiled at the sight of the two women in his life, so alike in some ways with their classic features, blue eyes, and fair skin, but so different in others. From the Black Irish Reillys, Regan had inherited raven black hair, a throwback to the Spaniards who had settled in Ireland after their Armada had been destroyed in battle with the British. Nora, however, was a natural blonde, and at five feet three inches was four inches shorter than her daughter. At six feet five, Luke towered over both of them. His once-dark hair was now almost completely silver. "Regan, I'll meet you back here at around seven," he said. "After we cheer your mother up, we'll go out and have a good dinner." He caught Nora's expression and smiled at her. "You thrive on the urge to kill, honey. All the reviewers say so." He waved his hand. "See you girls tonight." It was a commitment Luke would not be able to keep. Excerpted from Deck the Halls by Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Publishers Weekly Review

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) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

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

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Mary Higgins Clark was born in the Bronx, New York on December 24, 1927. After graduating from high school and before she got married, she worked as a secretary, a copy editor, and an airline stewardess. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, leaving her with five children, she worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts before turning to novels. Her debut novel, Aspire to the Heavens, which is a fictionalized account of the life of George Washington, did not sell well. She decided to focus on writing mystery/suspense novels and in 1975 Where Are the Children? was published. She received a B.A. in philosophy from Fordham University in 1979.

Her other works include While My Pretty One Sleeps, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, Moonlight Becomes You, Pretend You Don't See Her, No Place Like Home, The Lost Years, The Melody Lingers On, As Time Goes By and Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry. She is the author of the Alvirah and Willy series, which began with Weep No More, My Lady. She is also the co-author, with her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, of several holiday crossover books including Deck the Halls, He Sees You When You're Sleeping, Santa Cruise, The Christmas Thief, and Dashing Through the Snow. She writes the Under Suspicion series with Alafair Burke. In 2001, Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir was published. She received numerous honors including the Grand Prix de Literature of France in 1980), the Horatio Alger Award in 1997, the Gold Medal of Honor from the American-Irish Historical Society, the Spirit of Achievement Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University the first Reader's Digest Author of the Year Award 2002 and the Christopher Life Achievement Award in 2003.

Many of her titles have made the best sellers list. Her recent books include All By Myself, Alone, I've Got My Eyes On You, and You Don't Own Me.

Bestselling suspense novelist, Mary Higgins Clark died on January 31, 2020 at the age of 92.

(Bowker Author Biography)