On the Street Where You Live

On the Street Where You Live is a murder/mystery by Mary Higgins Clark.  If you are familiar with Higgins Clark's work, you know that she is quite an accomplished mystery author.  She is very adept at drawing the reader in and keeping you guessing until the very end.  This novel was no different.

Emily is a defense attorney just coming off of a big case, having been the victim of a stalker and out of a nasty divorce.  She decides to buy a second home in Spring Lake, NJ, a quaint town on the Jersey shore and spend some time there before beginning a new job.  The home she buys was owned by her family a century ago.  Her ancestor mysteriously disappeared and shortly after the family sold the home and moved.  Emily wants to lovingly restore the home to its original glory.  Unfortunately, as the back yard is being excavated for a pool (part of the previous owner's plans) skeletal remains are found.  So begins a string of discoveries of murders that seem to tie into several disappearances from 100 years ago, including Emily's ancestor's disappearance.

Early in the book, the reader is introduced to many characters.  So many that it can be a bit difficult to keep up.  But once the reader gets them all straight, a possible suspect seems to emerge.  Except that in the next chapter another suspect emerges, and then another.  Higgins Clark is excellent and letting the reader believe that they have figured it out, only to give them another possibility.  In addition, there is a subplot that evolves as Emily's stalker seemingly returns...But the police thought they had her stalker locked up.

I have to admit, early on I thought I knew who the madman was.  But as the book moved along, I second and third guessed myself.  The author easily pulled me along on her twists and turns, had me suspecting everyone and rooting for the police to catch their perp and had me mourning those that got in the way of the murderer.  Excellently written to connect the past and the present, this novel was a pleasure to get lost in and a great mystery as you truly do not know "who done it" until the end.  My only negative observation is that it felt like Emily's back story (the nasty divorce, stalker and big case) could have been delved into deeper.  Her character could have been further developed if more detail was given about her past.  We are only given bits and pieces and I honestly thought that maybe her character had been in a previous novel and I was just missing something.  From what I can tell though, that is not the case.  Even so, if you like mystery I would recommend this one. 

Happy Reading!