Mary Higgins Clark

Mary Higgins Clark (1927-2020) was an American suspense novelist, author of more than 50 novels beginning with Where Are the Children? (1975), whose books sold over 100 million copies in the United States alone.

She was born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins in New York City on 24 December 1927 and died in Naples, Florida, on 31 January 2020, aged 92. She took a degree in philosophy at Fordham University. Her first book, Aspire to the Heavens (1968), a fictional account of George and Martha Washington, earned only a small advance and was reissued in 2002 as Mount Vernon Love Story. Her first suspense novel, Where Are the Children? (1975), became a bestseller; its paperback rights fetched $100,000, and it was filmed in 1986. A Stranger Is Watching (1977) won the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1980 and was filmed in 1982.

Simon & Schuster published all of her novels and in the late 1990s signed her to a four-book contract reported at $64 million. She was president of the Mystery Writers of America in 1987 and received its Grand Master award in 2000. Her daughter Carol Higgins Clark is also a crime novelist.

For collectors. Where Are the Children? (1975), her first suspense novel, is her most significant first edition. Aspire to the Heavens (1968), her first book, was remaindered almost as soon as it came off the press.