All Through the Night - Hardcover

Clark, Mary Higgins

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684856603 ISBN 13: 9780684856605

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1998

Synopsis

"A desperate mother. Her missing child. A stolen chalice." With "Silent Night", Mary Higgins Clark, America's own Queen of Suspense, gave her readers their best Christmas present ever. Now, with "All Through the Night", she once again celebrates the Christmas season with a tale of suspense that will keep readers turning the pages-- all through the night. At the center of the novel are two of Mary Higgins Clark's most beloved characters, Alvirah, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, and her husband, Willy, both of them caught up in a Christmas mystery that calls on all of Alvirah's deductive powers, as well as Willy's world-class common sense. The story begins when a young unmarried woman leaves her newborn child on the rectory doorstep at a church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. At the same moment, inside the church, a young man is stealing a treasured artifact, a chalice adorned with a single star-shaped diamond. Both the infant and the chalice disappear. Seven years later, a few weeks before Christmas, Alvirah and Willy are busy helping Willy's sister Cordelia, a nun who runs a thrift shop that doubles as an after-school shelter for neighborhood kids, prepare for the upcoming Christmas pageant. The future of the shelter is threatened, however, when the city condemns the building for that use, and it is further jeopardized when a nearby brownstone to which the shelter was to be moved turns out to have been willed to a young couple who were tenants in the building. Alvirah refuses to believe that the will is genuine and sets out to prove that the couple are con artists. Soon she is involved in the mystery of the chalice and the child. In "All Through the Night", Mary Higgins Clark has fashioned a Christmas gift for all her readers.

About this title

Review:

Fans of Mary Higgins Clark and cosy mysteries will relish this Christmas confection. Unlike her previous holiday novel, Silent Night, All Through the Night is virtually free of life-and-death crime. Rather, it is a Dickensian tale of good deeds rewarded and crimes punished.

The wintry story begins on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with 18-year-old Sondra Lewis, an aspiring violinist, tearfully leaving her baby on the steps of St. Clement's Church. Unbeknownst to her, Lenny Centino is robbing that same church on the same night, with his attention particularly on the Church's diamond inlaid chalice. He finds a buggy outside the church and uses it for cover as he flees. Only later does he realize that his take for the night includes the infant Stellina (Italian for star). The narrative then abruptly moves ahead seven years. Clark's lottery-winning protagonists, Alvirah and her husband Willy (introduced in Weep No More, My Lady) return for some amateur sleuthing. Sister Cordelia's thrift shop doubles as an after-school recreation place for neighbourhood children (including a shy little girl named Star), but the building has been condemned. Bessie Maher had vowed she was leaving the house to the nun and her children. Now that she is gone, the will indicates that the tenants of the house, Vic and Linda Baker, are the true heirs. As December rushes on towards Christmas, Alvirah struggles to put things right before the children are left in the cold.

Like the best holiday stories, All Through the Night steers towards sentimentality, but it veers back on course with narrative wit and Alvirah's charm. Clark's prose is lean and her plotting is brisk. This is a mystery that would be a pleasure to share aloud with a family gathered at the fireplace for some holiday cheer. --Patrick O'Kelley

Review:

"Huntsville Times" (AL)

Mary Higgins Clark has an early Christmas gift for her fans. Not only does she have a new book out in time for holiday reading and giving, but she has

brought back two of her best-loved characters, Alvirah and Willy Meehan....Her writing is tight, and there is just enough suspense to keep the reader turning the pages....

"A consume-in-one-sitting Christmas treat."

-- "USA Today"

Wichita Falls Times Record News (TX)

Fans of Mary Higgins Clark will enjoy this Christmas treat.... "All Through The Night" is a package of intrigue just waiting to be opened.

"A consume-in-one-sitting Christmas treat."-- "USA Today"

Wichita Falls Times Record News (TX)Fans of Mary Higgins Clark will enjoy this Christmas treat.... "All Through The Night" is a package of intrigue just waiting to be opened.

"A consume-in-one-sitting Christmas treat." -- "USA Today"

"A consume-in-one-sitting Christmas treat." -- USA Today

"Concocting a satisfying Christmas mystery is as tricky as making a good eggnog: you want a jigger of low-proof danger to mix smoothly with a measure of sweet deliverance. Mary Higgins Clark has whipped up a portable brew. . . ." -- The Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0684856603
• ISBN 13: 9780684856605
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 170