Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Mary Higgins Clark’s first suspense novel, Where Are the Children?, kicked off her career as a best-selling author—and her long reign as the “queen of suspense.” Nancy Harmon is a woman who reinvents herself—moves to Cape Cod, dyes her hair, and changes her name—after she’s accused of gruesomely murdering her own two children. She gets off on a technicality, remarries, and starts over in a place where no one knows her past—until her two new children disappear and her suspicious history bubbles to the surface.
More from TIME
This fast-paced 1975 thriller is a classic for a reason, and cemented Clark’s status among the greats. She was one of the first to employ the form of short, cliff-hanger-filled chapters that are now standard in the genre, taking an absorbing story and packaging it in a way that made it truly unputdownable. Laura Lippman, who wrote the introduction to the latest reprint of Where Are the Children? likened Clark’s artful approach to suspense to “a system of stones and breadcrumbs, similar to the items Hansel and Gretel used to mark their paths in and out of the woods.” The book’s popularity also led to a sequel, co-written by Clark and Alafair Burke, nearly 50 years after the original was published. —Meg Zukin
Buy Now: Where Are the Children? on Bookshop | Amazon
- How Donald Trump Won
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- Why Sleep Is the Key to Living Longer
- Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Nicola Coughlan Bet on Herself—And Won
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
