Mary Higgins Clark: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 20132023}}

| name = Mary Higgins Clark

| image = Mary Higgins Clark at the Mazza Museum.jpg

| caption = Higgins Clark at the [[Mazza Museum]] in 2012

| pseudonymbirth_name = Mary Theresa = MaryEleanor Higgins Clark

| occupation death_place = [[NovelistNaples, Florida]], U.S.

| children period = 5, including [[Carol Higgins Clark]]1975–2020

| death_datespouse = {{death date and age|2020|1|31|1927|12plainlist|24}}

'''Mary Higgins Clark''' (born '''Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins'''; December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020),<ref>''Great Women Mystery Writers'', 2nd Ed. by Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay, page 40, 2007, Greenwood Press; {{ISBN|0-313-33428-5}}</ref> born '''Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins''', was an American author of [[psychological thriller|suspense novels]]. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remained in print {{as of|2015|lc=y}}, with her debut suspense novel, ''Where Are the Children?'', in its seventy-fifth75th printing.

Higgins Clark began writing at an early age. After several years working as a secretary and [[Copy editing|copy editor]], she spent a year as a [[flight attendant|stewardess]] for [[Pan American World Airways|Pan-American Airlines]] before leaving her job to marry and start a family. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1964, Higgins Clark worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts until her agent persuaded her to try writing novels. Her [[debut novel]], a fictionalized account of the life of [[George Washington]], did not sell well, and she decided to exploit her love of mystery/suspense novels. Her suspense novels became very popular, and have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone.<ref name="simon">{{cite web|title=Mary Higgins Clark|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=13|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218082915/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=13|archive-date=December 18, 2007}}</ref> Her daughter [[Carol Higgins Clark]] and former daughter-in-law [[Mary Jane Clark]], areis also writersa writer, as was her daughter [[Carol Higgins Clark]].

Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins was born on Christmas Eve 1927, although( some sources mistakenly cite 1929 as the year,<ref name="bruns">{{cite web|last=Bruns|first=Ann|title=Mary Higgins Clark Biodata|work=bookreporter.com|publisher=The Book Report, Inc|date=May 5, 2000|url=http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-clark-mary-higgins.asp|access-date=July 4, 2009-07-04}}</ref>). She was the second child and only daughter of Nora C. (Durkin) and Luke Joseph Higgins.<ref name="Roche2011">{{cite book|first=Linda|last= De Roche|title=Mary Higgins Clark: Life and Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNQYptog5IAC&pg=PA1|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-36637-6|page=1}}</ref> Her father was an [[Irish people|Irish]] immigrant, and her mother was [[United States|American]]-born, also of Irish descent.<ref name="pg16">Mary Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 16–17.</ref> The United States census gives her age in April 1940 as 12, which indicates her year of birth is 1927, as that was her age at her ''last birthday'', the question asked by census enumerators.<ref name="1940 US census">_{1940 United States census extract:<br />Name: Mary Higgins<br />Age: 12<br />Estimated birth year: abt 1928<br />Gender: Female<br />Race: White<br />Birthplace: New York<br />Marital Status: Single<br /> Relation to Head of House: Daughter<br />Home in 1940: New York, Bronx, New York<br />Map of Home in 1940: View Map<br />Street: Tenbroeck Avenue<br />House Number: 1913<br />Inferred Residence in 1935: New York, Bronx, New York<br />Residence in 1935: Same House<br />Sheet Number: 9B<br />Attended School or College: Yes<br />Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 6th grade<br />Neighbors: View others on page<br />Household Members:<br />Nora Higgins 52<br />Joseph Higgins 13<br />Mary Higgins 12<br />John Higgins 8<br />Herbert Katz 21<br />Source Citation: Year: 1940; Census Place: New York, Bronx, New York; Roll: T627_2481; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 3-819. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls.}</ref>

She was born about a year and a half after the birth of her older brother, Joseph. Her younger brother John, followed three years later.<ref name="pg1">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 1.</ref> Even as a small child, she was interested in writing,; she composingcomposed her first poem at age seven and often craftingcrafted short plays for her friends to enact.<ref name="levitsky" >{{cite web|last=Levitsky|first=Jennifer|author2=Niloufar Motamed|title=Mary Higgins Clark Interview|publisher=Book Reporter|date=April 21, 1998|url=http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-clark-mary.asp|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007}}</ref> She began keeping a journal when she was seven years old, noting in her first entry, "Nothing much happened today."<ref name="Clark, p. 13">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 13.</ref>

The family lived off the earnings from their [[Irish pub]] and were fairly well-off, owning a home in [[the Bronx]] and a summer cottage on [[Long Island Sound]].<ref name="pg2">Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 2.</ref><ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 18.</ref> Although the [[Great Depression]] began when Higgins Clark was still a baby, her family was initially not affected, and even insisted on feeding the men who knocked on their door looking for work.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 3.</ref> By the time Higgins Clark was ten, however, the family began to experience financial trouble, as many of their customers were unable to pay the bar tabs they had run up.<ref name="Clark, p. 13"/> Higgins Clark's father was forced to lay off several employees and work longer hours, spending no more than a few hours at home each day. The family was thrown into further turmoil in 1939, when young Mary returned home from an early [[Catholic Mass|Mass]] to discover that her father had died in his sleep.<ref name="pg16"/>

Nora Higgins, now a widow with three young children to support, soon discovered that few employers were willing to hire a 52-year-old woman who had not held a job in over fourteen years.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 20.</ref> To pay the bills, Higgins Clark was forced to move out of her bedroom so that her mother could rent it out to paying boarders.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 24.</ref> Six months after their father's death, Higgins Clark's older brother cut his foot on a piece of metal and contracted severe [[osteomyelitis]]. Higgins Clark and her mother prayed constantly for him, and their neighbors came en masse to give blood for the many transfusions the young boy needed. Despite the dire predictions of the doctors, Joseph Higgins survived. Higgins Clark creditscredited his recovery to the power of their prayers.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 32.</ref>

When Higgins Clark graduated from Saint Francis Xavier Grammar School, she received a scholarship to continue her education at the Villa Maria Academy, a school run by the nuns of the Congregation de Notre Dame de Montreal.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 2, 37.</ref> There, the principal and other teachers encouraged Higgins Clark to develop her writing, although they were somewhat less than pleased when she began spending her class time writing stories instead of paying attention to the lesson.<ref name="levitsky"/> At sixteen, Higgins Clark made her first attempt at publishing her work, sending an entry to ''[[True Confessions (magazine)|True Confessions]],'' which was rejected.<ref name="welch">{{cite web|url=http://www.powells.com/authors/higginsclark.html|title=Mary Higgins Clark Reveals: "Pan Am was the airline."|last=Welch|first=Dave|date=May 13, 1999|website=Powells.com|publisher=[[Powell's Books]]| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511064709/http://www.powells.com/authors/higginsclark.html|archive-date=May 11, 2009|url-status=dead|access-date=2007-02-February 12|df=mdy-all, 2007}}</ref>

Despite Higgins Clark's contribution to the family finances, the money her mother earned babysitting<ref name="qa">{{cite web|title=Mary Higgins Clark Q&A|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=8|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103052040/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=352932&agid=8|archive-date=January 3, 2008}}</ref> was not enough, and the family lost their house and moved into a small three-room apartment. When Joseph graduated from high school in 1944, he immediately enlisted in the Navy, both to serve his country during war and to help his mother pay her bills. Six months after his enlistment he contracted [[spinal meningitis]] and died.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 43–45.</ref> Although the family mourned Joseph's death deeply, as his dependent, Nora was guaranteed a life pension and no longer needed her daughter's help to pay the bills.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 84.</ref>

At the end of her year of flying, on December 26, 1949, Higgins Clark happily gave up her career to marry Warren Clark.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 72.</ref> To occupy herself, she began taking writing courses at [[New York University|NYU]]<ref name="welch"/> and, with some of her classmates, formed a writing workshop in which the members would critique each other's works-in-progress. The workshop, which persisted for almost forty years, met weekly. At each meeting two members would have twenty minutes each to present their latest work. The other members would then have three minutes each to offer constructive criticism.<ref name="white">{{cite web|last=White|first=Claire E.|title=A Conversation with Mary Higgins Clark|publisher=Writers Write|url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/may00/clark.htm|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007}}</ref>

In 1959, Warren Clark was diagnosed with severe [[Angina pectoris|angina]], and, although he curtailed his activities on his doctor's order, he suffered {{nowrap|three heart attacks}} within the next five&nbsp;years, each time returning from the hospital in poorer health. After the last heart attack in 1964, they felt that Warren would be unable to work again, so Higgins Clark called a friend who wrote scripts for radio shows to see if there were any job openings. The day that she accepted a job writing the radio segment "Portrait of a Patriot," Warren suffered a fatal heart attack. His mother, who was visiting at the time, collapsed dead at his bedside upon discovering that he washad deaddied. In one night, Higgins Clark lost both her husband and her mother-in-law.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 109–111, 114–115.</ref>

Higgins Clark's initial contract to be a radio scriptwriter obligated her to write 65&nbsp;four-minute programs for the "Portrait of a Patriot" series. Her work was good enough that she was soon asked to write two other radio series. This experience of fitting an entire sketch into four&nbsp;minutes taught Higgins Clark how to write cleanly and succinctly, traits that are incredibly important to a suspense novel, which must advance the plot with every paragraph.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 125, 150–53.</ref> Despite the security offered by her new job, money was tight in the beginning as she strove to raise five&nbsp;children aged five to thirteen alone. For their first Christmas without Warren, Higgins Clark's only gifts to her children were personalized poems describing the things she wished she could have purchased for them.<ref name="brady">{{cite news|last=Brady|first=Lois Smith|title=Mary Higgins Clark & John Conheeney marry|newspaper=New York Times|date=December 8, 1996|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E7D8143FF93BA35751C1A960958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fC%2fClark%2c%20Mary%20Higgins|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007}}</ref>

By the late 1960s, the [[short story]] market had collapsed. ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]'', which in 1960 named Higgins Clark's short story "Beauty Contest at Buckingham" one of their ten best of the year, was in serious financial straits and had decided to stop publishing fiction, and many of the popular women's magazines were also dropping or cutting back on fiction, focusing on self-help articles instead.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 122, 125, 156.</ref> Because her short stories were no longer able to find a publisher, Higgins Clark's agent suggested that she try writing a full-length novel.<ref name="welch"/> Using her research and experience with the ''Portraits of a Patriot'' series, Higgins Clark spent the next three years writing a fictionalized account of the relationship between [[George Washington|George]] and [[Martha Washington]], ''Aspire to the Heavens''. It is about George Washington and the love for his house.<ref name="qa"/> Although it was sold for only a small advance, its acceptance gave Higgins Clark confidence that she could indeed finish a full-length book and find a publisher.<ref name="levitsky"/> The novel "was [[remaindered book|remaindered]] as it came off the press,"<ref name="bruns"/> and, to make matters worse, four months after the publication of the novel, Mary's mother, Nora, died.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 181.</ref>

Encouraged by her agent to try writing another book, Higgins Clark returned to the suspense stories that she loved as a child and, which had provided her first success as a short story writer. While she was in the midst of writing the story, her younger brother Johnny died, leaving her the sole surviving member of her family. To temporarily forget her heartache, Higgins Clark threw herself into her writing, and soon finished the novel.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', p. 177, 192–193.</ref> Very quickly after the novel, ''Where are the Children?'' was completed, [[Simon & Schuster]] agreed to purchase it for the relatively small sum of $3000. Three months later, in July 1974, Higgins Clark received word that the paperback rights for the novel had sold for one hundred thousand dollars. For the first time in many years, she had no immediate financial worries.<ref>Higgins Clark, ''Kitchen Privileges'', pp. 195–196.</ref> ''Where Are the Children?'' became a bestseller and was favorably reviewed.<ref name="bruns"/> Two years after its publication Higgins Clark sold her second suspense novel for $1.5 million.<ref name="brady"/>

Since 2010, Paris-based La Sabotière have been producing a series of her crime novelnovels as television films. Mary Higgins Clark crime novel anthology series was placed into development in October 2019 under a partnership between Montreal-based Reel One Entertainment, U.S. producer Element 8 Entertainment and La Sabotière. The first season is slated to be based on ''I’ll Be Seeing You'' and, attached as writer and executive producer is Ilene Rosenzweig.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dams |first1=Tim |title=Reel One, Element 8 and La Sabotière to Develop Mary Higgins Clark's Crime Novels |url=https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/reel-one-element-8-and-la-sabotiere-to-develop-mary-higgins-clarks-crime-novels-1203369500/ |access-date=December 4, 2019 |work=Variety |date=October 15, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Higgins Clark's debut novel about George Washington, ''Aspire to the Heavens'' was retitled ''Mount Vernon Love Story'' and rereleased in 2002, the same year as her autobiography, ''Kitchen Privileges'', which relied heavily on the journals she has kept all of her life.<ref name="simon"/><ref name="qa"/> In 2006, she announced that she would be fulfilling one of her dreams by publishing her first children's book. ''Ghost Ship'' was published by Simon & Schuster, who have published her suspense novels.<ref name="welch"/><ref name="kids">{{cite web|title=Internationally Bestselling Author Mary Higgins Clark to Publish Her First Children's Book With Simon & Schuster|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|date=August 10, 2006|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-10-2006/0004414197&EDATE=|access-date=2007-02-February 13, 2007}}</ref>

She has writtenwrote several [[Christmas]]-themed mystery novels with her daughter, [[Carol Higgins Clark|Carol]]. Although popular with readers, some critics have complained that the books are of lesser quality because the tone is much lighter than her solo output. {{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

Higgins Clark dated throughout her widowhood. She described her second marriage (1978–1986) to Raymond Ploetz as "disastrous," and had it annulled.<ref name="brady"/><ref name="people">{{cite journal|last=Lipton|first=Michael|title=Murders, They Write|journal=People|date=November 2, 1992|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20108985,00.html}}</ref>

In 1996, she married John J. Conheeney after they were introduced by her daughter, Patty.<ref name="white"/> John J Conheeney died at age 89 on October 8, 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=John Conheeney Obituary |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/NYTimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=190435942 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 10, 2018|via=[[Legacy.com]]}}</ref> He was the retired CEO of Merrill Lynch Futures,.<ref name="bruns"/> The couple lived in [[Saddle River, New Jersey]],. (MaryHiggins havingClark first moved to [[New Jersey]] in 1956 when she and her first husband bought a home in [[Washington Township, Bergen County, New Jersey]]).)<ref>Horner, Shirley. [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/18/nyregion/new-jersey-q-mary-higgins-clark-life-new-jersey-best-selling-mysteries.html?pagewanted=all "New Jersey Q & A: Mary Higgins Clark; From a Life in New Jersey, Best-Selling Mysteries"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 18, 1992; accessed December 22, 2013. "Ms. Clark first moved to New Jersey -- to Washington Township -- in 1956."</ref><ref>Geiger, Mia. [http://www.denverpost.com/books/ci_5604012 "Suspense queen sailing two ships"], ''[[The Denver Post]]'', April 6, 2007. Accessed May 14, 2007. "It seemed only natural for Higgins Clark to set the story on Cape Cod, a place that feels magical to the Saddle River, N.J., resident."</ref> They had other homes in [[Manhattan]]; [[Spring Lake, New Jersey]]; and [[Dennis, Massachusetts]].<ref name="bruns"/>

In 1981, Higgins Clark happened to be in [[Washington, D.C.]], the day President [[Ronald Reagan]] was shot. Because she had a press pass she was able to join the media waiting to hear the President's prognosis. When the doctor finally arrived to start the press conference, Higgins Clark was one of the few people chosen to ask a question.<ref name="levitsky"/>

In addition to her residence in Saddle River, Higgins Clark diedowned homes in [[Manhattan]], [[Dennis, Massachusetts]], and [[Naples, Florida]],. She died in Naples on January 31, 2020., at the age of 92.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=NJ.com |first1=Noah Cohen | title=Mary Higgins Clark, bestselling mystery author who called N.J. home, dies at 92 |url=https://www.nj.com/news/2020/02/mary-higgins-clark-bestselling-mystery-author-who-called-nj-home-dies-at-92.html |access-date=1 February 1, 2020 |work=nj.com |date=1 February 1, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Verongos|first=Helen T.|date=February 1, 2020-02-01|title=Mary Higgins Clark, Best-Selling Queen of Suspense, Dies at 92|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/books/mary-higgins-clark-dead.html|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She was 92.

Higgins Clark has had over 50 novels published, with millions of copies sold throughout the United States.

In 2001, the hardcover edition of Higgins Clark's ''On the Street Where You Live'' was Number One on the ''New York Times'' Hardcover Bestseller list at the same time that the paperback version of her novel ''{{ill|Before I Say Good-bye|fr|Avant de te dire adieu}}'' reached Number One on the ''New York Times'' Paperback Bestseller list.<ref name="bruns2">{{cite web|last=Bruns|first=Ann|title=Mary Higgins Clark|publisher=Teen Reads|date=June 5, 2001|url=http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-clark-mary.asp|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007}}</ref>

Her books have been bestsellers in France,<ref name="white"/> and have earned her the distinction of being named a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2000. She has been honored in France with the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (1980) and the Deauville Film Festival Literary Award (1999).<ref name="hwa">{{cite web|title=Mary Higgins Clark|publisher=The Harry Walker Agency, Inc.|url=http://www.harrywalker.com/speakers_template.cfm?Spea_ID=127|access-date=2007-04-April 23, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015191224/http://harrywalker.com/speakers_template.cfm?SPEA_ID=127|archive-date=October 15, 2007|df=mdy-all}}</ref> She was awarded the AIHS Gold Medal from the [[American Irish Historical Society]], which is awarded to an Irish-American or Irish-national of significant accomplishment.<ref>[http://aihs.org/gold-medal/ AIHS Gold Medal Awardees]</ref>

Many of the books deal with crimes involving children or with telepathy.<ref name="pwblue">{{cite magazine|title=Two Little Girls in Blue|magazine=Publishers Weekly|date=February 27, 2006|url=http://reviews.publishersweekly.com/bd.aspx?isbn=0743264908&pub=pw|access-date=2007-02-February 13, 2007}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

While Higgins Clark was aware that many people claiming to be psychics are behavingbehave fraudulently, she believed that she had met people with genuine ESP powers. Nora Higgins, on looking at a photo of her eighteen-year-old son in his brand new Navy dress blues told Mary that "He has death in his eyes", and the young man died shortly after. A psychic that Higgins Clark visited just as her second novel, ''Where Are the Children'', was being published in paperback told her that she would become very famous and make a great deal of money. Although at the time she laughed off the prediction, the following week her novel reached the bestseller lists and she sold the movie rights shortly after, truly launching her career.<ref name="white"/>

Mary Higgins Clark served as the Chairman of the International Crime Congress in 1988 and was the 1987 president of the [[Mystery Writers of America]]. For many years she served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America. [[Simon & Schuster]], which have published all of Higgins Clark's novels and in the late 1990s signed her to a $64-million, four-book contract,<ref name="white"/> have funded the Mary Higgins Clark Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America to authors of suspense fiction.<ref name="simon"/><ref name="mwa">{{cite web|title=The Mary Higgins Clark Award|publisher =Mystery Writers of America|url=http://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/mhc.htm|access-date=2007-02-February 12, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004003258/http://www.mysterywriters.org/pages/awards/mhc.htm|archive-date=October 4, 2006}}</ref> The announcement that an award would be given in her honor was made at the 55th Annual Edgar Allan Poe Awards, where Higgins Clark was inducted as a Grand Master.<ref name="mwa"/>

Higgins Clark was made a Dame of the [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]], and was honored as a [[Knights Hospitaller|Dame of Malta]] and a Dame of the [[Order of the Holy Sepulchre]].<ref name="white"/> The Franciscan Friars gave her a Graymoor Award (1999) and she was awarded a [[Christopher Award|Christopher Life Achievement Award]]. She served as a board member for the Catholic Communal Fund and as a member of the Board of Governors at Hackensack Hospital.<ref name="simoncanada">{{cite web|title=Facts About Mary|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] Canada|url=http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=25&pid=352932&agid=12|access-date=2007-04-April 23, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227000123/http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=25&pid=352932&agid=12|archive-date=December 27, 2008}}</ref>

* 1968 ''Aspire to the Heavens'' (reissued in 2002 as ''Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington (previously Aspire to the Heavens, 1996) |year=2002 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743229876}}</ref>)

* 1975 ''Where Are the Children?''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Where Are The Children? |year=2001 |publisher=ImPress |isbn=9780762188628}}</ref>

* 1977 ''[[A Stranger is Watching]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=A Stranger is Watching |year=1977 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671230715}}</ref>

* 1980 ''The Cradle Will Fall''<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Cradle Will Fall |year=1980 |publisher=Literary Express |isbn=978-1581650600}}</ref>

* 1982 ''[[A Cry in the Night (novel)|A Cry in the Night]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=A Cry in the Night |year=1982 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671431280}}</ref>

* 1984 ''Stillwatch''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Stillwatch |date=October 18, 1984 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671469528}}</ref>

* 1986 ''Murder in Manhattan''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Murder in Manhattan |year=1986 |publisher=Morrow |isbn=978-0688064754}}</ref> (co-author Thomas Chastain)

* 1987 ''Murder On The Aisle''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Murder on the Aisle |year=1987 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671634667}}</ref> (short story)

* 1987 ''Weep No More, My Lady''<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Weep No More, My Lady |date=May 25, 2000 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743206167}}</ref>

* 1988 ''Caribbean Blues''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Caribbean Blues |year=1988 |publisher=PaperJacks |isbn=978-0770107840}}</ref>

* 1989 ''[[While My Pretty One Sleeps]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=While My Pretty One Sleeps |year=1989 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671556655}}</ref>

* 1990 ''Voices in the Coal Bin'' ([[short story]], audio only with [[Carol Higgins Clark]]'s ''That's the Ticket'')

* 1991 ''[[Loves Music, Loves to Dance]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Loves Music, Loves to Dance |date=March 1992 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671758899}}</ref>

* 1992 ''Missing in Manhattan''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Missing in Manhattan |year=1992 |publisher=Longmeadow Press |collaboration=The Adams Round Table |isbn=978-0681415768 |editor-last=Adler |editor-first=Bill}}</ref> (anthology)

* 1993 ''Death on the Cape and Other Stories''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Death On The Cape and Other Stories |year=1993 |publisher=Arrow |isbn=978-0099280415}}</ref>

* 1994 ''[[Remember Me (Mary Higgins Clark novel)|Remember Me]]''<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Remember Me |year=1994 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671894689 }}</ref> (large print edition)

* 1995 ''Let Me Call You Sweetheart''<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Let Me Call You Sweetheart |year=1995 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684803968}}</ref>

* 1995 ''Justice'' ''in Manhattan''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Justice in Manhattan |year=1994 |publisher=Longmeadow Press |collaboration=The Adams Round Table |isbn=978-0681454804 |editor-last=Chastain |editor-first=Thomas}}</ref> (anthology)

* 1995 ''Silent Night''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Silent Night |date=November 1996 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671000424}}</ref>

* 1995 ''Bad Behavior''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Bad Behavior |year=1995 |publisher=Harcourt Brace |isbn=978-0152001797}}</ref>

* 1996 ''Moonlight Becomes You''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Moonlight Becomes You |year=1996 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684810386}}</ref>

* 1996 ''Mother: Famous Writers Celebrate Motherhood with a Treasury of Short Stories, Essays, and Poems''<ref>{{Cite book |last=O'Keefe |first=Claudia |title=Mother: Famous Writers Celebrate Motherhood with a Treasury of Short Stories, Essays, and Poems |others=Mary Higgins Clark |date=May 1996 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671529987}}</ref>

* 1997 ''[[Pretend You Don't See Her]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Pretend You Don't See Her |year=1997 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684810393}}</ref>

* 1998 ''You Belong to Me''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=You Belong To Me |year=1998 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684835952}}</ref>

* 1999 ''[[We'll Meet Again (novel)|We'll Meet Again]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=We'll Meet Again |year=1999 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684835976}}</ref>

* 1999 ''The Night Awakens: A Mystery Writers of America Anthology''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Night Awakens: A Mystery Writers of America Anthology |date=February 2000 |publisher=Pocket Books |collaboration=Mystery Writers of America Anthology |isbn=978-0671519186}}</ref>

* 1999 ''The Plot Thickens''<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Plot Thickens |date=November 1997 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |collaboration=Block, Lawrence; Buchanan, Edna; Clark, Carol Higgins; Demille, Lauren; Demille, Nelson; Evanovich, Janet; Fairstein, Linda; Mosley, Walter; Pickard, Nancy |isbn=978-0671015572 |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Mary Higgins}}</ref> (editor)

* 2000 ''{{ill|Before I Say Good-bye|fr|Avant de te dire adieu|lt=Before I Say Good-Bye}}''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Before I Say Goodbye |year=2000 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684835983}}</ref>

* 2000 ''Deck The Halls''<ref name="Clark">{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=Deck the Halls |last2=Clark |first2=Carol Higgins |year=2000 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743209649}}</ref>

* 2002 ''Daddy's Little Girl''<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Daddy's Little Girl |year=2002 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743206044}}</ref>

* 2002 ''Murder in the Family''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Murder in the Family |year=2002 |publisher=Berkley Prime Crime |collaboration=Block, Lawrence Block; Straub, Peter; Strieber, Whitley; et al |isbn=978-0425183359}}</ref> (anthology)

* 2003 ''The Second Time Around''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Second Time Around |year=2003 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743206068}}</ref>

* 2004 ''Nighttime Is My Time''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Nighttime Is My Time |year=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743206075}}</ref>

* 2005 ''[[No Place Like Home (novel)|No Place Like Home]]''<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=No Place Like Home |year=2005 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743264891}}</ref>

* 2006 ''Two Little Girls in Blue''<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Two Little Girls in Blue |date=April 4, 2006 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743264907}}</ref>

* 2007 ''Ghost Ship''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Ghost Ship |date=April 3, 2007 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1416935148}}</ref>

* 2008 ''[[Where Are You Now? (novel)|Where Are You Now?]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Where Are You Now? |year=2008 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1847371898}}</ref>

* 2010 ''The Shadow of Your Smile''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Shadow of Your Smile |date=April 26, 2010 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]], Limited |isbn=978-1847377869}}</ref>

* 2011 ''The Magical Christmas Horse''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Magical Christmas Horse |others=Illustrated by Wendell Minor |date=October 25, 2011 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]/Paula Wiseman Books |isbn=978-1416994787}}</ref>

* 2011 ''I'll Walk Alone''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=I'll Walk Alone |date=April 5, 2011 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1439180969}}</ref>

* 2012 ''The Lost Years''<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Lost Years |date=April 3, 2012 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1451668865}}</ref>

* 2013 ''Daddy's Gone A Hunting''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Daddy's Gone A Hunting |date=April 9, 2013 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1451668940}}</ref>

* 2013 ''Plot Thickens''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Plot Thickens |date=November 1997 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |collaboration=Block, Lawrence; Buchanan, Edna; Clark, Carol Higgins; Demille, Lauren; Demille, Nelson; Evanovich, Janet; Fairstein, Linda; Mosley, Walter; Pickard, Nancy |isbn=978-0671015572}}</ref> (anthology)

* 2015 ''The Melody Lingers On''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Melody Lingers On |date=June 23, 2015 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1476749112}}</ref>

* 2016 ''Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Death Wears a Beauty Mask and Other Stories |date=April 28, 2015 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501110993}}</ref>

* 2016 ''As Time Goes By''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=As Time Goes By |date=April 5, 2016 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501130441}}</ref>

* 2017 ''All By Myself, Alone''<ref name="ALLBYMYSELF">{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=All By Myself, Alone |date=April 4, 2017 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501131110}}</ref>

* 2018 ''I've Got My Eyes on You''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=I've Got My Eyes on You |date=February 26, 2019 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-1501171765}}</ref>

* 2019 ''Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Kiss the Girls and Make Them Cry |date=November 5, 2019 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501171703}}</ref>

* 1994 ''The Lottery Winner and Other Stories''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=The Lottery Winner and Other Stories |year=1994 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0671867164}}</ref>

* 1998 ''All Through the Night''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=All Through the Night |year=1998 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0684856605}}</ref>

* 2004 ''The Christmas Thief And Other Stories''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=The Christmas Thief |last2=Clark |first2=Carol Higgins |year=2004 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]/Scribner |isbn=978-0743231206}}</ref> (crossover with Carol's main protagonist Reagan Reilly)

* 2006 ''Santa Cruise: A Holiday Mystery at Sea''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=Santa Cruise |last2=Clark |first2=Carol Higgins |date=November 5, 2007 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]], Limited |isbn=978-1416526759}}</ref> (crossover with Carol's main protagonist Reagan Reilly)

* 2014 ''I've Got You Under My Skin''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=I've Got You Under My Skin |date=April 2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1476749068}}</ref>

* 2014 ''The Cinderella Murder''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=The Cinderella Murder |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=November 18, 2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1476763125}}</ref>

* 2015 ''All Dressed in White''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=All Dressed in White |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=November 17, 2015 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501108556}}</ref>

* 2016 ''The Sleeping Beauty Killer''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=The Sleeping Beauty Killer |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=November 15, 2016 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501108587}}</ref>

* 2017 ''Every Breath You Take''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=Every Breath You Take |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=November 7, 2017 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1501171642}}</ref>

* 2018 ''You Don't Own Me''<ref name="YOUDONTOWNME">{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=You Don't Own Me |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=November 6, 2018 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1501171666}}</ref>

* 2020 ''Piece of My Heart''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Mary Higgins |title=Piece of My Heart |last2=Burke |first2=Alafair |date=September 28, 2021 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1982132552}}</ref>

* 2001 ''Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clark |first=Mary Higgins |title=Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir |year=2002 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-0743206051}}</ref>

* 1992: ''{{ill|Terror Stalks the Class Reunion|fr|Pour le meilleur et pour le pire (téléfilm, 1992)}}''

* 2002: ''{{ill|All Around Thethe Town (film)|fr|Nous n'irons plus au bois (téléfilm, 2002)|lt=All Around the Town}}''

* 2004: ''[[Try to Remember (film)|Try to Remember]]''

* Higgins Clark, Mary, ''Kitchen Privileges: A Memoir'', [[Simon & Schuster]] (2002); 224 pages; {{ISBN|0743412613}}/{{ISBN|978-0743412612}}; reprint edition Gallery Books (October 21, 2003).

[[Category:WomenAmerican women mystery writers]]

[[Category:20th-centuryWriters Americanfrom womenthe writersBronx]]

[[Category:21st-centuryNovelists Americanfrom womenNew writersYork City]]

[[Category:NovelistsPeople from NewMorris YorkPark, (state)Bronx]]