I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE
Mary Higgins Clark
Simon & Schuster
Psychological Thriller
ISBN-10: 0743264916
ISBN-13: 9780743264914

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Mary Higgins Clark hits the charts with a new novel titled I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE. This, her 31st book, tells the bizarre tale of Kathryn "Kay" Lansing, a librarian who is deeply committed to community literacy and fundraising. She lives in New York and commutes to New Jersey where she grew up. The action begins when she writes to Peter Carrington, the scion of his family's fortune and huge estate, to ask him to meet with her. Kay would like to persuade him to allow her to have the next literacy project event on the estate grounds.

A rather reclusive fellow, Peter has retreated to his mansion because years before he was the last person to see Susan Althorp alive. Susan was the daughter of a neighbor and Peter's friend. Kay is delighted that (contrary to his reputation) he agrees to see her, and both are immediately attracted to each other. The event is a success, and after a whirlwind romance of only a few weeks, the two marry. Everyone who knows them, especially Kay's grandmother, thinks Kay has walked into the arms of a murderer.

In the meantime, readers learn that this visit is not the first Kay has taken to the estate. When she was six years old, her father, a widower, was the landscaper and groundskeeper for the Carringtons. He needed to make an emergency trip to the grounds to make sure the lighting was perfectly set up for a dinner dance to be held that evening --- the one from which Althorp disappeared. His only option was to take Kay with him. He sat her on a bench and pleaded with her to stay there until he came back. Of course this order had the opposite effect, and she decided to explore the "castle" to find the chapel she had heard stories about. A "conveniently" open door, "empty passages" and a nose for snooping led her to her destination. She was awed, until she heard a man and woman arguing inside the small room. Frozen with fear of being discovered, she hid between the pews.

"The woman was demanding money, and the man was saying that he already paid her enough. Then she said, 'This will be the last time, I swear,' and he said, 'I heard that song before.' Following the man's remark, [Kay] could not hear the rest of what was said except for [the woman whispering] 'Don't forget,' as she exited the chapel. The man [stayed for a few moments more]: [Kay]…then heard him…softly [begin] to whistle the [familiar tune: 'I Heard That Song Before.']" When he left, she hurried from her hiding place because she was afraid that, if found, she would be roundly punished and her father would lose his job.

But soon after the Althorp girl disappeared, Kay's father was thought to have committed suicide. Did he have something to do with Susan's disappearance? How about Peter Carrington? Who else in their closed circle could have done her harm? Her mother never gave up hope, but whatever happened to her daughter, she blamed young Carrington, who had been found on the Althorp lawn that night so long ago.

The past quickly raises its ugly face when a team of workers begins to dig up the ground just outside the fence bordering the Carrington land. They find the remains of a woman that of course turns out to be Susan Althorp. And since Kay's father's body was never recovered, the authorities start digging up the whole property. And, yes, Mr. Lansing's bones also are found. Mayhem, chaos, heartbreak, grief and the arrest of Peter Carrington come next. The state has a case --- and some dubious witnesses who will sell Kay's husband down the river in a flash. They had only kept quiet all these years because they were able to finagle funds from him.

But Kay never loses her faith in Peter and is by his side at every opportunity. After Peter is jailed, humiliated, forced to wear an electronic bracelet and has to post millions of dollars of bail money, he's allowed to be released on his own recognizance. Effectively he is under house arrest with permission to visit his New York attorneys from time to time. Not until Kay hires a very savvy private detective does her loyalty seem to have a chance of being well placed.

I HEARD THAT SONG BEFORE is not as strong as Mary Higgins Clark's previous works, which have made her "The Queen of Suspense," though it may appeal to readers seeking a beach book or airplane entertainment.

   --- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

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