A review by luffy79
Weep No More, My Lady by Mary Higgins Clark

4.0

I'd never acquiesce that books of this particular grind are good for the brain. But sometimes you need books like this just as you need junk food, though you should indulge in that infrequently. But the question is, should I read up to book 10 in this series? because it's really endearing to me. Will I wake up tomorrow with the mind (I already have the physique) of a troglodyte? Or more realistically, will I look back and regret wasting all my time on these books? For now, I say no. And I think books are not like food.

In many Hercule Poirot books, the detective barely appears. Here too, the supposedly main character is relegated to the background. Except that for a first book in a longrunning series, it's a bit bizarre to have the main persona so unremarkable. But, I guess, the author knows what she is doing. She has written books of the like for so many years.

Aw shucks, I'll make Alvirah Meehan the main character of my paragraph. I'm quite intrigued. I hasten to promote her. She won the lottery and got 40 million dollars. A former house cleaner, she is thrilled to be invited to Cypress Spa where she has a near death experience. There are a few choice people, all involved in the death of actress (an oscar winner, no less) Leila Lasalle. The latter's sister is present and so is the surely guilty suspect of the case, a guy simply named Ted. Do I smell romance in the air? Yuck! Ted was the boyfriend of Lasalle.

But seriously, I wonder why till now I haven't read mysteries with working class people as the main hero. Ken Follett has written a book like that, and his book sales took such a plunge, that he hasn't rewritten a sequel to that book. So what has Mary Higgins Clark got that Follett hasn't? Well for one, she is a woman. And secondly, she is more prolific and her errors are far behind her. Thirdly, she had got, once, many years ago, many loyal fans.

It's a wonder to guess what makes certain people tick. Polls show that 50% of the lottery winners figure out that they aren't more happy than before. A third of them file for bankruptcy. But the winner, when he checks his numbers, and when he/she realizes that they have won it all, well it must be a great feeling. Any rags-to-riches story is bound to melt hearts. I think that this book taps into the wishfulness of most humans living in big cities. Alvirah Meehan is that unlikely amateur detective that is more of a catalyst. Things just happen round her. We get to follow her stories. But she must be in a bind to guess why crime happens in front of her nose, and more importantly, why she wants to help those who need it. And, my, does she succeed at it.