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A review by laurenjodi
The Lost Years by Mary Higgins Clark
2.0
The Lost Years
2 Stars
Biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons is murdered in his home after consulting several experts on a rare parchment supposedly authored by Jesus Christ. His wife, Kathleen Lyons, an Alzheimer sufferer, is accused of the crime, but his daughter, Mariah is convinced of her mother’s innocence and sets out to prove that her father’s death is related to the missing document.
Mary Higgins Clark was once a must buy author for me, but I appear to have outgrown her writing style. The narrative is ostensibly in the 3rd person, however, it often diverges into the internal musings and recollections of the characters, which appear in 1st person format. This alternating perspective is not only distracting, but results in the characters coming across as self-absorbed and unsympathetic.
Although the murder victim is well-respected and loved by many characters in the book, to me he was nothing short of a selfish and ego-centric adulterer unworthy of the affections bestowed upon him. As a result, it is difficult to care one way or the other whether his murder is solved. The investigation is tedious with detectives leaping to unfounded conclusions and the TSTL heroine’s attempts to uncover the truth are annoying. There isn’t even a good romance to compensate for this fiasco.
The incorporation of the letter to Joseph of Arimathea has potential. Unfortunately, it amounts to little more than a mcguffin intended to lure readers into reading the book with hopes of a compelling story revolving around the missing years of Christ’s life. As it turns out, this plot element is underdeveloped and has virtually no importance in the overall scheme of things.
All in all, MHC has written much better works and this book is unworthy of her repertoire.
2 Stars
Biblical scholar Jonathan Lyons is murdered in his home after consulting several experts on a rare parchment supposedly authored by Jesus Christ. His wife, Kathleen Lyons, an Alzheimer sufferer, is accused of the crime, but his daughter, Mariah is convinced of her mother’s innocence and sets out to prove that her father’s death is related to the missing document.
Mary Higgins Clark was once a must buy author for me, but I appear to have outgrown her writing style. The narrative is ostensibly in the 3rd person, however, it often diverges into the internal musings and recollections of the characters, which appear in 1st person format. This alternating perspective is not only distracting, but results in the characters coming across as self-absorbed and unsympathetic.
Although the murder victim is well-respected and loved by many characters in the book, to me he was nothing short of a selfish and ego-centric adulterer unworthy of the affections bestowed upon him. As a result, it is difficult to care one way or the other whether his murder is solved. The investigation is tedious with detectives leaping to unfounded conclusions and the TSTL heroine’s attempts to uncover the truth are annoying. There isn’t even a good romance to compensate for this fiasco.
The incorporation of the letter to Joseph of Arimathea has potential. Unfortunately, it amounts to little more than a mcguffin intended to lure readers into reading the book with hopes of a compelling story revolving around the missing years of Christ’s life. As it turns out, this plot element is underdeveloped and has virtually no importance in the overall scheme of things.
All in all, MHC has written much better works and this book is unworthy of her repertoire.