Deck the Halls

Deck the Halls by Clark, Carol Higgins. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780743212281.

Mary Higgins Clark, Americas Queen of Suspense, and her daughter, bestselling author Carol Higgins Clark, have joined forces for the first time to create a brilliant and exciting story of high-stakes intrigue and detection in a kidnapping played out against a holiday setting. Three days before Christmas, Regan Reilly, the dynamic young sleuth featured in the novels of Carol Higgins Clark, and Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner and amateur detective who has appeared in several previous books by Mary Higgins Clark, meet at a dentists office. Alvirah is tending to her husband, while Regan is there in hopes of connecting with her busy father, scheduled for a routine visit. Once it is apparent that Luke Reilly is not going to show up, Alvirah offers the troubled Regan a lift home. When a call comes through on Regans cell phone, telling her that her father and his driver, Rosita Gonzalez, are being held for $1,000,000 ransom, Alvirah insists on lending a hand, for while Regan is a licensed private detective in Los Angeles, Alvirah has valuable contacts in the NYPD. Regans mother, successful mystery writer Nora Regan Reilly, was hospitalized the day before, and now Regan must comfort her while trying to meet the demands of her fathers kidnappers -- and their deadline. With Alvirahs help, Jack Reilly, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, leads the investigation as the two kidnappers, who are not just rank amateurs but also laughably inept -- thus dangerous and unpredictable -- make known their demands. Meanwhile, Luke and Rosita, held in a decrepit houseboat, become increasingly concerned not only for their welfare but for that of their loved ones. In Deck the Halls, a story filled with twists and turns, intrigue and danger, as well as a hearty dose of holiday cheer, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark have created a breathless and at the same time remarkably heartwarming story of suspense -- a Christmas classic for many holiday seasons to come.