Red herrings a bound as series resumes
Television producer Laurie Moran is back; this time she has the Sleeping Beauty Killer in her sights for her latest programme. That’s wild, fiery and fun Casey Carter who thought she’d found her soul mate in Hunter Raleigh, the son of a wealthy, longestablished family. However, the Raleigh family was less enamoured by Casey.
When Hunter was discovered shot dead in his bedroom and Casey found passed out on the sofa, it was easy to convince the jury she killed him and drugged herself as a cover. Headlines screamed about “Crazy Casey” murdering her fiance. Now, after finishing her 15- year prison term for manslaughter, Crazy Casey claims she wants to clear her name.
So she goes to Laurie, proclaiming her innocence ( and, as various characters remind us, everyone in prison is innocent) and hoping the true crime show Under
Suspicion can re- open the case and reveal the real killer. Problem is no one but Casey fits the profile.
Meanwhile, Laurie has troubles of her own. As her boss becomes more unreasonable, her boyfriend, who also happens to host Under Suspicion, has taken a step back from the show to focus on his own career. The new host fits more into the stereotypical television mould, narcissistic and unwilling to listen. Adding to Laurie’s challenges, she’s also a single mother, raising her son in New York City.
Mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark and her co- author, Alafair Burke, have great fun strewing red herrings, leading you to suspect the father, the cousin, the friend, and the brother as well as Casey herself.
A romantic streak is a characteristic Clark shares with Agatha Christie. The recurring subplot in their books is that the pretty girl finds a handsome ( or at least trustworthy) man and they are blissfully in love. Romance is always possible for Laurie, and maybe the new show host isn’t the jerk he seems to be at first, but Clark likes to unsettle her characters. It ends with a cliffhanger, setting up the next book in the series. Is Laurie being set up for a bad fall or will it end happily ever after for her? Mary Higgins Clark