Written by Crystal Schwalger
“Death Wears a Beauty Mask” by Mary Higgins Clark
2015 Simon & Schuster, Hardcover, 304 pages
Mary Higgins Clark is a brilliant mystery writer and one of my personal favorites. She is fondly known in the writing world as the “Queen of Suspense,” and rightly so. She has earned this title not only because she has written over 50 novels and numerous short stores but also because every one of her novels has been a best-seller—not an easy feat for a writer of any genre. Since I am a great admirer of her writing style, it was with great anticipation that I purchased my copy of her latest novel, “Death Wears a Beauty Mask,” published by Simon & Schuster.
You should be aware that this latest book is actually a collection of short stories rather than one complete novel. Most of the stories—save the first one, which bears the name of the book—have all been published before in magazines or mystery story anthologies or as audio books over the years.
I found that some of the stories are much better than others. My personal favorites were “The Cape Cod Masquerade,” “Definitely a Crime of Passion,” “The Man Next Door,” and “Haven’t We Met Before?” All four of these stories had the potential to be turned into full-length novels. I was actually disappointed at the fairly quick endings and wished that Clark had developed them into novels.
The first story in the collection is the novella, “Death Wears a Beauty Mask,” after which the entire book is named. It was actually started back in 1972 and is about a missing model and her newly wed younger sister. Three men are prime suspects, with one having a sinister motive that needs to be discovered before it’s too late. This story does have potential, but there is not as much character development as we are used to having from this author. You can definitely tell that this is one of her early works, even though she recently finished it. She had apparently set it aside years ago to work on her first published novel, “Where Are the Children.” I did like the unusual plot of the story. It should be an enjoyable read for most lovers of her works.
“Stowaway” was one of the very first stories that Clark tried to have published back when she was just starting out. The story is set during the time of the cold war. It’s about a lovesick “stewardess” helping a resistance fighter from East Germany to escape on an American plane. All of the characters lacked any real depth, and the storyline was pretty simplistic. I was not surprised that it wasn’t picked up to be published at first. It’s not one of her better short stories.
“When the Bough Breaks” is the heart-wrenching tale about a mother who feels responsible for her child’s death. I wasn’t overly fond of this story, even with the mother/child theme. There just wasn’t much plot development in this story, and I felt like I was reading a story that was written as a magazine feature story, which it most likely was.
“Voices in the Coal Bin” is another story that feels like it was written as a magazine feature. The characters lack the development that would’ve enabled the reader to bond with them, which only adds to the weirdness of the plot. When a husband discovers that his wife is becoming more and more delusional, he brings her to his family cabin, hoping to relive her symptoms. What happens is there is beyond what either of them expected. The overall feel of the tale is supposed to be scary but comes off as just being slightly spooky, more like a Halloween tale.
“The Cape Cod Masquerade” features some of Clark’s most beloved characters: Alvirah and Willy Meehan. Alvirah is every bit the snooping sleuth she has been in other novels and doesn’t disappoint in trying to help a young convicted heiress prove her innocence while almost getting herself murdered in the process. This short story is a definite must-read.
“Definitely a Crime of Passion” is also a good read in this collection. This story features a character known to readers from another collection of short stories, “My Gal Sunday.” Ex-president Henry Parker Britland IV and his young congresswoman bride, Sandra O’Brien Britland—known better as “Sunday”—team up once again to help an old friend and fellow politician try to prove his innocence in a crime of passion. This story does start out a little slow but picks up quickly, letting the reader invest in the storyline. By the end of the story, the true details of the crime are revealed, bringing the story to a satisfying end.
“The Man Next Door” is deliciously creepy and, in my opinion, the best in the collection. The details of the crime are very well-developed as are the characters, which make the reading of this short story enjoyable as well as suspenseful. That this story is based on a real crime may be why Clark was able to make an unbelievable crime so believable. This short also a must read.
“Haven’t We Met Before?” entertains the idea of a man who believes that he has not only lived past lives but has been tortured and betrayed by the same women in almost every century. His search for her and their interaction keeps the action going, and I found myself caught up in the plotline. I enjoyed reading this tale—even though it was, in my opinion, too short.
“The Funniest Thing Has Been Happening Lately” is about a man who is so haunted by the untimely death of his teenage daughter 15 years ago that he decides that the only way to find peace is to kill the people he believes are responsible in some way for her death. Clark does a good job of developing the main character so that his motives are very believable. The only problems that I had with this story were that it moved far too quickly and that his revenge was too easy. Overall, this is a good story and worth a read.
The last story in the collection is “The Tell-Tale Purr.” This short tale is told in first person, which is completely different than any of the other stories in this collection. We follow the thoughts of the main character, who is mourning the long life of his rich grandmother. Inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the main character sets off a chain of events that include the grandmother, ending unexpectedly. While this story is not one of my favorites, it is amusing, and it’s interesting to read a story told in a different format.
For the most part, all of the stories in this collection were easy reads and enjoyable ways to spend a rainy afternoon. If you are a loyal fan of Clark or of suspenseful short stories, you should enjoy this book. If not, you may want to skip this one and wait until her next full-length novel, “The Melody Lingers On,” which comes out June 23. I can’t wait!
