Emily has just purchased her family’s former Victorian home in the oceanside town of Spring Lake, New Jersey. After the dissolution of her marriage, and the apprehension of an obsessed stalker, Emily accepts a job offer in Manhattan and plans to spend her weekends on the Jersey shore.

However, shortly after she closes the deal on the house, the body of dead woman who first disappeared four years ago is unearthed in her backyard. Even more curious is what is found clenched in Martha Lawrence’s hand - the finger bone of Madeline Shapely, Emily’s great-great-grandaunt, who mysteriously disappeared from Spring Lake in 1891.

After Madeline vanished, two more young women disappeared without a trace. Emily is sure there is a link between the 100 year old disappearances and Martha’s recently discovered corpse, and sets about researching Madeline’s life. However, the closer she gets to discovering the truth, the closer she is to meeting an untimely end - especially when it appears that she’s once again the victim of a stalker.

I fell in love with Mary Higgins Clark during my teenage years, but promptly stopped reading her work in college when I was disappointed by one of her offerings. Boy, am I glad I gave her a second chance! On The Street Where You Live is a page turner from start to finish. Clark’s writing style allows to her cultivate suspects and motives, with short chapters and changing points of view. Readers even get a taste of what the murderer is thinking, which is eerie and captivating at the same time.

The author has five disappearances and 100 years to cover in 317 pages, so naturally something has to give. In this case, it happens to be in-depth character development. Sure, we get to know who all the players are, their motives and movements, but I never learned what made them tick. But then, they all serve their roles in this tale of suspense quite agreeably, and frankly I was so buried in this book that it’s a complaint that didn’t continue to nag at me.

The author kept me guessing right to the end, which is something every good mystery should do. Every time I thought I had pegged the culprit, Clark had me second guessing myself, providing lots of suspects who had habits of suspicious behavior.

I’m happy to report that Clark’s latest novel delivers the goods. Fans are definitely going to want to check this one out, and curious newcomers should find On The Street Where You Live worth their time.

--Wendy Crutcher