I've Got You Under My Skin: A Novel (Under Suspicion Book 1)

At one time, I had several books written by Mary Higgins Clark in my library. It has been a long time since I have read any of her books. This book was worth every second of reading!

The character development occurred over time with slow reveals of the main characters thoughts and feelings about the night of the graduation gala. The focus of the story is on two events one occurring 20 years ago and one occurring 5 years ago.

I like the way the author revealed the events of the graduation gala and the tragic event for Laura. Secrets were revealed over time through the thoughts of each individual and through dialogue.

Truly a well done mystery with an ending that caught me off guard! No sex scenes, few swear words. One of the best books I have read lately!

I am going to take a minute and go in the "way back" machine. When I was young I hated reading. GASP ....I know. When we had to read in school I would buy "cliff notes" because I refused to read a whole book. THEN, when I got married (which was a loooong time ago...hehe) I had a friend who had always loved reading. We had been friends since we were six, and she was always trying to get me to read a book. ONE day, my husband was working late and going to school and I thought "I want to read a book". I almost thought I was having an out of body experience, because I had never uttered those words before. My friend immediately said, "I have just the book for you. You like mysteries, so let me bring this book to you.". I finally agreed, and picked up my very first MARY HIGGINS CLARK book, and never looked back. So why the "way back" machine. It was a MARRY HIGGINS CLARK book that got me to read, and I loved the book so much I read every single one of hers that had been released. She will probably always be one of my favorite authors, because in my head she is the one who brought me to the realization that reading is FANTABULOUS..(it's a word, because I like it..heheh).

Okay, now back to reality...What I love most about Higgins books are that she has so many characters. It makes me have to really keep my thinking cap on the whole time, which I love. I have learned that it is easier to write the names down on a piece of paper now, so that I don't have to go back and try to remember who they were. I am getting smarter...hehehe

Her books are always full of mystery, and excitement. Whenever I start one of Higgin's books it's very hard to put it down. This one was no exception.

Laurie suffered a terrible loss. Her husband was murdered and the murderer threatened to come after her and her son next. She lived in constant fear of her and her sons lives. Her father a retired cop vowed to protect his daughter and his grandson with everything he had. Laurie's son was a witness to the murder when he was 3 and had to live with the memory of seeing his father gunned down.

Laurie is a producer of reality TV, and decides to try and launch a new reality show about a murder that had happened 20 years ago. She got all of the former people involved to participate in a reenactment, and the story really gets interesting then.

I love how Higgins connects all of her characters. It's always mind blowing to me. You know that they have a little connection but when the story unfolds you realize every one has a secret and they all share part of the same secret. It's amazing.

Her characters are always so great. I always, and I mean always think I know who the killer is, and EVERY TIME, I am wrong. Every single time. Dang she is good. hehehe. In this book there happen to be two bad guys, and one was obvious and the other wasn't. There were two stories going on at the same time, which made it even more exciting for me.

One story was about Powell and the murder of his wife Betsy. That is the premise behind the show that Laurie is doing, called Under Suspicion. While uncovering the facts that went along with the murder, there is also the story of Laurie's husbands murder. Like I said, there was a lot going on.

I loved this story. It was exciting, and the characters were great, and complex. Some of them were just down right nasty human beings, and Higgins does a great job of writing a villain! Some of them were sweet, and kind, and I felt their struggles along with them.

It's amazing to see the story, and the characters come together. There are twists and turns, that kept me wondering who the "real" murderer was and who the victims were. It's just so great :)!

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away, but if you like mystery, and suspense...you will like this book. This may be one of my favorites of Higgins. I think I might say that after every book though...hehehe.

Source: I bought this book for myself off Amazon. I am not affiliated with Amazon in anyway and was not compensated for this review. These are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book.

A murder after a graduation party of a wealthy socialite had a lot of suspects but no one was ever charged. For twenty years many of the suspects were found guilty in the court of public opinion and every time a tabloid ran a story about the murder people again whispered and stared. When a reality show makes an offer to recreate the scene of the crime and offers four of the suspects a lot of money to appear in the show they accept. The money is a help to each of them but the chance to prove their innocence after all these years is the drawing card. But nothing goes as planned and the intricate plot and fascinating characters is why I always read everything this author writes. Wish I could give it 10 stars.

I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN, a novel by Mary Higgins Clark. Twenty years ago, Betsy Bonner Powell, wife of Wall Street financier, Robert Nicholas Powell, was murdered following a graduation gala at the Powell mansion for Betsy’s daughter Clair and her three closest friends and fellow graduates. Clair, her three friends and to a lesser degree the stepfather and the housekeeper have been under suspicion as persons of interest throughout this lengthy period. All suspected each other and all had personal reasons to dislike the murder victim. Lourie Moran, producer of the popular reality TV show, Under Suspicion, returned to the site of the crime to interview the suspects and others for her show with the hope of shedding light on the aging unsolved murder and possibly even flushing out the killer. Along with the graduation gala story a parallel scenario also plays out. Five years ago, Laurie Moran’s husband, Greg, a physician, was murdered in cold blood by a gunman while playing with their three-year-old son, Timmy, in a neighborhood park. The press named the killer Blue Eyes because Timmy as young as he was could only identify the gunman by the color of his eyes. Timmy did remember, however, that as the killer ran off he shouted, “Tell your mother that she’s next. Then it’s your turn.” The author does a masterful job of weaving both stories together while keeping story lines separate. Higgins Clark developed her characters well. From the very start the reader is exposed to the personal lives of each participant. As the story moves along the author gradually increases tension through the story’s fast changing scenes. Under My Skin is not a complicated “who done it” mystery; in fact, its simplicity might be one of its attractions and allows the reader to follow the logic and wily scheming of the chasers and the chased. Don’t let the simplicity of the plot fool you though; the story has as many twists and sharp turns as an Alpine slalom course right to the very end. I very much enjoyed the story and heartily recommend it. I rate the book a 5.

A 20 year old unsolved murder, with six suspects (and a few more thrown in), a widow, her son, and her ex-detective father living for years under threat from her husband's murderer...what more could you ask for in a mystery?

Well-developed characters (and there are a lot of them), each with a motive, and throughout the story, you'll think 'surely this one's guilty!'

Very carefully edited. A "can't put it down" read for mystery lovers.

This book started out pretty good. It had a thrilling opener and seemed to have a good potential for a great story. However, once the production of the TV show started everything just sort of got very dull. I didn't connect with any of the characters and the four graduates who returned for the show to tell the world they were innocent of socialite, Betsy Powell's, murder all became very repetitive in their "stories" and that's all the reader read about for about 100 pages was not only their alibis but also potential motives. Speaking of repetitive, the back story on the producer, Laurie Moran, was completely overdone! Her father, an ex-cop and Laurie were absolutely obsessed! And that got irritating. I wanted to scream "Ok! We get you are scared and overprotective of your son but come on!" This isn't a spoiler but in the opening scenes of the book, Laurie's husband was shot at the park while he was with his son, Timmy. Timmy clearly remembers the man's eye color ( blue ) and constantly says throughout the book that "Blue-Eyes shot my Daddy!" He also remembers the threat the killer yelled as he left the scene.....Next time it's your mom then you Timmy!

So basically there were 2 stories going on. One being the production of the show Under Suspicion in which cold murder cases are investigated and re-created in order to maybe shake someone's memory and find a killer. Then two Laurie and her father, Leo, on constant watch for Blue-Eyes to return and carry out his threat. Again this could have gone to great places but it was just too repetitive and dull. The plot line around Blue-Eyes was completely unbelievable and actually became distracting to the story. It's too bad that Clark just seemed to get lazy. This is supposed to be the beginning of a series for her. Since I already own the next book, I will read it. I just have high hopes that the next is better! 3 stars!