REVIEW - I'VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN BY MARY HIGGINS CLARK

pic and description taken from GoodReads

Description:

When Laurie Moran’s husband was brutally murdered, only three-year-old Timmy saw the face of his father’s killer. Five years later his piercing blue eyes still haunt Timmy’s dreams. Laurie is haunted by more—the killer’s threat to her son as he fled the scene: “Tell your mother she’s next, then it’s your turn . . .”

Now Laurie is dealing with murder again, this time as the producer of a true-crime, cold-case television show. The series will launch with the twenty-year-old unsolved murder of Betsy Powell. Betsy, a socialite, was found suffocated in her bed after a gala celebrating the graduation of her daughter and three friends. The sensational murder was news nationwide. Reopening the case in its lavish setting and with the cooperation of the surviving guests that night, Laurie is sure to have a hit on her hands. But when the estranged friends begin filming, it becomes clear each is hiding secrets . . . small and large.

And a pair of blue eyes is watching events unfold, too . . .

My Review / Thoughts:

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.

My Rating:

Where to Buy:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

pic and bio taken from Goodreads

Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins Clark Conheeney, best known as Mary Higgins Clark, (b December 24, 1927 in the Bronx, New York) is an American author of suspense novels. Each of her twenty-four suspense novels has been a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of her novels remain in print as of 2007, with her debut suspense novel, Where Are The Children, in its seventy-fifth printing.

Clark began writing at an early age. After several years working as a secretary and copy editor, Clark spent a year as a stewardess for Pan-American Airlines before leaving her job to marry and start a family. She supplemented the family's income by writing short stories. After her husband died in 1959, Clark worked for many years writing four-minute radio scripts, until her agent convinced her to try writing novels. Her debut novel, a fictionalized account of the life of George Washington, did not sell well, and she decided to leverage her love of mystery/suspense novels. Her suspense novels became very popular, and as of 2007 her books have sold more than 80 million copies in the United States alone.

Her work dwells primarily on a central theme: the psychological trauma endured and overcome by her strong female characters. Clark, known as the "Queen of Suspense", was also the inspiration for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America. She is the mother of authorCarol Higgins Clark and formerly the mother-in-law of author Mary Jane Clark