On the Street Where You Live

April 2, 2001
Is a reincarnated serial killer at work in a New Jersey resort town more than a century after he first drew blood? That's the catchy premise that supports Clark's 24th book. In the 1890s, three young women in the upscale seaside village of Spring Lake died at the hands of an unidentified killer. In the present day, two young women have disappeared from town—and their killer, whose first-person ruminations vein the third-person narrative, is preparing to strike again. His final target will be Emily Graham, an ambitious young attorney just moved to Spring Lake from upstate New York, where she'd been victimized by a stalker. Emily is a typical Clark heroine, bright and beautiful, and the friends she makes and suspects she meets in Spring Lake are her equal in stereotype, among them a former college president with a dread secret; a failed, aging restaurateur with a much younger wife; and a hunky real-estate agent. Emily's dream of a new start in the house once owned by her ancestor—the first victim of the killer of yore—sours when the body of a present-day victim is found buried on her land along with remains of her murdered ancestor. The dream curdles further when more bodies turn up and Emily's upstate stalker reappears. This is a plot-driven novel, with Clark's story mechanics at their peak of complexity, clever and tricky. There's some nifty interplay between past and present via diaries and old books, some modest suspense, and a few genuine surprises, including the identity of both the stalker and the killer. Clark's prose ambles as usual, but it takes readers where they want to go—deep into an old-fashioned tale of a damsel in delicious distress. The first printing is one million; that, and Clark's popularity, will be enough to push this title to #1.

December 20, 2000
Strange bedfellows: After Emily buys back the family's seaside house, the skeleton of a great-aunt who disappeared decades ago is unearthed in the backyard. And next to it is the body of a young woman only recently deceased.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2001
Fleeing a bad marriage and a vicious stalker, Emily Graham arrives in Spring Lake, where she has purchased a house owned by her ancestors. But a mystery awaits her there: back in the 1890s, three girls, including Emily's distant relative, Madeline, were murdered in a space of five years. Now there seems to be a copycat killer who is following the pattern established by the 1890s murderer. Two girls, Martha and Carla, have disappeared over the past four years, and their bodies have never been found. When the remains of Martha, along with those of Emily's ancestor, are found in Emily's backyard, the police begin to hunt for the copycat killer, while Emily tries to solve the 1890s mystery. Suddenly the secrets of seemingly respectable Spring Lake citizens come to light, and the police find more than one likely suspect. The tension is heightened when several potential witnesses are murdered. Meanwhile, Emily has a major problem of her own to deal with: it turns out that the man convicted of stalking her was innocent; the stalker is still at large and now harassing her in Spring Lake. To add to her troubles, the killer has already chosen his final victim: Emily. Like all of Clark's novels, this one is a suspenseful page-turner that will delight her many fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)