The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark

"Now that I remember spring

All the joy that love can bring

I will be remembering

The shadow of your smile."

                 from "The Shadow of Your Smile" by Williams, Mandel, Jones and Webster 

 

I chose this novel at the San Francisco airport because I had nothing left to read on the long flight home. It was an author I liked, in paperback and not quite as expensive as some others. I don't really like buying books these days unless they are something REALLY special. I am a library kind of girl. I actually had just finished another Clark novel a few days before.

 

Olivia Morrow, an 82-year-old woman who is dying, has a letter that reveals a secret about a nun who is being considered for beatification, Sister Catherine.

 

Monica Farrell is a noted pediatrician who finds out that Olivia's secret may involve her family. Before Olivia can share this information, she dies in her bed. Since she had a terminal illness, it seems a natural death at first, but the more that comes to light about the wealthy Gannon family and their benevolent foundation, the more suspicious her death seems. Skeletons in the Gannon closet lead to blackmail and at least two more deaths. Monica is in danger, as well.

 

This book is quite entertaining; definitely what I call a "page turner." There are so many characters, I took notes to keep them all straight. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery would like this novel, I think. I rate it a 4.