Crime fiction lost one of its most notable architects with the passing of Mary Higgins Clark at age 92 on Jan. 31.
Honored as a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, she was internationally known as the Queen of Suspense, and for good reason: Clark wrote 56 best-selling books, 100 million copies of which are in print in the U.S. alone.
Alafair Burke, 51, is the Edgar-nominated, New York Times bestselling author of 16 mystery novels. She graduated at the top of her class from Stanford Law School and teaches criminal law at Hofstra University in New York. Her father is Edgar and Dagger Award-winning novelist James Lee Burke, author of 40 mysteries, most notably the 23 title Dave Robicheaux series.
Clark and Burke teamed up for a series of novels after Clark’s 2014 thriller “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” led her publisher to suggest turning the book into a series. The protagonist is the producer of a TV show that re-examines high-profile cold case murders, resulting in a lot of pushback.
Clark, who was 84 at the time, liked the idea but had never written a series and was already committed to writing a novel a year. Given that, she and her editor searched for a series collaborator and chose Burke.
The result is the “Under Suspicion” series, now in development as a CBS TV series. The sixth and final title in their collaboration, “Piece of My Heart” published in November. We spoke with Burke about their work together; this conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Tell us about your “audition” for the role as Mary’s collaborator.
A: I got a phone call saying, “Would you be interested in having lunch with Mary Higgins Clark about a potential collaboration?” Who says no to that invitation?
We met for lunch, which turned into several hours talking about our writing processes. She had read several of my books, which awed me. So we decided to write a few sample chapters to see how it would work. We both were convinced from that process that we were able to write in a single voice.
We decided to do one book to see how it worked, then signed on for two more and two more and then two more. It turned into a great working relationship.
Q: You must have been honored, but a bit intimidated.
A: One of her editors took me to go meet Mary. It was freezing out and I was wearing pants. So before he picked me up I put on socks, which happened to be a pair some friends had given me. They were decorated all over with French bulldogs. I was wearing boots, so you couldn’t see them, but just knowing I was wearing a child’s socks in front of Mary Higgins Clark while we’re talking about potentially working together was like my little secret.
Q: What was the model for your writing relationship?
A: We needed the magic of two minds together, so we met at her publisher’s office or her home and worked the whole day or multiple days. We talked through all the things that make a good book good – character, motives, relationships, red herrings, plot, settings. We filled pages and pages of notes to build a synopsis, which had everything in it.
When you’re by yourself and hit a wall, you think, “I’ve got enough for today, I’ll think about this problem tomorrow.” But if you have someone else to work with, she can say, “Here’s how we can fix it.”
When we talked ideas, after a few years it got to the point where we’d almost finish each other’s sentences, like storytelling telepathy. We had a ball working together.
Q: What about her idiosyncrasies or work habits?
A. She was old school. She would handwrite things, which reminded me that I get the most done if I close the computer and let the pen flow.
Her work ethic was also a reminder to me that this stuff isn’t handed to people. Yes, you have to have a natural talent, but the writers who are still at it, 40 to 50 books in, are there for a reason — they do the work.
She could write me under the table. When we would get together for writing meetings, I would be the one to say, “I need to take a break” and she would be the one to say, “No, let’s keep going.”
Q: What about her sense of humor?
A: In our brainstorming sessions, we’d make each other belly laugh with intentionally silly plot twist proposals. She would tell the funniest stories, but her personal humor doesn’t shine through in her books (because of their genre). The Christmas mysteries she wrote with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, are very funny.
Q: She was well-known for her devotion to her fans.
A: Her dedication and joyful approach to her readers was unparalleled. At an outdoor book festival last August in East Hampton, it was so hot that I kept sneaking off to the air-conditioned ladies’ room. Mary stayed at the table in the sweltering heat long after her books had sold out, shaking hands and posing for selfies.
Q: Obviously, readers know what to expect when they pick up a Mary Higgins Clark book.
A: The stories are never predictable, but you can trust that the characters are going to be fundamentally good and likable. You can pick up her early books and her most recent books and tell that’s the same writer, which is part of why she was so successful. She never tried to chase some trend.
She wrote about nice ladies who, through no fault of their own, wind up in dangerous situations and find the ingenuity to get out of them. She knew how to create those stories and tell them over and over, but still be surprising just by staying true to the world she had created on the page.
Q: You were still exchanging manuscript pages for “Piece of My Heart” two days before her passing. Did you literally finish the book on your own?
A: It was pretty much done because of our process of planning everything in advance. Most of it was on the page and there wasn’t much to be done, so I worked with her family on that.
Q: A last thought?
A: As a woman professional, she was an early role model for the generations who followed. But she probably wouldn’t have wanted to be described that way – she was too modest.
