Product Description

From Mary Higgins Clark, America's best-selling "Queen of Suspense," comes a dark and chilling story of murder, and its effects years later on the man convicted of the crime and the woman who helped convict him. It is a novel that takes the reader to the heights of suspense while exploring the depths of the criminal mind.

Ellie Cavanaugh was only seven years old when her fifteen-year-old sister, Andrea, was murdered near their home in Oldham-on-the-Hudson, a rural village in New York's Westchester County. There were three suspects: Rob Westerfield, nineteen-year-old scion of a wealthy, prominent family, whom Andrea has been secretly dating; Paul Stroebel, a sixteen-year-old schoolmate, who had a crush on Andrea; and Will Nebels, a local handyman in his forties.

It was Ellie who had led her parents to a hideout in which Andrea's body was found -- a secret hideaway in which she met her friends. And it was Ellie who was blamed by her parents for her sister's death for not telling them about this place the night Andrea was missing. It was also Ellie's testimony that led to the conviction of the man she was firmly convinced was the killer. Steadfastly denying his guilt, he spent the next twenty-two years in prison.

When he comes up for parole, Ellie, now an investigative reporter for an Atlanta newspaper, protests his release. Nonetheless, the convicted killer is set free and returns to Oldham. Determined to thwart his attempts to whitewash his reputation, Ellie also returns to Oldham, intent on creating a Website and writing a book that will conclusively prove his guilt. As she delves deeper into her research, however, she uncovers horrifying and heretofore unknown facts that shed new light on her sister's murder. With each discovery, she comes closer to a confrontation with a desperate killer.

Gripping and relentlessly compelling, Daddy's Little Girl, a portrayal of a family shattered by crime, reflects Mary Higgins Clark's uncanny insight into the twisted mind of a killer and is further evidence of why she is America's favorite author of suspense.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #355345 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-16
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Writing in the first person a rarity for this veteran author has inspired and energized Clark. Her 21st novel of intrigue is her best in years, a tightly woven, emotionally potent tale of suspense and revenge. Clark's new heroine is Atlanta investigative journalist Ellie Cavanaugh, who was seven when her sister, Andrea, 15, was beaten to death by 20-year-old Rob Westerfield, scion of the wealthiest family in a small Westchester town. Now Westerfield is up for parole, so Ellie, now 30, returns home to speak out against him. When Westerfield is released, Ellie begins to write a book aimed at re-proving his guilt. Digging for evidence, she uncovers clues that Westerfield may have committed another murder as a youth, but that digging also enrages the Westerfields and other town members who think the man was railroaded. Before long, Ellie's life is in danger, as someone breaks into the house she's staying in, then later sets fire to it, nearly killing her, and as Westerfield himself begins to shadow her moves. What makes this novel work isn't only the considerable tension Clark teases from Ellie's precarious position, but the thoughtful backgrounding to the action. Ellie is cast as a lonely woman, without a lover and estranged from her father and half-brother: will she accept one or the other into her guarded life?; and she carries a heavy load of guilt for her sister's death, wondering at times if she is blinded by her thirst for vengeance. With its textured plot, well-sketched secondary characters, strong pacing and appealing heroine, this is Clark at her most winning. (On sale, Apr. 16)
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
At the parole hearing for Donald Waring, Trish Duncan begins to wonder whether he was wrongly convicted of killing her sister 20 years ago.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Jan Maxwell reads Clark's first-person narration in an easy, authoritative style, building drama and tension appropriately. Investigative reporter Ellie Cavanaugh was 7 when her 15-year-old sister was murdered and her family destroyed. Totally convinced of rich sociopath Rob Westerfield's guilt, Ellie is researching a book on Rob's life to prove it conclusively. While exploring the criminal mind, Ellie also learns more about her family. Maxwell depicts Ellie as self-confident and assertive, using compelling, rapid speech patterns to emphasize horrifying discoveries in Rob's past and Ellie's fear as her life is repeatedly threatened. Maxwell and Clark work well together, producing a nail-biting page-turner. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Must Read!
Mary Higgins Clark is one of my favorite suspense writers and she did not let me down with this book. Gripping from begining to end. Hard to put down. A definite must read!

Daddy's Little Girl
When she was only seven years old, Ellie Cavanaugh's fifteen-year-old beautiful high school student sister, Andrea, was viciously murdered, her head violently smashed in by a cold-blooded killer, and Ellie was the one that first found Andrea's body in the garage of old Mrs. Dorothy Westerfield, a powerful and enormously rich woman coming from a socially prominent family in the city of Oldham-on-the-Hudson, New York. Ellie had heard heavy, uneven breathing, and then a high-pitched giggle while in the garage, and swears it was Rob Westerfield, Dorothy's nineteen-year-old grandson and Andrea's secret boyfriend, in the garage with her.

It was Ellie's tearful, heartbreaking testimony that convicted Rob Westerfield for the murder of Andrea Cavanaugh. But even with the murderer behind bars, Ellie's family is still torn apart. Her parents divorce, and Ellie's mother travels with her all over the country, hardly staying in one place for more than a year. Meanwhile, Ellie's father remarries and has a son, Teddy, five years later. Twenty-two years later, after Ellie's mother has died, Ellie moves out to Atlanta, Georgia, and becomes an investigative reporter for the Atlanta News. She contemplates her resentment and distance from her father, and has no desire to see him---or his new wife or Teddy---ever again.

After twenty two years in prison, Rob Westerfield has served his sentence for murdering Andrea in prison, and parole is inevitable. Rob had been up for parole two previous times, but Ellie vehemently went against it. But finally, Ellie realizes that no matter what she does, Rob will be released. In an effort to put Rob back in jail, Ellie travels back up to Oldham, and she begins writing a book focusing on Rob's guilt in murdering Andrea. She has also opened a website, which has made the Westerfields---who just happened to find a new witness to say Paulie Stroebel, a former classmate of Andrea's that had a terrible crush on her---extremely angry.

Rob has newly been released from prison, and as Ellie sifts trough his past, from his days of being withdrawn from preparatory schools, to his days in prison when he may have confessed to another murder, the danger that Ellie is in grows higher by the second, as attempts to take Ellie's life and publicly dehumanize her rapidly occur. Ellie knows that if she can not find a way to have Rob sentenced back into prison for the rest of his life, then sooner or later the Westerfields will have Ellie murdered, just to simply shut her up.

Mary Higgins Clark, "The Queen of Suspense," one of my new all-time favorite authors, has written a great thriller novel. This novel is slightly different from Mary Higgins Clark's others literary works because it is written in first person, a rarity for this author. I found that the first-person made Ellie's story more personal and more believable. Ellie was an amazing, witty, intelligent, and immensely likable protagonist, one of the most well-drawn main characters that Mary Higgins Clark has ever dreamed up. The plot moves smoothly, the characters are deep, and the danger is vividly real; this is one of my favorite by Mary Higgins Clark, and definitely one of her greatest suspense novels ever.

Highly recommended!

Daddy's Little Girl
This book is suspenseful gripping and makes you want to read more and more you won't want to put it down when you start reading it. It goes from the sad death of Ellie's 15 year old sister Andrea to Ellie her little sisters investigation and her ultimately trying to find her sisters murder and uncover the truth about Rob Westerfeild and safe her own life, well she's at it she's trying to avoiding her father and her younger brother Teddy. I would recommend this book to any teenager and older. I loved this book. Mary Higgins Clarke knows how to keep her readers entertained and coming back for more and more. I give this book five stars. From one of your new number one fans good jog Marry keep the books coming you are awesome author.