Daddy's Little Girl

Mary Higgins Clark makes an interesting creative choice here: she shows readers the killer early and spends the novel's energy on Ellie Kavanagh's relentless, increasingly dangerous crusade to prove what she knows. The result is less a whodunit and more a psychological drama about grief, obsession, and the difference between justice and revenge — and it is Clark at a level above her usual formula. Ellie's voice is emotionally potent and her drive completely believable for someone who witnessed her sister's murder at age seven. A content note: the murder of a child is central backstory, and themes of trauma and sustained suspense make this better suited to adults and mature teens than younger readers. Publishers Weekly called it Clark's best in years, and that praise holds up. Worth it.