The Lottery Winner

October 31, 1994
Alvirah Meehan, a former cleaning woman who won millions in the New York lottery, first appeared in Weep No More, My Lady. She has an apartment on Central Park South and uses her exceptional sleuthing instincts to solve crimes. Each of the six stories here is a Higgins Clark novel in miniature, though the compression highlights her faults rather than her virtues. The tales are all, of course, swift-moving and skillfully plotted, and they press a number of familiar emotional buttons on such eternal matters as money and danger to children. Depending, to an incredible degree, on coincidence and on Alvirah's superhuman ability to be in the right place at the right moment, they are strangely old-fashioned, as if they had originally been written for, say, the Saturday Evening Post in the 1950s, where Alvirah would have fitted perfectly, like Tugboat Annie or other series heroines of the era. There is no doubt that the author's army of fans finds her stories' very coziness and predictability enormously reassuring. The really odd thing about this collection, though, is that, apart from a bungling gang who kidnap Alvirah's faithful husband, ex-plumber Willie, the villains in all the stories turn out to be women. A trend? Literary Guild main selection; 500,000 first printing.

October 30, 1995
This collection of six mystery stories featuring Alvirah Meehan and her husband, Willy, spent 12 weeks on PW's bestseller list.

October 15, 1994
Clark's books are always megahits, and her fans love the nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat suspense that is her trademark. So it's a little surprising that this collection of six interrelated stories featuring Willy and Alvirah Meehan lacks Clark's usual energy and pizzazz. The Meehans, who first appeared in Clark's "Weep No More, My Lady," have struck it rich in the lottery. No longer do they slave away at housecleaning (Alvirah) and plumbing (Willy). Their days are spent pursuing the hedonistic pleasures of the idle rich, although, to their credit, Alvirah and Willy haven't lost touch with their roots. Alvirah seems to have a "talent" for murder, both for being in the general vicinity when one occurs and for uncloaking the villain before anyone else. For readers who enjoy the nouveau riche approach to crime solving ( a la Jonathan and Jennifer Hart or Nick and Nora Charles), these stories may prove mildly entertaining, but because they're so short, there's little opportunity for any real development of motive, plot, or character. And while the Meehans are basically nice, easy-to-like folks, the stories about their escapades are flat, facile, and distinctly lacking in suspense. Still, the Clark name ensures demand, and with a 500,000-copy first printing, you can be sure Simon & Schuster plans a full-throttle promotional effort. Buy accordingly. ((Reviewed October 15, 1994))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1994, American Library Association.)