No Place Like Home: A Novel

Written by Mary Higgins Clark

Narrated by Jan Maxwell

In a riveting and unputdownable thriller from the Queen of Suspense, a young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever—her childhood home.

At the age of ten, Liza Barton shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged stepfather, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident. Many people, however, agreed with Cartwright, and the tabloids compared the child to the infamous murderess Lizzie Borden, pointing even to the similarity of their names.

To erase her past, her adoptive parents change her name to Celia. At age twenty-eight, a successful interior designer in Manhattan, she marries a childless sixty-year-old widower, Laurence Foster, and they have a son. Before their marriage, she reveals to him her true identity. Two years later, on his deathbed, he makes her swear never to tell anyone so that their son, Jack, will not carry the stigma of her past.

Two years later, Celia is happily remarried. Her peace of mind is shattered when her new husband surprises her with a gift—the house where she killed her mother. And it soon becomes clear that there is someone in the community knows Celia.

More and more, there are signs that someone in the community knows Celia’s true identity. When the real estate agent who sold them the house is brutally murdered and Celia is the first on the crime scene, she becomes a suspect. As she fights to prove her innocence, she has no idea that she and her son, Jack, are now the targets of a killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743582650

Mary Higgins Clark

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark wrote over forty suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series including The Cinderella Murder, All Dressed in White, The Sleeping Beauty Killer, Every Breath You Take, You Don’t Own Me, and Piece of My Heart. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she coauthored five suspense novels. More than one hundred million copies of her books are in print in the United States alone. Her books are international bestsellers.

Reviews for No Place Like Home

[mumstheword_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good story but more editing would have helped. Ran on a little too long.

[kallmon75 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good book. It's a mystery/suspense so it kept you guessing the entire time and then took an unexpected turn at the end

[lwatson1120 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“No Place Like Home” was another decent read from Mary Higgins Clark. A very interesting story line which has you intrigued from the beginning. A real page-tuner that would be a great weekend read!

[shiinale · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

With Clark's novels, you can usually guess who the culprit is from the very beginning. Though this was the case with this book, it was still a fun read.

[fantasma_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fast-paced thriller, as it's usual by this author, with some creepy scenes that make us turn around to see if anybody is watching us :)But, if you've read many or all of her books, as is my case, the ending is sooooo predictable. And I mean SOOOOOO!! Just a small surprise... Anyway, we still want to understand all that happened and it's a good read.

[kathy89_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A horrible childhood secret is about to be revealed to her family

[aharey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Celia was ten, she was accused of killing her mother. Now grown, she is determined to prove her innocence.

[twilightblue · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

{inside flap} In a riveting new thriller from America's Queen of Suspense, a young woman is ensnared into returning to a place she had wanted to leave behind forever - her childhood home. There, at the age of ten, Liza Barton shot her mother, trying desperately to protect her from her estranged step-father, Ted Cartwright. Despite his claim that the shooting was a deliberate act, the Juvenile Court ruled the death an accident. Many people, however, agreed with Cartwright, and the tabloids compared her to the infamous murderer Lizzie Barden, pointing even to the similarity of their names.To erase Liza's past, her adoptive parents change her name to Celia. At age twenty-eight, a successful interior designer in Manhattan, she marries a childless sixty-year-old widower, Laurence Foster, and they have a son. Before their marriage, she reveals to him her true idenity. Two years later, on his deathbed, he makes her swear never to tell anyone so that their son, Jack, will not carry the stigma of her past.Two years later, Celia is happily remarried. Her peace of mind is shattered when her new husband, Alex Nolan, surprises her with a gift - the house in Mendham, New Jersey, where she killed her mother. On the day they move in, they find the words LITTLE LIZZIE'S Place - BEWARE painted on the lawn, splotches of red paint all over the house, and a skull and crossbones carved in the front door.More and more, there are signs that someone in the community knows Celia's true identity. When Georgette Grove, the real estate agent who sold the house to Alex, is brutally murdered and Celia is the first on the crime scene, she becomes a suspect. As Celia fights to prove her innocence, she is not aware that she and her son, Jack, are now the targets of a killer.

[skinglist · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Typical MHC book. Fluff. This one wasn't really that surprising. She gave all the hints of who you were supposed to think it was but left enough that you could be fairly sure of who it really was. I found the ending to be rushed and the epilogue to be rather odd - much like JK Rowling's HP7 finale. Rather meh. Filled the gap between books quite well.

[anarchicq-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This books take too long to give us a reason to care about the characters. The identity of the culprit is obvious from the get-go, but the motivation is from left-field and lame. The climax is about a page long, and everything gets wrapped up in a "Oh by the way, they confessed!" Epilogue. Lame.

This is not worth reading and the only reason I finished it was pride. I couldn't let this book beat me!

SPOILERS!

I knew Alex was in on it, but his money-grubbing motivation was stupid. I thought Alex was torturing Celia for not telling him her real identity. I thought he felt betrayed and decided to fuck with her. But no. It was the all-mighty dollar. AGAIN.

[edwardsgt · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought the story a little old-fashioned in style and the characters rather one-dimensional. I'd guessed that the main villain was the person it turned out to be. Undemanding reading for a wet day.

[frozenplums · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the most original of Clark's stories (I seem to remember reading a few novels by her about women whose names were changed during childhood to escape a past), but not bad either. Clark portrays Celia's overwhelming sense of helplessness so well. I might reread this one.

[Nika · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it constantly kept me in suspense.