Dashing Through the Snow

By Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark

In the picturesque village of Branscombe, New Hampshire, the townsfolk are preparing for the annual Festival of Joy. With preparations in full swing, a group of employees at the local market, recently cheated out of their Christmas bonus by their boss's new wife, learn that they have won $180 million in the lottery. On the advice of a pair of crooks masquerading as financial advisers, one of their co-workers, Duncan, decided at the last minute not to play. He goes missing and the next day his girlfriend Flower also disappears. A second winning lottery ticket was purchased in the next town but the winner hasn't come forward. Could Duncan have secretly bought it?

The Clarks' endearing heroes - Alvirah Meehan, the amateur sleuth, and private investigator Regan Reilly - have arrived in Branscombe for the festival. Alvirah and Regan are just the people to find out what is amiss. As they dig beneath the surface, they find that life in Branscombe is not as tranquil as it appears. So much for an old-fashioned weekend in the country ...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Feb 18, 2010
• ISBN: 9781849831246

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 Dashing Through the Snow

[bkohl_6 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A bunch of small-town store employees win the lottery, and one of them gets snared in a con gone wrong.While reading this book, I kept being reminded of Sweet Valley High with its 1-sentence character intros: "Elizabeth was the sensible, intellectual twin who tied her long blond hair up in ponytail, and secretly wanted to be more like Jessica, the free-spirited twin who wore her hair long and parted on the side." I suppose there has to be some of that in any series, since your regular readers aren't going to want to read through many pages of character development of people they already know. Perhaps I should have started with the first book, instead of picking up the first Christmas-themed book I ran across at the library.I sort of knew what I was getting into with this one, but I'm still giving it two stars for not exceeding my fairly low expectations.

[RajadhyakshaN · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this book. I love Alvirah and it was fun to read this. It is different from Mary Higgins Clark's usual thrillers which leave you at the edge of your seat. But this one is cute and homely. You want to read it and see what happens. Even though it doesn't take you to the edge, it is still brilliantly written.

I do hope I can read a lot more of her work! She really is an amazing author.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the 5th Christmas story co-authored by mother/daughter team Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark. They are short, cute mysteries that are easy to read.

In the picturesque village of Branscombe, New Hampshire, it’s time for the Festival of Joy. The town are all working together to prepare for this first, hopefully, annual festival. When the hard-working, long-time employees of Conklins do not get the expected Christmas bonus, they leave the store disgruntled. When it turns out that the same night their lottery numbers are drawn as the winners in the Mega mega lottery, their anger turns to joy. Unfortunately, one the their regular group did not play that week on the advice of his financial advisors. When he finds out that they are swindlers who also played the same numbers, he had told them what numbers they usually played, he steals their lottery ticket and bad luck befalls him. Regan Reilly, her husband Jack, her paretns as well as Willy and Alvirah Meehan had all travelled to Branscombe for the festival, so they all get involved in the mystery. The action is fast-paced in this clever story, with just enough twists to keep you interested. A cute Christmas mystery, which I read by the pool in Florida and enjoyed just as much as if I had read it over the Christmas holidays.

[Linda · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting with really sweet characters.

[carmenmilligan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book during the holidays a few years ago at the local Friends of the Library store. I don't think I have ever read a Higgins Clark book, so I had no idea what to expect. What a fun cozy mystery this was! It was fast-paced, had likable characters and stood alone nicely, even though it's the fifth in a series.

There is just enough intensity to cause a little "reader stress" and a lot of levity to balance it. This was a delightful book, and recommended.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It’s time for the Festival of Joy, but joy seems hard to come by. The hard-working employees at the local market don’t get the Christmas bonus they’ve come to expect. Instead, the new bride of the owner talks her husband into giving framed pictures of their wedding. Needless to say, the employees are more than a little disappointed. But that feeling doesn’t last when they discover they have won the lottery. That is, all but one of the regular players who backed out at the last moment. Things go from bad to worse for Duncan. There is much speculation among the townspeople as to where Duncan is and what really is happening. It will take someone with some deducting skill to sort things out. Enter Alvirah Meehan, amateur sleuth. The action is fast-paced in this clever Christmas tale, with just enough twists to keep you turning the pages. A good read anytime, but especially at Christmas.

[stevejwales · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A group of co-workers win the lottery just before the Christmas 'Festival of Joy' but one, who decided not to take part that week, mysteriously goes missing. Did he buy the other winning ticket? What about his dodgy financial advisers? Or his missing girlfriend?

Another read-before-wrapping Christmas present!

Good fun, even if some of the story is a little bit farfetched!

[jillkb · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While waiting for my next book club book to come in from the library, I grabbed this book. Mary Higgins Clark's Alvirah Meehan and some other characters work to find and help a missing lottery winner and his girlfriend during a small town Christmas Festival. A good quick, brainless read.

[sallyawolf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When a group of workers at a small town grocery win the lottery their joy is overshadowed by the sudden disappearance of one of their co-workers. The amateur sleuth Alvirah Meehan and her friend Reagan Reilly, a private investigator, jump in to unravel a mystery so big that it takes the whole town on a wild ride. I liked this little book. It was worth the quick read and written in the classic Clark style. Great characters, wonderful story, and just when you thought you knew exactly what was going on, they throw in a curve you never would have expected. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a comfort book to curl up with by the Christmas tree.

[lauramoore_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Mary Higgins Clark book that i've picked up to read, I have quite a few on my shelves but just haven't gotten to them yet. I was actually super disapointed in this book. I was hoping for a nice christmas related mystery book, considering this is the book I picked as my christmas book of the year. Other then the title and cover of this book this had nothing to do with christmas at all. In fact I have no idea what the title had to do with this actual storyline at all. The employees of a grocery store in a small town in New Hampshire have been playing the lottery weekly, so when they hit big, and one employee Duncan decided that week not to play,but then goes missing. Where did he go? and did he play the lottery on his own, win the other half and decide to go into hiding to not admit it to his co-workers? This story to me was predictable and the level of suspense was seriously lacking, I never felt compelled to read on and see what was happening which is what I want to feel when im reading a mystery novel. I still will give Mary Higgins Clark another try, but maybe just not paired with her Daughter, because honestly this book was a huge flop in my opinion.

[librisissimo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Substance: A holiday treat for fans of the series detectives (6 in one story is over-indulgent). Cute romantic comedy idea, especially for a movie, but not much in the suspense-mystery department, solutions owing more to general development of the situation than to sleuthing.Style: For adults at the junior-high-school comprehension level.

[frannyji · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a quick and easy book to read... read it in an afternoon! The story line wandered around but in the end a lot of unexpected loose ends where tied. I enjoyed it.

[dbhutch_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this story the usual crew , Alvirah, Willy and all of the Rielly's head to a small town in New Hampshire. Where the town is having the 1st annual Christmas festival on the eve of the start of the festival a group of employees win the lottery ... when one of the group who did not play this time is missing the search is on and of course the crew is helping look for the man when he is found , and they discover his girlfriend has come from California to surprise him and she is now missing .. a good but .. but i found it a slow starter

[elliepotten · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Mary Higgins Clark - and reading it in July might have been a little strange - but I rather enjoyed it! It was one of those books that is best described as 'nice'. It doesn't have a particularly gripping plot or particularly memorable characters, nor does anything particularly dreadful happen. It's just nice. But I should explain! It's a festive offering which opens with a group of local market workers winning an enormous amount of money in the lottery, just in time for the town's new Christmas Festival of Joy. But the celebrations soon lose their sparkle when their fifth coworker, Duncan, who decided not to chip in that week on the advice of two dodgy financial investors, goes missing. Has he bought the second winning ticket without telling them and gone into hiding? Or has something terrible happened to him? When his girlfriend Flower flies in to surprise him and promptly disappears herself, it will take the combined efforts of stylish sleuths Alvirah Meehan and Regan Reilly to solve the mystery...It was definitely a cozy tale - ladies of a certain age running around solving crimes amidst bucketloads of community spirit - but it was good fun! Kind of like 'Murder, She Wrote' in book form. There were some amazing 'coincidences' and rather a lot of conveniently rich people tumbling around the town of Branscombe, and the mystery just sort of bumbled its way to the happy ending... but it was a sweet little read and provided exactly the kind of gentle, warm froth I was looking for. I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one of these, but if another one happened to come into our bookshop I'd definitely be tempted to take it home, put the kettle on and settle in for a few hours' mental candy floss!

[bexaplex · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A bunch of small-town store employees win the lottery, and one of them gets snared in a con gone wrong.While reading this book, I kept being reminded of Sweet Valley High with its 1-sentence character intros: "Elizabeth was the sensible, intellectual twin who tied her long blond hair up in ponytail, and secretly wanted to be more like Jessica, the free-spirited twin who wore her hair long and parted on the side." I suppose there has to be some of that in any series, since your regular readers aren't going to want to read through many pages of character development of people they already know. Perhaps I should have started with the first book, instead of picking up the first Christmas-themed book I ran across at the library.I sort of knew what I was getting into with this one, but I'm still giving it two stars for not exceeding my fairly low expectations.

[amurphy_544760 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this in one sitting, about 2 1/2 hours. Short on thrills, mystery, or believability, I'd only recommend this book if you have some time to kill and nothing else to read. The fact that it is the annual Christmas story published by the authors is a dead give-away that only happy endings are allowed.

[koalamom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed it and it's a fast read. Mary and Carol Higgins Clark always come through with a neat Christmas story that involves some suspense but nothing "violent" and there's always a happy ending. It's a good one to add to anyone's Christmas book reading or for someone who likes to read books that have Christmas as the theme.