40 Years Later, Mary Higgins Clark’s ‘A Cry in the Night’ Is Still Creepy as Ever [REVIEW]

She’s a single mom struggling to make it in the big city. He’s a renowned artist from a remote farm in middle America. When they meet, it seems like kismet. Will their fairy tale romance last or will it become the stuff nightmares are made of? Find out in Mary Higgins Clark’s suspense classic, A Cry in the Night.

Jenny MacPartland may be divorced and living in a small, dilapidated New York City apartment with her two young daughters, but she’s done her best to make it feel like home. At least she loves her job working at an art gallery, where she gets the chance to rub elbows with talented artists and showcase their work.

Enter artist Erich Krueger, and up-and-comer from Minneapolis who is as compelling as the landscapes he paints. From the moment he lays eyes on Jenny, he falls hopelessly in love with her. Wealthy, attentive, and doting on her daughters, he seems like the perfect man. Within a month, they are married and living on his family farm in Minnesota.

But the house feels like a historic museum than a home, and as Erich returns to his painting Jenny feels isolated and alone, cut off from the world. As days turn into weeks, she begins to question if she made the right choice in marrying Erich. And when old family secrets begin to surface, she wonders if she and her girls will make it off the farm alive.

Forty years after its original publication date, A Cry in the Night continues to stand the test of time. Thrilling, chilling, and utterly compelling, it is a novel readers won’t be able to put down. Each page gives another detail bent on creeping us out, and yet readers will find themselves powerless to resist this tale that is guaranteed to fray the nerves.

As always, Mary Higgins Clark introduces us to compelling characters. Certainly, modern readers may question some of Jenny’s choices in the story, but a lot has changed over the years. Still, much like in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, the new mistress of the manor has a lot to learn about what it means to be the new wife of such a prominent man.

A longtime reader of Clark’s work, I was surprised I hadn’t read this one before. But A Cry in the Night is now one of my favorites from this author, ranking right up there with While My Pretty One Sleeps and Moonlight Becomes You. While aspects of the story feel familiar and predictable, Clark uses these threads of the story to manipulate our emotions and lure us into a false sense of security until she gives us a giant shove into the mouth of madness where no one can be trusted and hope seems untenable.

If you’re one of the seemingly few people in the world who has never read a Mary Higgins Clark novel, A Cry in the Night is a fine place to start. It will definitely satisfy your craving for a good suspense yarn, especially if you love Hitchcock style thrills. But if you’re a longtime fan like I am, this is also a good book to pick up when you find yourself missing Clark’s masterful storytelling. It’s a great comfort read on a lazy afternoon.