Audio Book Review: I've Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark

This is basic reading/listening entertainment. 
I've Got You Under My Skin
by Mary Higgins Clark

• Audio CD: 320 pages (7 Discs)
• Length: Unabridged 7 hrs and 44 mins 
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio; 
• Unabridged edition (April 1, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-1442367319

Genre: Mystery
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: April 1, 2014
When Laurie Moran’s husband was brutally murdered, only three-year-old Timmy saw the face of his father’s killer. Five years later his piercing blue eyes still haunt Timmy’s dreams. Laurie is haunted by more—the killer’s threat to her son as he fled the scene: “Tell your mother she’s next, then it’s your turn . . .”

Now Laurie is dealing with murder again, this time as the producer of a true-crime, cold-case television show. The series will launch with the twenty-year-old unsolved murder of Betsy Powell. Betsy, a socialite, was found suffocated in her bed after a gala celebrating the graduation of her daughter and three friends. The sensational murder was news nationwide. Reopening the case in its lavish setting and with the cooperation of the surviving guests that night, Laurie is sure to have a hit on her hands. But when the estranged friends begin filming, it becomes clear each is hiding secrets . . . small and large.

And a pair of blue eyes is watching events unfold, too . . .

Review:
Laurie Moran’s husband was murdered in broad day light while playing with their three year old son, Timmy. Timmy remembers the murderer turning to him with blue-eyed and saying “Tell your mother she’s next, then it’s your turn”. Laurie’s father, a New York Police officer, retired so that he could guard his daughter and grandson.

Five years later, Laurie, a television producer, pitches a new reality series to her boss. She proposes following up on unsolved murder cases. The first program is to feature a highly publicized case of a murder of a socialite wife, Betsy. Betsy was murdered in her bedroom the night of a gala graduation celebration for her daughter and three of her friends. A handsome, popular defense lawyer will help Laurie present the case by interviewing the staff, the graduates, the husband and a wealthy neighbor who attended the gala. Betsy’s husband, the wealthy widower, agrees to pay a significant chunck of money to each woman to participate in the program. The four women, shadowed by suspicions for twenty years, agree to return and be interviewed for the show as a way to proclaim their innocence to the public.

The story covers the lives and difficulties of the four women. Each one, including her own daughter, had a reason to hate Betsy but the motives have remained secret all these years. While a blackmailer plots to get part of the money they are to receive another man plots to murder Laurie and Timmie in a very public manner.

Over the years I have read around ten titles by Mary Higgins Clark (MHC). She has a knack for creating murder stories which build suspense around numerous suspects, secrets, twists and a romance. This story meets that mystery and romance formula. The pacing is consistent with writing that is direct and easy to follow even with multiple characters. Although I suspected who Betsy’s murderer might be the process of disclosure kept me interested. I enjoyed the suspense although I was disappointed that I could never quite match the title with the events. This is not a stunning read but it is a satisfactory one.

Audio Notes: Jan Maxwell did a basically good job with the narration. There seemed to be a slip now and then in character voices but not enough to make it difficult to follow. Because MHC books tend to follow a similar mystery formula I don’t usually pick them up in print. The narration suits the story for basic entertainment level quality. I find the audio version ‘reads’ faster and therefore I enjoy it more for that ability.

I received this audiobook from Simon & Schuster Audio through AudioBook Jukebox, for an honest review.