Mary Higgins Clark

Carol Higgins Clark

Lottery winner-turned-amateur sleuth Alvirah Meehan joins forces with private detective Regan Reilly to track down the ninety-foot tree, destined for display in Rockefeller Center, that vanished en route to the city, unaware that the tree contains a secret cache of priceless gems, hidden by scam artist Packey Noonan before being sent to prison. Reprint.

A Novel

The Christmas Thief

It is really hard to like characters who have won the lottery and are complaining about normal life problems. I didn't connect with any of them at all. Characterization was lacking, with no real differentiation between personalities. The biggest difference was that Opal found every way to complain about losing her money as fast as she won it.

I'm also confused as to who we should be siding with here. We get a good look at the antagonist but he is made so likeable that it doesn't seem right. The protagonists were annoying and shallow.

Finally I still don't get the reason why they had to cut the tree down. It might have made more sense to check the tree first and none of this would have happened.

Pam Sartain

The Christmas Thief is a story about the after effects of conmen, and how people who have been conned are left feeling restless and unhappy.

Opal won the lottery, and then was conned out of her $3 million by Packy Noonan. He gets caught and sent to jail for 12 years, but Opal doesn't get her money back. Packey gets out, and immediatley heads for the diamonds he hid in a tree, that is shortly going to be cut down and sent to the Rockerfeller Centre to be the christmas tree there. 

Alvirah and Regan Reilly are on the case!

The Christmas Thief A Novel

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