Showing posts with label My Gal Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Gal Sunday. Show all posts

Saturday, October 22, 2022

My Gal Sunday – Book Review


By Mary Higgins Clark

Image of a couple walking down a path in a park


Recently I have been reading my way through books by the Queen of Suspense, Mary Higgins Clark. Although I seldom read short stories, preferring full-length novels, I came across My Gal Sunday, a collection of four stories about an irresistible sleuthing duo. The stories were delightful and I was left wishing Ms. Clark had written more novels featuring this duo. 


The Characters in My Gal Sunday


The book contains four short stories, each starring the same characters and continuing one to the next in order. By that, I mean that some of the other characters and situations in one story are mentioned in the next.... and the next.


The main characters are a dashing ex-president (Henry Parker Britland IV ~  wealthy, worldly and popular ~ and his new wife Sandra (Sandy) O'Brian ~ clever and lovely ~ a newly elected congresswoman from New Jersey. Sandy is the daughter of a motorman on the New Jersey railway and worked her way through school. The media loved it.  When they married, a newspaper ran the headline LORD HENRY BRINTHWHIP MARRIES OUR GAL SUNDAY, a reference to the once popular radio soap opera that for years, 5 days a week, asked the question:


Can a girl from a mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of England's richest and most handsome Lord Henry Brinthwhip.


Because of this, Sandra, new wife of Henry, became known to all as 'Sunday'


My Gal Sunday book cover


The Stories


The premise of stories in this book is that Henry & Sunday somehow become involved in solving baffling high-society crimes and make a formidable team. 


In A Crime of Passion, Henry's former Secretary-of-State, a close friend and political alley, is accused of murdering his lover Arabella Young.


In They All Ran After the President's Wife, Sunday is kidnapped and a frantic Henry works with the Secret Service and his friend and former Vice-President (who is the current U.S. President) to locate Sunday and bring her home safely.


In Hail Columbia! Sunday & Henry reconstruct a long-unsolved case aboard the presidential yacht.


And in Merry Christmas/Joyeau Noel, we find Henry & Sunday getting ready for Christmas at home when a 6-year-old boy turns up on their doorstep. They take him in and work with the police, but the boy never speaks or answers any questions, so finding out who he is and where he belongs becomes a difficult problem. A sweet tale about a Christmas Miracle.


Summary


Mary Higgins Clark tells us in the book acknowledgments that as a child she was a big fan of the radio show “My Gal Sunday” and had a huge crush on Lord Henry and thought he and Sunday made a perfect couple.  That's why, when she wanted to create a new husband-and-wife suspense team, she thought about Lord Henry & Sunday and asked herself “suppose Henry is a former American President, smart, nice, rich and handsome, and suppose Sunday is a stunning, savvy young congresswoman?” The stories in her book of short stories, My Gal Sunday are the  result!


This really is a delightful, lighthearted and fun series of stories. I hope you enjoy the short stories in My Gal Sunday as much as I did. 


Related Reviews:


*My Gal Sunday Book Review written by Wednesday Elf




Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Most Recent Reviews on Review This Reviews






Search for Reviews by Subject, Author or Title

The Review This Reviews Contributors



SylvestermouseSylvestermouseDawn Rae BDawn Rae BMbgPhotoMbgPhotoBrite-IdeasBrite-IdeasWednesday ElfWednesday ElfOlivia MorrisOlivia MorrisTreasures by BrendaTreasures by BrendaThe Savvy AgeThe Savvy AgeMargaret SchindelMargaret SchindelRaintree AnnieRaintree AnnieLou16Lou16Sam MonacoSam MonacoTracey BoyerTracey BoyerRenaissance WomanRenaissance WomanBarbRadBarbRadBev OwensBev OwensBuckHawkBuckHawkDecorating for EventsDecorating for EventsHeather426Heather426Coletta TeskeColetta TeskeMissMerFaeryMissMerFaeryMickie_GMickie_G

 


Review This Reviews is Dedicated to the Memory of Our Beloved Friend and Fellow Contributor

Susan DeppnerSusan Deppner

We may be apart, but
You Are Not Forgotten





“As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and or Etsy (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from purchases.” Disclosure Statement

X