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Amazingly prolific author Mary Higgins Clark returns to the theme of her first suspense novel, WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN, more than 30 years after her initial success. In TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE, Clark stirs in the added ingredient of twin telepathy. Readers who have known identical (or even fraternal) twins have probably observed something akin to telepathy occurring between twins. Such a bond has long been credited, to the extent that the CIA has been rumoured to have run experiments along those lines. Three-year-old identical twins, Kelly and Kathy are the subjects of a well planned kidnap. They are stolen, on the day of their birthday party, when their parents are absent at a business dinner. Their babysitter is rendered unconscious and the twins taken to a location not very far from their home by their two kidnappers. The girlfriend of one of the men is accustomed to babysitting and is to look after the girls. A third man who calls himself the Pied Piper is the mastermind of the plan. He warns his minions that they must not address each other by their real names but by aliases. Thus, the twins think the adults are named Harry, Bert and Mona. Margaret and Stephen Frawley, Kathy and Kelly's parents, are not well off. They are horrified to be told by the kidnappers that the price of their children's lives is a ransom of eight million dollars. The FBI become involved in the case as well as local police. Margaret is thought to be irrational with sorrow when she attempts to contact the salesgirl who sold her the dresses the girls wore to their party. Steve's company, suffering reaction from a scandal which cost them many millions, obligingly funds the ransom. The Pied Piper intends to return both twins to their parents but 'Mona', the girls' temporary caregiver, has other ideas. She desperately wants a child and has developed a fondness for Kathy while disliking Kelly, so plans to keep Kathy when Kelly is returned. She lets the parents believe that Kathy, who has already had pneumonia and now has a bad cold, has died. Returned, Kelly tells her parents that Kathy is not dead but is very sick and is frightened of 'Mona', in whose care she remains. Margaret believes her daughter but she is the only person to do so. The rest of the book balances on the premise that the two children are able to communicate as the adults engage in a desperate race against time to rescue Kathy whose life is perceived to be in grave danger. Some readers may not be willing to suspend disbelief to the extent of crediting the twin telepathic bond. It would be a shame not to read the tale simply because of falling short in the leap of faith. The mystery turns on the identity of the Pied Piper and the puzzle is baffling, both for the law enforcement people and the reader. Credible motives are attributed to all suspects and the miscreant's identity is satisfyingly hidden until the final pages. This is a story which has the ability to twang the heartstrings of readers who are parents. The author has once more written a novel guaranteed to beguile the tastes of mystery readers who enjoy their books without some of the roughness of modern tales.
Reviewed by Denise Pickles, April 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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