The Lottery Winner

Alvirah & Willy #2

by Mary Higgins Clark

Alvirah Meehan, the former cleaning lady from Flushing, New York, who struck it rich in the lottery, made her first appearance in Mary Higgins Clark's Weep No More, My Lady. After she narrowly survived a stalking killer in that best-selling novel, grateful fans clamored for her return. Mary Higgins Clark obliged with several splendid short stories starring the ever-resourceful Alvirah and her occasionally befuddled but always dependable mate, Willy. Here are Alvirah and Willy, ensconced in their spacious Central Park South condo, surrounded by the rich and famous, some of whom just can't go on living (The Body in the Closet). But then Alvirah has become something of a celebrity herself and even appears on the Donahue show, thereby giving unfortunate ideas to a bunch of kidnappers who demand a hefty ransom for her hapless hubby (Plumbing for Willy). When they're not solving dastardly crimes or extricating themselves from danger in Manhattan, Alvirah and Willy like to escape to Cape Cod. Even there, however, they find plenty to keep Alvirah's steel-trap mind occupied (Death on the Cape), not to mention solving the problems of a fellow lottery winner in distress (A Clean Sweep), or returning to the Cypress Point Spa to solve a brutal slaying among the rich and beautiful (The Lottery Winner), or - as a surprise - the unexpected bonus of a Willy and Alvirah Christmas tale of suspense (Bye, Baby Bunting).

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Short Stories, Adult

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark has written thirty-eight suspense novels, four collections of short stories, a his­torical novel, a memoir, and two children’s books. With bestselling author Alafair Burke she wrote the Under Suspicion series. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, she has coauthored five more suspense novels. Her sister-in-law is the also author Mary Jane Clark.

Clark’s books have sold more than 100 million copies in the United States alone. Her books are beloved around the world and made her an international bestseller many times over.

Reviews

[Luffy Sempai · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is tied with A Slice of Murder as the weakest rated book to get 5 stars from me. While others belittled and hated this book, I found great things of value in it.

It's a book of short stories, which I didn't know until the first mystery was elucidated. Not all short stories were equally good. But they all merited 4 or 5 stars. I thought they were that good.

The main character was Alvirah Meehan, an astute old lady with an outdated name. She wants to solve mysteries like Hercule Poirot. I found her appearances totally worth following. No gripes at all. Wonderful little book, this.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best Mary Higgins Clark book, but still a pretty darn good collection of Alvirah and Willy mysteries

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was more like a collection of stories than a novel. Also, the main character suddenly developed super crime solving powers after winning the lottery, a bit far fetched. It would have been much easier to read if it flowed better, it just jumped from one story to the next.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of those books I have meant to read and never got round to it - until now.
The problem is though is that I decided to read it without really paying attention to the book. It is in fact a series of short stories from the Alvirah and Willy series or more correctly the Lottery winners that Mary Higgins Clark has written a number of books over.

This time you have a series of short stories each demonstrating why Alvirah is an amateur sleuth and how her good fortunes have opened up so many possibilities.

Now I will admit that I am not sure where the original stories were published but they certainly feel as though they were once published on their own - possibly as magazine stories or other isolated tales. Now I could be wrong but each on is self contained (which means there is an element of explanation) which means they do feel slightly repetitive in this anthology.

That said they are good honest fun - no violence and when there is it is more implied that witnessed and the crimes committed (in the main part at least) are explainable and sometimes even justified.

This is the sort of book you would not mind recommending to an elderly family member and not feel you are going to either blow their mind or deeply offend them. It does however mean I now need to find the mainstay novels to figure out how they all fit together.

[Lackof_shelf_control · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 2 in the series, but you don’t need to read the first to understand what’s going on. Alvirah and Willy are charming characters, but I would say these stories collectively are more on the cozy mystery side and don’t really have much suspense or shocking moments. Definitely an easy quick read! The collection of short stories tackles themes of kidnapping, robbery, insurance schemes, and of course love triangles gone wrong.

The Body in the Closet: 4 ⭐️

Death on the Cape: 3 ⭐️

Plumbing for Willy: 4 ⭐️

A Clean Sweep: 4 ⭐️

The Lottery Winner: 4 ⭐️

Bye, Baby Bunting: 4 ⭐️

[Amanda McGill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Lottery Winner is made up of 6 short stories that revolve around lottery winners Willy and Alvirah Meehan. Alvirah was first introduced in Clark's novel Weep No More, My Lady. I would suggest reading this novel fairly soon after Weep No More, My Lady since Alvirah refers to her time in that novel and solving the mystery. It's been a few months after I read the novel and I had forgotten what her role was in that novel.

1. The Body in the Closet
- Fiona Winters, the lead actress in Willy and Alvirah's nephews' play is found dead after quitting the play. Brian (the nephew) is a suspect so Alvirah needs to find the real killer.
- I enjoyed this story. A great whodunnit that had me surprised with who the killer was.
- 3 stars

2. Death on the Cape
- Willy and Alvirah are on vacation in Cape Cod and find out that their neighbour is Cynthia Lathem, a woman who was found guilty for killing her stepfather and was just released from jail. Cynthia claims she is innocent and wants to clear her name.
- I found that the killer was obvious and the story was more about how Cynthia would get the killer to admit it.
- 2 stars

3. Plumbing for Willy
- Willy gets kidnapped
- Super boring since the reader knows who the kidnappers are. The story was just about Alvirah saving Willy.
- 1 star

4. A Clean Sweep
- Willy and Alvirah want to help Nelly Monahan get her lottery winnings back from her ex-husband.
- What annoyed me the most about this novel was Alvirah always using her tape recorder (that is hidden in her pin) to record people's confessions. This story was all about getting the husband to admit on tape that he took the winnings.
- 1 star

5. The Lottery Winner
- We are back at the celebrity spa that Alvirah was first introduced. There is a jewel thief and killer at the spa.
- This was a better story then the last few. A good whodunnit that had a few surprises, but overall it was a little boring.
- 2 stars

6. Bye, Bye Bunting
- A neighbour's baby gets kidnapped from the hospital
- No mystery at all. The story is all about finding the baby.
- 1 star

Overall, an ok selection of short stories. There wasn't any connection between any of the stories, but there was some good mysteries thrown in there.

Average rating of the 6 short stories is 1.67 rounded up to 2 stars.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older woman won $40 million in the lottery, and she and her husband retire. They find themselves involved in various mysteries they help solve. Not bad as far as these things go. In every story, it is said the husband resembles Tip O'Neil.

[Sirenita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy entretenido

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read collection of short stories following Alvirah and Willy. Definitely want to read more books with these 2 characters, as they are a good time!

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved all the short stories about Alvirah and Willie! They are my favorite characters!

[Boremomsn.Com · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simple stories and somewhat corny. I've read Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories that were better. I would go so far as to say that Scooby Doo is more complicated than the 6 short stories in this collection. And the first 3 are retold plots, reduced to short stories, from other books written by MHC. All this to say that this collection is 'read at your own risk.' If you are a MHC fan, you might like them. If you want a good mystery, a well told, well thought out story, then move on to the next author/aisle in your favorite book store.

[Lori (on hiatus, life is crazy busy)) · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are familiar with the character's Alvirah and Willy Meehan from some of Clark's previous books, then you should definitely read this book. Alvirah and Willy are an elderly couple who won a multi million dollar lottery that they won after playing for forty year's. This is a collection of short stories about some of their adventures in living a life of luxury and solving crimes along the way. I enjoyed this book very much!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The saving grace of this book and the short stories, was the characters, I liked Alvirah and Willy, and his Nun sisters, and other characters in the book. But I like my mysteries to be more of a mystery.

[Camila María · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anteriormente yo había leído varias novelas de Mary Higgins Clark, pero este libro fue la primera vez que leía acerca de misterios resueltos por un matrimonio de adultos mayores, llamados Alvirah y Willy. Este nuevo cambio de aire por parte de la escritora me ha sorprendido gratamente, pues desde el principio hasta el fin me ha captado totalmente la atención, devorando sus páginas en el poco tiempo libre que tenía.
Lo bueno de esta obra es que se presenta una serie de casos que si bien la tiene que resolver este matrimonio de detectives aficionados, permite al lector poder resolver por sí mismo, gracias a los datos que se dan a lo largo de la novela. Es de agradecer, ya que muchos autores adolecen de ese defecto de ocultar información a los lectores y que mágicamente aparece al final del libro, cuando se resuelve el misterio.
En fin, lo recomiendo.

[Me · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a collection of short mystery stories all starring the amateur sleuth, Alvirah Meehan, a former maid, instantly turned lottery millionaire. At first, I liked the idea of short mysteries, but all the suspense from Clark's novels is deleted from these "cases". In fact, in most of the stories, it is obvious who the murderer is, the only mystery is how Alvirah will get them to confess. Published in 1994, Alvirah uses the "high tech" recording device located in her sunburst pin. Unfortunately, the mysteries, like the technology, are outdated and boring in today's day and age.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alvira is a good hearted and meddlesome woman who only wants to help other people. And since she and Willy have won an enormous amount of money in the lottery, she has the means and leisure to meddle to her heart’s content. This sometimes gets her in some hot soup while her long-suffering and loving husband does his best to keep her safe. Although it requires some willing suspension of disbelief, these are light, enjoyable and fun stories. And a nice break from the tense, suspense filled and sometimes horrific mysteries I often read.

[Francine Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

In earlier years Mary Higgins Clark became a favorite Author. I had read at least three of her books and now came upon the Lottery Winner. The stories center around a husband and wife…Alvirah and Willy who win the Lottery…$40,000 Through their travels they become enthralled in mysterious events, bringing Alvirah in to solve them. The Author brings much suspense which lasts from start to finish. Great book 📕

[Ellen P · Rating 3 out of 5]

You need to know it’s a collection of short stories that surround the same couple who have eon the lottery. I didn’t know it was short stories and was surprised when the end of the story came so soon. It was easy reading and I did enjoy it overall.

[Susan Pankiw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a novel but it was a collection of short stories. They were still good, but I would have preferred a novel. I also skipped the last one when I realized it would be about a baby kidnapping. No thank you!

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 for the stories which were insanely predictable and absurd, but 3 stars for so many classic MHC tropes and plot points.

[Mary Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a different format of 5 short stories. It was entertaining but I like traditional books with 1 main story.

[Paula Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a silly one, but sometimes need the sily ones to counter the more serious or scary ones.

[Carol Fellenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of short stories about the lottery winner that she gets her nose into.

[Jenna Bookss]

LLP

[Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this in the hope that Alvirah wasn't as bad as I thought she was. I was wrong there. Alvirah attempts to be Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher rolled into one but comes across as pushy and annoying. She basically covers up a crime in the first story wiping up fingerprints, and washing glasses and then refusing to tell the cops about this. In Weep No More My Lady Alvirah wasn't really centre stage and didn't really solve that crime but she made it seem like she solved it single handedly. She frankly was lucky she didn't end up dead if not by criminals then by those around her who are sick of her crap. This collection revolves around murders kidnapping and a jewel thief somehow Alvirah solves them all. But boy is she a pain, bothering others who'd rather be left alone and unlike other female detectives she certainly didn't understand subtlety.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an entertaining book but I was annoyed by the fact that since winning the lottery Alvirah was so worried about her precious image and fitting in with rich people etc. It seemed a bit unlike her character since she has such a kind heart. And taking out everything that had to do with that and the Cypress Point Spa (for the rich and famous) would not have hurt the stories.

It was a collection of mystery/crime stories that Alvirah ends up solving. It's an easy quick and light read.

[Lybo Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot of fun.
An Alvirah & Willy mystery; About an older couple; she was a cleaning lady & her husband was a plumber; they won a large lottery, and she started spending her time between traveling & going to spas, & by solving murder mysteries. Her husband spent his time taking care of her & being sure she stayed out of trouble.

[Tracie Sampson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did NOT like this book.It is a series of short stories - which I'm not a fan of anyway - but this was not at all what I expected after reading a couple other MHC books. For one thing, the character is trite and not at all believable. For another - and this was the biggest killer to me - the book seemed to be written to the intelligence level of a 3rd grader. I could hardly handle it.

[Sammy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the character of Alvriah, she’s so campy. The relationship between her and Willy is very sweet and wholesome. The idea of someone gaining crime solving powers overnight after winning the lottery is so funny to me and I think each story in the novel is a great stand alone tale. I also love the re-appearance of Min and The Cypress Point Spa.

[Jennifer Spires · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbelievable, predictable. Unlikeable characters. Mediocre writing. Only story (six shorts) with some promise was The Lottery Winner but it still suffered from all these faults. Would have been better if I was a 60+ year old woman.