WE'LL MEET AGAIN centers on Molly Lasch, a Connecticut socialite newly paroled after serving five and a half years for murdering her husband, and Fran Simmons, a TV reporter recently returned to New York City. Upon Molly's release, she requests that Fran, host of a true crime television show, investigate Gary Lasch's murder.  Molly, herself, has publicly vowed to unearth her husband's real killer and clear her own name.

As Clark's 18th novel of suspense, WE'LL MEET AGAIN, unfolds in typical fashion, enlisting such standards as a horrible crime, circumstantial evidence and a cast of characters quick to judge yet slow to look beyond the obvious. In short, rotating chapters we learn the histories and internal dilemmas of several characters, including a few red herring villains. Unable to remember the night of the murder, Molly accepted a plea bargain rather than fight the overwhelming evidence that suggested she killed her unfaithful husband in a fit of rage. Her memory is beginning to return and she is eager to get to the bottom of the events that sent her to prison. While investigating the Lasch case, Fran begins to question the events surrounding her own father's suicide following his apparent embezzlement of $400,000 from the Greenwich library fund.  

Once again, Clark asserts her skill as a consummate storyteller. The tale moves quickly through the lives of the various characters without letting up on the pace.  Fran and Molly's investigations call in several key players from Gary Lasch's hospital and his co-owned HMO including a former nurse, business partners and old friends.  Some of these characters allude to illegal activities in both the HMO and the hospital. Activities that may have cost patients their lives.  

Complicating matters further, the real killer is attempting to silence those who know about the illicit activities and pin the new murders on Molly, as well. Unable to focus on reality, Molly succumbs to severe depression. Her state of mind is perhaps the most frustrating part of the story. Under stress, Molly Lasch goes into a trancelike state wherein she is aware of little and remembers nothing. It was this problem that led to her original conviction and might lead to another. Only Fran Simmons stands between Molly and returning to prison to complete her original 10-year sentence.

Of course, the women don't fully appreciate the extent of the danger they are in. Clark masterfully interweaves the plot, plus Molly and Fran's backstories, to set each up as separate victims, of separate villains, in two completely separate masquerades.  

In the end, WE'LL MEET AGAIN, will prove to be another solid offering from Clark. It is a grim and intriguing tale of greed and murder, lacking violence and sex, but with a pinch of romance. It's the kind of whodunit where you don't know who the killer is until you're told.

(c) Copyright 1999, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.