It has all the makings of a great suspense tale: a mysterious disappearance, murder and mayhem. And die-hard fans of best-selling suspense writer Mary Higgins Clark are holding tight to their seats as they await the arrival of her latest book, Where Are You Now? due in bookstores in the next few weeks.

“When someone we love unexpectedly disappears, life goes on hold,” says Higgins Clark, a longtime Bergen resident now in Saddle River. “We will do and say anything to find that person – which is why this premise makes for such a good suspense tale.”

Higgins Clark first took up the pen writing radio scripts to help support her young family after the untimely death of her first husband. Eventually, she would discover her true calling: crafting suspense tales; she burst onto the scene with her debut book, a spine-tingling psychological drama called Where Are The Children? This international bestseller would lay the groundwork for a 50-year career that’s led to her coronation as the “Queen of Suspense.”

At age 80 and with 38 novels under her pen, Higgins Clark can claim a work ethic that would put many half her age to shame. Up early each weekday – a routine she began when her five children were young – the author retreats to her third-floor office for a four-hour writing stint. With a whirlwind national tour looming, it doesn’t appear this whirlwind of a woman will slow down anytime soon. On tap for 2009? Another great suspense tale that will surely be worth the wait.

“I don’t cook, and John and I go out for dinner most nights,” notes Higgins Clark; Savini’s in Allendale, Valentino’s in Norwood and The Park Steakhouse in Park Ridge are key hangouts. “A half-plate of pasta and a good salad – what else do I need?”

“Holidays are wonderful because we all try to be together,” Higgins Clark says of her family: husband since 1996 John Conheeney, retired CEO of Merrill Lynch Futures; her own children and Conheeney’s four; and 17 grandchildren between them.

“I have always loved the ocean, and when younger, I got the biggest thrill riding the waves,” says Higgins Clark, who besides her Saddle River manse has homes in Spring Lake and Dennis, Mass. “At this point in my life, the next best thing is living by the sea … it brings me peace.”

Higgins Clark is hard-pressed to name a favorite book for reading. But, which one inspired her love of writing? Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth, which she first read at age 9. “I started reading, and although I didn’t understand most of the words, I was in awe of her ability to tell a story,” she remembers.

Bergen fans appreciate Higgins Clark’s periodic stops at Bookends, Ridgewood, to sign copies of her latest – usually timed around her annual book release, a Mother’s Day tradition.