Lottery Winner

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").