RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Mary Higgins Clark, the queen of suspense, has died at the age of 92. The bestselling author was a widow in her 40s with five children to support when her first book was published. She would go on to write more than 50 books. When NPR's Lynn Neary sat down with her just over two years ago, the author said no matter how long she had left, she planned to spend it doing the only thing she was good at.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MARY HIGGINS CLARK: I say if the fairy godmothers come to the cradle, the one who might've left me a singing voice was out of town. I can't sew anything. Well, I fed five kids, but I'm no gourmet cook.

LYNN NEARY: So you can't imagine a time, I would think, where you're not actually writing a novel or writing...

CLARK: Honestly not. Just turned in the April one, so I don't have to write at the moment. And I'm thinking, what'll I do?

MONTAGNE: Remembering Mary Higgins Clark. Her last novel, "Kiss The Girls And Make Them Cry," came out last fall. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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