Book Review: A Kiss Before Dying

A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin
Narrator: Mauro Hantman
Length:8 hours and 44 minutes
Publisher: AudioGO
Release Date: October 11, 2011

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A young college man is dating Dorothy, the daughter of a wealthy copper tycoon, hoping to marry her and eventually inherit her father’s money. His plan hits a roadblock when Dorothy tells him that she’s pregnant and they must marry right away. Not only that but her father will disown her for getting pregnant out of wedlock – that means no money for the young man. The only way the man can get out of this predicament is to kill Dorothy. If only that was the end of his problems…

A Kiss Before Dying, first published in 1953, is Ira Levin’s debut novel. It won the 1954 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. Levin is a master of suspense and this novel does not disappoint. He does not reveal the identity of Dorothy’s boyfriend in the first part of the book, referring to him only with pronouns. When Dorothy’s sister Ellen goes hunting for her murderer, the reader is right alongside her discovering clues and trying to figure out who the killer is. I was on the edge of my seat and as confused as Ellen about who was the murderer. Even after the identity of the killer is discovered the suspense continues right up until the very end.

I listened to the audio version of this book. I thought the narrator, Mauro Hantman, did an excellent job. He was able to convincingly voice all of the characters – from tough as nails Leo Kingship to soft spoken naive Dorothy. I especially loved the voice he gave Gordon Gant.

I highly recommend A Kiss Before Dying.

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(I received this audio book courtesy of the Solid Gold Reviewers program at Audio Jukebox.)