Ira Levin would go on to write such blockbusters as Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives but he never went back to writing mystery novels which is a shame because if A Kiss Before Dying is any indication he had a real talent for the mystery genre.
A Kiss Before Dying is set during the early 1950's somewhere in the Midwest. And when the novel begins we are introduced to a handsome, spoiled and sociopathic young man. He is dating a fellow college student named Dorothy. She is an innocent young woman and he is only interested in her family’s wealth which she doesn't suspect.
But when Dorothy gets pregnant the young man knows that once her father finds out he will disown her. Dorothy is okay with this but the young man is not. He does not want to be saddled with a wife and a baby trying to make ends meet. He was meant for better things and so he kills Dorothy making it look like a suicide.
That ends part one of A Kiss Before Dying and I enjoyed part one but the novel really takes off in parts two and three which I can't go into but what I will say is that this is a gripping, page turning novel with a major twist halfway through and the 1954 Edgar for Best First Novel was well deserved. A four star read for me.
I always wanted to read some of Levin's books, but my library never seemed to have them at the time I wanted to read them. I should check and see if they have any of them know. Glad you enjoyed this mystery!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read his other books but this one I can recommend. This one really kept my interest.
ReplyDeleteYou have me interested in the ending now and I'm curious about the twist. The young man seems pretty ruthless. I'm glad you dug this one up. I guess Ira became too busy for mystery novels after this.
ReplyDeleteThe twist was good. I was surprised by it. He's ruthless and a sociopath but handsome and charming which is how he fools people.
ReplyDeleteIra did go on to write blockbusters. I am a little too squeamish though to check out Rosemary's Baby.
Because I associated Ira Levin's writing with scary stories like the ones you mentioned, I avoided A Kiss Before Dying for years. I finally read it in early 2020, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was tense at times, but a very good story as you say.
ReplyDeleteI will read your review. And I too associated Levin with his later works but this was a good story. And the twist halfway through the novel was well done and I did not see coming.
DeleteOnce again, I am reading a book based upon your recommendation that I probably would not have read otherwise. It is so good that I’ve suggested it as my book club pick for June. Tonight I watched the movie on Amazon Prime. The best I can say is that it seemed naive with big holes in the production and telling of about half of the book. If you have access to it, do watch it out of curiosity and groan when appropriate. For its time, I guess it was ok but we expect more today. Thank you for the book review. Definitely worth the read.
DeleteThanks so much Iris. I am thrilled you liked the book and that you have Introduced it to your book club! I hope they read it and would love to know what they think.
DeleteI found A Kiss Before Dying because I love mysteries and so I decided let me check out the prestigious Edgar Awards and see what novels got awards for best mysteries from the 1940's and 1950's and A Kiss Before Dying popped up including many other novels from that period which I plan to read and review. I will check out the Amazon prime version. Why do they do that? If they can't tell the story the right way then don't film it.