Subtitle : - Year of appearance : 1952
Number of pages : 222
Readingtime : 7 hours
Finished the book on : 20-05-2000
EXPLANATION OF MY CHOICE
I already knew the author's name from another book, called Rosemary's baby. Friends of mine told me that "A kiss before dying" was also a good book and that it was very exciting. I like thrillers so I decided to read this one after I red the backside of the book. EXPECTATIONS BEFORE READING
It seemed to me it had to be very exciting when I red the backside of the book. It had to be a good story, because they've made a film about the book. Also the reactions of people who already did read the book, were very positive. FIRST REACTION AFTER READING THE BOOK

The book was really very exciting. Every chapter ended with a thrilling moment so you just wanted to go on reading. The book wasn't difficult to read, because the author used short sentences. Some parts were a little boring for example at the end when they were inside the factory and mr. Kingship showed them around. But I'm glad I red the book because it was very thrilling. SUMMARY
The whole story is about Bud (Burton Corliss), a poor but very selfish boy. He wants to get rich by marrying Dorothy, one of the daughters of mr. Kingship who's very rich and so he hopes to inherite a lot of money. But Dorothy gets pregnant and he tries to kill the baby, but when that doesn't work out, he kills Dorothy and makes it look like suicide. Then he gets involved with another daughter, Ellen. Ellen doesn't believe Dorothy killed herself and tries to find out who killed her sister. It seems to be Bud, her own boyfriend and then Bud kills her too. With the third daughter, Marion, everything seems to go well, but then Gordon Gant turns up. He's a friend of Ellen. He proves to mr. Kingship and Marion that Bud is the killer of Ellen and Dorothy. At the end of the story Bud stumbles in the copper-factory of mr. Kingship and falls in the hot fluid copper. MAIN CHARACTERS
Bud (Burton Corliss) He's a greedy, selfish man, who kills his lovers to get money. He can improvise very well, when things seem to go wrong. He's very sly. Dorothy Kingship
She's very naive and a bit lazy and believes everything Bud tells her. She wants to marry him and romances about a life together with Bud. Ellen Kingship
She's very curious and eager to find her sister's murderer. She doesn't trust people easily. Marion Kingship
She's a bit shy and never loved anyone before she met Bud. She loves art very much and is arguing a lot with het father. Gordon Gant
He's very smart. He's very helpful to Ellen by trying to find her sister's murderer. Dwight Powell
He's afraid to talk about Dorothy, because he feels guilty about her "suicide". Leo Kingship
A severe, quiet man. He interferes a lot in Marion's life. He doesn't like Bud from the beginning. STRUCTURE
The cover says it's a thriller, but there are also a lot of detective-scenes in it. The book is divided in three parts, called: Dorothy, Ellen and Marion. The story is told by an omniscient narrator. He tells in the third person past. Most of the plot is told in chronological order, but in chapter two there's a flash-back that gives some information about the murderer. TIME/WHEN/WHERE
The story covers about three years. It takes place in America. Partly in Blue River, Iowa where Dorothy's school was and partly in New York where Marion lives. The story starts in 1949 and ends in December 1951. THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT

The passage at the end of the book was one of the most important events of the story, because the tables were turned. Bud was really scared and didn't have any power anymore, while Kingship and Gant were standing strong and scared him. At the end Bud dies.