"A Kiss Before Dying" is probably the best thriller I've ever read. (And if you haven't read it but still plan to, don't read on ... it's too hard to talk about this book without spoilers.)
After sweating through the first 65 pages, knowing what would happen to Dorrie, I felt like I'd already read a complete novel. Then nothing else in the book happened the way I expected (more on that, though in a comment I'll post). For one thing, I think a traditional storyteller would reverse Ellen and Marion's fates.
How did the handling of the plot or characters defy your expectations of the book?
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5 comments:
I wondered who this "Bud" was that Ellen was writing to, but I didn't guess that he was the killer.
I thought Dorrie might unwittingly escape her fate clear up until the moment she was pushed off the roof. I thought the narrator had a fondness for her and might save her somehow. I also did not expect Ellen to die.
I was a little surprised that the book ended with Bud being brought to account. I thought he might get away with it somehow.
Yes, I thought Bud's identity was the shocker of the book, the surprise I didn't guess at.
Also, to elaborate on my post, I didn't expect Ellen to die. She's the perky do-gooder heroine, and I thought the rest of the book would be Ellen solving the mystery, not dying a few dozen pages later. I can't think of authors who create "Ellens" who don't save the day. Marion is such a curious (but to me, likeable) choice of a survivor.
Bud's identity was the shocker for me, too. I was surprised to realize in Part 2 that the killer hadn't been given a name in Part 1. I hadn't even noticed.
You're right that the "girl detective" doesn't normally die.
I was kind of surprised that Marion got sucked in by Bud so easily. Her self-esteem regarding men was probably a factor, but I thought she might be too smart to fall victim.
The end kind of surprised me, too. For one thing, I fully expected some kind of scene between Marion and Gordon indicating that they might hook up in the future. Also, it seemed odd to me to end with Bud's mom asking where he was. I didn't really want to feel sorry for her at that moment, in the afterglow of Bud's getting his just deserts.
Erin, that was going to be one of my posts! It would have been more typical to end with Bud's fall. It was so odd to take Marion and Gordon back to NYC to face Bud's mother and end there.
I also thought Marion dug in her heels a bit over the oddity that Bud would be pursuing her ... especially since Ellen died so suspiciously while investigating Dorrie's death. Duh.
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