A Kiss Before Dying

ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLERS OF ALL TIME.

Bestselling author Ira Levin’s Edgar Award-winning debut novel set a new standard in the art of psychological suspense and is a modern classic.

Published to rave reviews and adapted twice for the big screen—once starring Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward, and once starring Matt Dillon and Sean Young—A Kiss Before Dying is a dark and thrilling twisty tale of criminal psychopathy. 

Known for his looks and charm, a young man obsessed with wealth and status will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He sets his sights on a beautiful and innocent college student named Dorothy, intent on marrying her for her family’s money. But when Dorothy becomes pregnant, his careful plans start to unravel, and he begins to take cold, calculating, and drastic measures to protect his future. 

Told in multiple points of view, with a perfectly constructed plot and Levin’s signature economy of phrase, the novel has thrilled millions of readers and is widely regarded as a masterpiece of crime fiction.