Before She Dies


Fiction - Suspense
416 Pages
Reviewed on 01/29/2012
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Burton’s romantic suspense novels include the just published Before She Dies, her two earlier Alexandria, Virginia set novels Senseless and Merciless, and her thrillers Dying Scream, Dead Ringer and I’m Watching You. All have been published as paperback originals by Zebra Books.

A Virginia native whose family’s Richmond roots run as deep as the nation’s, Mary was born, raised in, and raised her own family there. She graduated from Hollins University and began a career in marketing before writing her first novel, a historical romance, published in 2000. Eleven more novels and three novellas for Harlequin followed. In total, she has written nineteen novels and four novellas.

She is a graduate of the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy and the Richmond FBI Citizen’s Academy, and has participated in Sisters in Crime’s Forensic University program and the Writers Police Academy in Jamestown, North Carolina, where she attended seminars on undercover work, autopsies, and the theories behind why people kill.

When not killing people—the total is upwards of a dozen now—or researching, Mary can be found pursuing her second love, baking, practicing Astanga yoga, enjoying her family, playing with her miniature dachshunds Buddy and Bella, or pursuing her Baking & Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond.

Mary Burton writes full time. Her next suspense novel is The Seventh Victim, which will be published in Fe

    Book Review

Reviewed by Alice H. for Readers' Favorite

Wow! This book is full of suspense which will keep the reader turning pages until the end. And, to make things even better, the author does not give away the end even by the middle of the book! "Before She Dies" is the latest Mary Burton thriller and it is well worth the read. Defense Attorney Charlotte Wellington carries a deep, dark secret which has been contained so long that she carries a reputation of impeccability. But, when the carnival comes to town, her secret threatens to unravel in such a manner that her life will never be the same. Women are being murdered in a brutal and ritualistic manner and, like it or not, Charlotte Wellington is right in the center of the mystery. Her past threatens to become exposed as she is no longer able to protect her secret and she must make a decision of whether or not to release herself fully to her friend and lover Daniel Rokov. Until the present, Charlotte and Daniel have had a "friends with benefits" relationship but this is about to change as Charlotte becomes deeper and deeper involved in the chain of events which lead her to the brink of death.

Burton has a succinct and powerful manner of weaving her plots and disclosing the secrets of her characters. She writes hard-nosed dialogue in which nonessential details are eliminated in favor of the reader hopping into the story to become invested in the detective work. This is an artistically written story which will captivate the reader from start to finish.