RS Review: Before She Dies [Mass Market Paperback]

I've finished "Before She Dies" by Mary Burton.

Product Description

In death, they are purified. Holding his victims under water, he washes away their sins as they struggle for their last breath. Then he stakes their bodies to the ground, exposing them for what they really are. Witches, sent to tempt and to corrupt. No one knows about defense attorney Charlotte Wellington's murdered sister, or about her childhood spent with the carnival that's just arrived in town. For Charlotte, what's past is past. But others don't agree. And as a madman's body count rises, she and Detective Daniel Rokov are drawn into a mission that's become terrifyingly personal.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Zebra; Original edition (January 31, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1420110217
ISBN-13: 978-1420110210


My Review:

Charlotte Wellington is a defense lawyer with a secret past.  She's well respected by her peers and is high powered defense lawyer.  She hides before a mask and has built a wall around herself to protect her privacy.

In her past, her mother married Grady Tate a Carnival owner when she was eight and her sister Mariah was nine. They didn't have any roots and lived like a gypsy. When their mother died when she was thirteen, Charlotte and Mariah stayed with Grady. Charlotte left the Carnival when she was sixteen when Mariah died from a drowning accident.  Grady promised that he would put Mariah's daughter Sooner up for adoption to give her a real good home. Charlotte wanted to take Sooner with her but Grady refused. Grady liked being in control of everything and everyone.

Charlotte hasn't seen Sooner for eighteen years when one day Grady shows up asking for her help in defending Sooner.  She was arrested for shoplifting and all these years Charlotte thought Sooner was put up for adoption.

Woman are being found dead with the word WITCH tattooed on their foreheads and Detective Rokov and his partner have the lead on the investigation.  When the Carnival rolls into town Rokov take a closer look on the owner Grady. 

Charlotte is in a secret relationship with Rokov which she doesn't want anyone to know about.  Rokov is in love with her and wants more than she can give.

I was so glad that Detective Rokov treated Charlotte with extreme care and understanding.  I liked how he was very determined to bring the killer to justice and solve the case.

This book has an alpha male and female, intriguing secondary characters, gruesome and well descriptive crime scenes, etc.

3.5/5