A Death Before Dying — Collin Wilcox

Meredith Powell seemed to have it all: voluptuous blond beauty, a silver Mercedes, a posh condo in the Heights of San Francisco. The only thing she never had was a fair chance. All her life she'd been controlled, used, and abused by men. First her father, then her husband, and now him - her lover, her keeper. He owned all she had; he owned her and refused to let her go.

A chance meeting reunites Meredith with Frank Hastings, a childhood friend, sparking an unexpected intimacy, and Meredith reveals some of her torments. Before he can help her, though, she is brutally murdered and Hastings vows that everyone to blame for her sad life and death will pay.