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THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH
by Simon Beckett
Delacorte Press, September 2006
320 pages
$22.00
ISBN: 0385340044


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Dr David Hunter leaves his London practice as a forensic anthropologist and takes a post in the little village of Manham in Norfolk after the untimely death of his wife and child. An assistant to paraplegic Dr Henry Maitland, Hunter wants only to forget his former life. But circumstances dictate otherwise when two young boys find the body of a woman in a marshy area outside of the village. Swan wings have been inserted into slits in the woman’s back, making this an unusually gruesome murder requiring specialized help.

Detective Mackenzie is at first suspicious of Hunter, since the doctor had once been close to Sally Palmer, the murdered woman. Hunter’s reluctance to insert himself into the case doesn’t help. Gradually, though, the two men come to respect and trust each other. Hunter realizes that the police will make little headway in the case without his help, while Mackenzie discards Hunter as a suspect and increasingly turns to him for expert advice.

A second murder accompanied by the discovery of several mutilated animals leads Mackenzie to believe the killings were not committed by an outsider, but are linked to someone living in the village. A wave of paranoia seizes Manham, fueled by the rantings of the town’s pastor. Reverend Scarsdale’s playing to the media results in the formation of a local vigilante group, the beating of a homosexual resident of the village, and the protection of one of the leading suspects in the case.

Dr Hunter, meanwhile, has formed a relationship with a young teacher named Jenny who, like himself, is a newcomer to Manham. With personal happiness within reach once again, David Hunter suddenly finds himself an outcast in the village when gossip threatens his good name. Finding the killer becomes foremost in the doctor’s mind. Then his collaboration with Mackenzie takes on a new urgency when another woman goes missing from Manham. Can Hunter use his scientific knowledge to piece together the clues left behind by the killer, or will another woman fall victim to this mad murderer?

Simon Beckett has penned a winner in this debut novel heralding a new forensic series by the British journalist. Beckett’s done his homework when it comes to forensic anthropology, and it shows from the book’s first paragraph where he describes the process of bodily decay following death to the end of the book where Hunter unmasks the killer. Intelligent prose, compelling characters, and a twist ending compliment the novel’s fine plotting. For suspense with a strong medical angle, you can’t go wrong reading THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH.

Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, January 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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