Author: Deborah Blum
Release Date: February 18, 2010
Published by: Penguin Press
Rating: 5 of 5 stars!!!
Drama unfolds case by case as the heroes of The Poisoner's Handbook—chief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettler—investigate a family mysteriously stricken bald, Barnum and Bailey's Famous Blue Man, factory workers with crumbling bones, a diner serving poisoned pies, and many others. Each case presents a deadly new puzzle and Norris and Gettler work with a creativity that rivals that of the most imaginative murderer, creating revolutionary experiments to tease out even the wiliest compounds from human tissue. Yet in the tricky game of toxins, even science can't always be trusted, as proven when one of Gettler's experiments erroneously sets free a suburban housewife later nicknamed "America's Lucretia Borgia" to continue her nefarious work.My thoughts: This was an incredible read full of murder, history and the blooming science of forensics. If you are into any of the "who-dun-it" shows out there, then THIS is for you!
From the vantage of Norris and Gettler's laboratory in the infamous Bellevue Hospital it becomes clear that killers aren't the only toxic threat to New Yorkers. Modern life has created a kind of poison playground, and danger lurks around every corner. Automobiles choke the city streets with carbon monoxide; potent compounds, such as morphine, can be found on store shelves in products ranging from pesticides to cosmetics. Prohibition incites a chemist's war between bootleggers and government chemists while in Gotham's crowded speakeasies each round of cocktails becomes a game of Russian roulette. Norris and Gettler triumph over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice during a remarkably deadly time. A beguiling concoction that is equal parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten New York. (Summary from Goodreads.com)
The history of the beginning of Forensic Science begins in the Jazz Age of New York City going from Chloroform in 1915 and moving through several years of different chemicals until finishing with Thallium in 1936. Each poison, or chemical compound, that is discussed is usually a substance that is used widely in products and daily life at that time. Each one is also found to be incredibly poisonous. In that day and age, how do you prove that a person died of a specific poison?
The murders are gruesome and diverse throughout the book. Some of the deaths are accidents but many are deliberate murders. It falls to the 1st ever trained Medical Examiner in New York City, pathologist Charles Norris. He then hires the incredibly talented and driven Chemist, Alexander Gettler to help him take on New York City's corrupt coroners and unsolved murders.
I learned so darn much about chemistry, pathology, the politics of the early 1900's and how many things haven't changed as much as we'd like to think they have. For example, the poor were dying in the 1,000's during Prohibition because they were still drinking their cares away even when it was illegal and the alcohol was poisoned on purpose by the government while the wealthy were able to pay for talented chemists at speakeasy's to make their alcohol safe to drink. This is exactly comparable to the large pharmaceutical companies who have increased medication costs to a point where people are literally choosing between taking their medication or eating on any given day depending on if they can afford it or not.
Final thoughts: If you are a CSI, NCIS, Bones, etc. fan then you will LOVE this true history of forensics. I can't wait to check out another book by this author.
Have you tried this one? What do you recommend next?
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