Simon Beckett

The chemistry of death

'A classy debut' The Times 'Best thriller I've read all year' Tess Gerritsen Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer . . . It isn't just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he'd been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life. Now the police want his help. But to become involved will stir up memories he's long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion. Gruesome and gripping, this startling new British crime thriller has an unnerving and original twist.

(David Hunter 1): The skin-crawlingly frightening David Hunter thriller

The Chemistry of Death

Melissa Palmer

Great mystery with forensics worked in. Gritty but gripping.

Peggy Walker

This book is about an English forensic scientist who becomes a country doctor after experiencing a personal tragedy. This is evidently the first in a series of books "starring" David Hunter and was a very enjoyable read. There is a lot of forensic detail and a fair amount about decomposition, so if you are squeamish, beware!!! There is a fair amount of misdirection, which is done fairly well. I would definitely check out another of his books.

Wilde

One of the few crime novels where the ending truly surprised me. Wonderfully gory but overall I could have done without quite so many dead animals.

Kolle

Well, if you solve the whodunit not even 10% in, you can't recommend a crime thriller too highly.

Specific scenes were intense to read, but that kind of quality was absent in the larger plot. Cheap cliffhangers and overused cliches, character arcs going nowhere. 

Most disappointing was the lack of intricacy the title promised: The chemistry of death, as in investigative forensics, is a very minor part of the book and does barely nudge the plot.

The book is readable and I guess it is what you expect it to be, it is just not particular good at it. I don't get the legend status this seems to have in the genre, but then again I am not a crime thriller savant either.

The chemistry of death

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