Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Hello fellow Crime, Mystery & Thriller readers! This discussion is about The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum, your discussion leader is (Jamie).
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about spoilers

Please note: If you have not finished reading the book spoilers are permitted in this discussion from the start.
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Summary


Deborah Blum, writing with the high style and skill for suspense that is characteristic of the very best mystery fiction, shares the untold story of how poison rocked Jazz Age New York City. In The Poisoner's Handbook Blum draws from highly original research to track the fascinating, perilous days when a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime.

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.

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.

I'm almost done this book and I LOVE it.

Which poison was your favorite to learn about?

I suggest people who like this also read The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

I read it a month ago and really enjoyed it. So many overlaps with other books that have come my way lately - like Eden Park and Radium Girls. With all I had previously learned about the politics of Prohibition, I was not aware of the government’s efforts to make raw alcohol even more toxic in a truly hairbrained effort to discourage drinking.

What a couple of dedicated scientists!

What a delightful mix of history, true crime, and chemistry. Fascinating read from cover to cover.