Because this book is about the evolution of the public perception of forensic toxicology and not just the science behind it, I could overlook the scientific stumbles.Īs a laboratory professional, I loved reading about the early days of forensic science and forensic toxicology. One must remember that Blum is a journalist, not a chemist I tend place blame on the publisher’s fact-checker as well as the author. While my own knowledge base isn’t wide, even I notice a few inaccuracies (HCN isn’t a “potent” acid, for example). Several of the reviews of this book note Blum’s lack of chemistry knowledge, and I can’t disagree. I found this particularly fascinating not only were people willing to risk their lives to drink alcohol, the government tried to dissuade people from drinking by actively poisoning the supply. Blum discusses Prohibition at length and its contribution to poisoning deaths in New York City. Over time, poisoning deaths decreased due to public awareness as well as the realization that murderers were increasingly likely to get caught. Blum weaves several cases into a narrative that covers several poisons used during the 1920s and ‘30s. Gettler transformed death investigation from a good-old-boy coroner system to one based on science and data analysis. I recently read The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum, a book about poison and forensic investigation in Jazz-age New York City.
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