The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New YorkEqual parts true crime, twentieth-century history, and science thriller, The Poisoner's Handbook is "a vicious, page-turning story that reads more like Raymond Chandler than Madame Curie." —The New York Observer “The Poisoner’s Handbook breathes deadly life into the Roaring Twenties.” —Financial Times “Reads like science fiction, complete with suspense, mystery and foolhardy guys in lab coats tipping test tubes of mysterious chemicals into their own mouths.” —NPR: What We're Reading A fascinating Jazz Age tale of chemistry and detection, poison and murder, The Poisoner's Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten era. In early twentieth-century New York, poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime. Science had no place in the Tammany Hall-controlled coroner's office, and corruption ran rampant. However, with the appointment of chief medical examiner Charles Norris in 1918, the poison game changed forever. Together with toxicologist Alexander Gettler, the duo set the justice system on fire with their trailblazing scientific detective work, triumphing over seemingly unbeatable odds to become the pioneers of forensic chemistry and the gatekeepers of justice. In 2014, PBS's AMERICAN EXPERIENCE released a film based on The Poisoner's Handbook. |
Contents
| 2 | |
| 5 | |
TWO WOODMITHOLOHWH | 26 |
THREE YMMIDESHCN KON NACN | 75 |
FIVE MERIR Hg | 103 |
SIY ARBON MONOMIDE0 PMRTI | 128 |
SEVEN METHYL MLCOHOL CHOH | 152 |
RADIUM Ra | 176 |
MINEETHILMITHOLOHOH | 196 |
TEN ARBONMONOMIDE0 PMRT II | 224 |
THE SUREST POISON | 275 |
MES | 289 |
Other editions - View all
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz ... Deborah Blum No preview available - 2011 |
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz ... Deborah Blum No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
acid Alexander Gettler American Appelgate arsenic atoms autopsy Bellevue blood blue body bones bootleggers bottle brain Brooklyn called carbon monoxide carboxyhemoglobin cause Charles Norris chemical chemistry chemists chloroform City Municipal Archive city's cocktails compound contained coroner corpse Creighton cyanide dark dead death certificate detectives dial painters died district attorney doctors dogs dose drinkers drinking evidence forensic toxicology fumigation Gertie Gettler Gonzales hospital hydrogen hydrogen cyanide Hylan intoxication investigation Jackson Jake Jersey killed killer later lethal liquor lungs Manhattan Martland mayor medical examiner medical examiner's office metal methyl alcohol Molineux morgue Mors murder Norris's oxygen pathologists Pathology percent physicians police Prohibition radioactive Radithor radium Radium Girls Riordan Ruth Snyder scientists Shelbourne speakeasy stomach street suicide suspected Tammany Hall tetraethyl lead thallium tissue told toxicology Travia victims wanted Webb whiskey wife Witthaus woman wood alcohol York City York City Municipal