Review Date: 11/6/2011

Helpful Score: 2

Blum's history of New York City's forensic medicine department is fascinating. The book had three primary narrative streams: 1) professional biographies of Norris, the department head, and Gessler, chief toxicologist, 2) discussions of popular poisons, such as arsenic, cyanide, carbon monoxide, and 3) some specific details of criminal cases or particularly tragic accidents. Since she was also putting the information into a timeline, the narrative was occasionally forced, as an example a major trial involving murderers from the past ends up in a chapter devoted to a totally different poison because of the timeline approach.
Any structural defects are at best minor. The book is highly readable and may even jog some memories of a high school chem class at a few points.

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