The protagonist is a man named David Hunter, who came to a small British village in response to an advertisement for a GP, a general practitioner, needed to help out the elderly doctor there. Just'like Hunter, Dr. Henry Maitland is a widower, but he's been taken care of by his housekeeper, Janice, ever since a car accident took away his ability to walk as well as his wife. Hunter's wife and daughter were also killed in an auto accident, but Hunter was not involved. He came to the village of Manham to get away from the painful memories of his family tragedy back in London, as well as to escape his previous line of work, which was as a
forensic investigator for the police there. He found it hard to deal
with the death of his family while constantly solving other homicide cases.
But as fate would have it, the rural Norfolk village soon sees its own share of corpses, and Hunter is asked to help the local detectives solve the crimes with his special skills. However, as a newcomer to the village, Hunter is also considered a prime suspect in the eyes of many of the villagers, who are hostile to anyone who hasn't grown up there.
Beckett uses misdirection several times to throw the reader off the killer's trail, setting up first one red herring, than another, before the dramatic conclusion where Hunter faces the murderer unarmed after his new girlfriend gets abducted. The killer is revealed, but the action doesn't end there, as gentle Dr. Maitland is also implicated in the crimes through his own interest in the twisted psychology of the killer. The conclusion, though drawn out, is both surprising and satisfying for the reader, and the details about forensics are true but not gruesome. I had to finish the last half of the book in one sitting because it had me so wrapped up in the mystery. "The Chemistry of Death" is not only a great title, but a heart stopping tale of murder in a small town, told very well by author Simon Beckett. Can't wait to read more by him!
Submitted by Gerti
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