{"product_id":"the-poisoners-handbook-murder-and-the-birth-of-forensic-medicine-in-jazz-age-new-york","title":"The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York","description":"\u003cp\u003ePulitzer Prize-winning science writer Deborah Blum follows New York Citys first forensic scientists to discover a fascinating Jazz Age story of chemistry and detection  poison and murder.  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 Poisoners 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 Poisoners Handbookchief medical examiner Charles Norris and toxicologist Alexander Gettlerinvestigate a family mysteriously stricken bald  Barnum and Baileys 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 cant always be trusted  as proven when one of Gettlers experiments erroneously sets free a suburban housewife later nicknamed \"Americas Lucretia Borgia\" to continue her nefarious work.  From the vantage of Norris and Gettlers laboratory in the infamous Bellevue Hospital it becomes clear that killers arent 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 chemists war between bootleggers and government chemists while in Gothams 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. A beguiling concoction that is equal parts true crime  twentieth-century history  and science thriller  The Poisoners Handbook is a page-turning account of a forgotten New York.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44984020729909,"sku":"ByrdShop_1594202435","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781594202438.jpg?v=1770818924","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-poisoners-handbook-murder-and-the-birth-of-forensic-medicine-in-jazz-age-new-york","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}