The Chemistry of Death

David Hunter is a forensic anthropologist from England. He has been trained at the NFA and is often called in by the English police to help investigate murder cases. We first meet David in Simon Beckett’s “The Chemistry of Death”. Following the tragic death of his wife and his daughter, David has abandoned his career as forensic anthropologist and has withdrawn to a small Norfolk village to work as a general practitioner. Three years later, when he starts to believe he has left his past behind and may even find new love, he is entangled in a horrible event requiring all his forensic expertise. The body of Sally Palmer, one of the local residents, is found in the woods, savagely tortured and mutilated. Knowing that the culprit is probably one of their midst, the community of Manham is cast into fear and paranoia as yet another woman disappears. A hunt for the murderer ensues, drawing David ever closer in and forcing him to confront his worst fears, which he had hoped to forget.

The first book of the David Hunter series, published in 2006, was an immediate success, becoming a No. 1 international bestseller with over two million copies in print. It has been praised for its originality, following investigations from the point of view of a forensics expert rather than a detective’s, for its horrifyingly detailed descriptions of decomposing corpses, and for its fast-paced plot. The very first paragraph of the novel is enough to capture the reader, having him turn the pages as the story runs from one suspense to the next:

“A human body starts to decompose four minutes after death. The body, once the encapsulation of life, now undergoes its final metamorphoses. It begins to digest itself. Cells dissolve from the inside out. Tissue turns to liquid, then to gas. No longer animate, the body becomes an immoveable feast for other organisms. Bacteria first, then insects. Flies. Eggs are lain, then hatch. The larvae feed on the nutrient rich broth, and then migrate. They leave the body in orderly fashion, following each other in a neat procession that always heads south. South east or south west sometimes, but never north. No one knows why.”

The Chemistry of Death. Bantam Books. 444 pages. First published in 2006.