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|title=The Chemistry of Death

|author=Simon Beckett

|website=http://www.simonbeckett.com/

|video=0WOQsqUigj0

|sort=Chemistry of Death

}}

It's three years since Dr David Hunter abandoned his old life in London and moved to a Norfolk village after the death of his wife and young daughter. He's gone into partnership with the local GP who has been crippled in the car accident which killed his wife. In his old life Hunter was a forensic anthropologist but he's reluctant to be drawn into the investigation when a body is found in the village. His hand is forced when a second woman disappears from the village and it's obvious that there is a serial killer at large. He has to dredge up old memories and face the paranoia of the village as it realises that the killer must be one of them.

If I have one mild concern about this book and the sequel which is to follow it's about the forensic aspect. It's not a subject which I have read in any depth but there was little there that was new to me and ultimately the solution to the crime didn't rest on forensic evidence. There is only so much that can be done with the same bugs and insects chomping at the body post-mortem and I do hope that Simon Beckett hasn't exhausted his store of knowledge on the subject.

If this type of book appeals to you, you might also enjoy [[The Edge]] by Clare Curzon, or [[Losing You]] by Nicci French, both of which are similarly fast-paced thrillers.