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The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum (2010)

This nonfiction title is as fascinating and absorbing as a murder mystery.

Blum has used her discussions of various types of poisons (like carbon monoxide, arsenic, nicotine, mercury, and cyanide) to tell the story of the very beginnings of what we now know as forensic science. Set in New York City from about 1918 to 1936, a period that included Prohibition, the book centers on two unassuming but incredible men, Dr. Charles Norris, Manhattan's first trained chief medical examiner, and Alexander Gettler, New York's first toxicologist. Between them, these two men essentially invented forensic science.

This book is very well-written and fast-paced - It's chock full of anecdotes about notorious cases, facts about the Jazz Age in New York, and information about the terrible effects of Prohibition.

The Poisoner's Handbook can be found at the Chicopee Public Library in the New Nonfiction section: 614.1309 BLUM.