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THE CHEMISTRY OF DEATH by Simon Beckett. Bantam Press, 362pp, $36.99. Reviewed by Carla Amos. The Chemistry of Death is not for the faint-hearted. British journalist and novelist Simon Beckett takes what he learned on a visit to the infamous Body Farm and turns it into a riveting -- and at times revolting -- crime thriller.
Combining sublime storytelling, compelling suspense and authentic forensics, Chemistry of Death is a wonderfully good novel that is likely to establish Beckett high in the ranks of crime and thriller writers.
Beckett has been a freelance journalist since 1992. In 2002, he went to Knoxville, Tennessee, to write an article on the National Forensic Academy (NFA). The academy offers intensive, realistic forensic training for American police officers and crime-scene investigators.
To learn how to recover a body, they went to the only place in the world where they could simulate the process with real human cadavers -- the Body Farm.
The Outdoor Anthropology Research Facility, its actual title, is a dedicated facility where decay and decomposition are investigated.
Over five days, Beckett watched the NFA students put through their paces using human remains.
"One day I was cheerfully told to put down my notepad and tape recorder and help with recovering the two bodies that the students were carefully unearthing from a woodland grave.
"Sweating in the heat and dirt as the skeletal remains slowly emerged was a sobering, yet fascinating experience. And what started off as a one-off piece of journalism took on an entirely different aspect."
Back in Britain, Beckett was taken up by the idea of a novel based on his experiences in Tennessee. Gradually, the concept for a British forensic anthropologist schooled in the techniques and science being developed at the Body Farm took shape.
The result -- The Chemistry of Death, and the introduction of Dr David Hunter. When the bizarrely mutilated body of a young woman is found near the tiny village of Manham, Hunter's peace is shattered.
Grief-stricken, he has turned his back on his high-profile career to work as a GP in the sleepy Norfolk village.
Now he is being drawn back to his old career to catch a psychopath.
Beckett's writing is almost poetic -- despite the subject matter. Hunter is credible and the macabre information on offer will whet any thriller enthusiast's thirst for original, unpredictable prose.
Beckett hoped that his fifth novel would "prove compelling, frightening, and even moving enough to do its subject matter justice".
A measure of its success was reported in The Yorkshire Post last week: Beckett has been shortlisted for the CWA Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award, Britain's top crime writers' award. Previous winners include Ian Rankin and Patricia Cornwell.
Beckett said he was unsure how he was nominated and is now awaiting the award ceremony in London in late June.
The Chemistry of Death helped Beckett secure a three-novel deal - - so there are more demons and decomposition to come.
* Carla Amos is a sub-editor at The Press.
(C) 2006 The Press. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
