The Chemistry of Death

The body has been savagely mutilated. The police need Hunter's expertise to find the killer, but he is desperate to remain uninvolved. Then a second woman disappears and the close-knit community that had been Hunter's refuge becomes a maelstrom of fear and paranoia. No one is exempt from suspicion. Suddenly, there is no place to hide...

The irony that haunts David Hunter is the best thing about Beckett's novel. So well versed in the minutiae of death, he cannot come to terms with its most fundamental mystery: what becomes of the life that is taken away? As a whodunit, this is certainly a cut above the average, with a convincing central character, a gripping plot and a fine store of morbid information. In contrast to the story's original angle, however, the crimes themselves seem a little bit hackneyed. (Guardian)