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The Chemistry of Death

(David Hunter 1): Harry Treadaway is Dr David Hunter: the darkly compelling new TV series ‘The Chemistry of Death’ – streaming now on Paramount+

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

'A classy debut' The Times

'Best thriller I've read all year' Tess Gerritsen

Dr David Hunter hoped he might at last have put the past behind him. But then they found what was left of Sally Palmer . . .

It isn't just that she was a friend that disturbs him. Once he'd been a high-profile forensic anthropologist and all too familiar with the many faces of death, before tragedy made him abandon this previous life.

Now the police want his help.

But to become involved will stir up memories he's long tried to forget. Then a second woman disappears, plunging the close-knit community into a maelstrom of fear and paranoia.

And no one, not even Hunter, is exempt from suspicion.

Gruesome and gripping, this startling new British crime thriller has an unnerving and original twist.


© Simon Beckett 2006 (P) Penguin Audio 2006

©2006 Simon Beckett; (P)2006 Random House Audiobooks Crime Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Tear-jerking Fiction

Critic reviews

The best thriller I've read all year - I just couldn't put it down...fast-paced, fascinating and heart-stoppingly exciting
Spine-tinglingly frightening...hits the bull's eye from the word go!
Fresh and original...Simon Beckett perfectly captures the claustrophobic horror of a rural community in crisis...absolutely compelling - and deliciously scary
Excellent...plotted and written with panache, with high marks for characterisation and shock value...an absorbing, scary tale (Marcel Berlins)
In the mould of Patricia Cornwell, but by a Brit...brilliant
Very distinctive...a cut above the average, with a convincing central character, a gripping plot and a fine store of morbid information

A cool talent...evokes a creeping atmosphere of dread
A book that truly deserves the description "a real page-turner"
A gruesome forensic mystery...has the makings of an intriguing series
Terrifying...rarely have the mechanics of suspense been so efficiently utilised outside a Hitchcock movie
All stars
Most relevant
Having listened to two of the latter books in the series I decided to buy the rest and begin the series in the right order.
Unfortunately I didn't notice that this is an abridged version and so loses the gradual build up of a plot I enjoyed in the previous listens. Because of the truncation the outcome becomes fairly predictable early on but still offers a couple of twists along the way. All told still a reasonable listen although I have to say that Greg Wise is at times somewhat wooden and monotone in his performance. If this was the first by this author that I had listened to it probably would have been the last and I would have missed two quite excellent sequels I enjoyed immensely.

A good listen - but not his best

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fantastic story line with a unexpected twist.
Well researched and narrated.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it.

excellent story

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Good narration and a great story. Characters believable and the story flowed easily from beginning to end.

A good first book in the series

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Well that was a twist at the end .... loved it...now for the next one.

guessing.

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Please don't be put off by my marks.
The series about David Hunter is great.... when read by on of the best narrators.. Johnathon Keeble. It is such a shame because I have listened to most of the others in the series and suddenly found that I had missed this one. If this had been the first David Hunter I had listened to I might not have bothered with the rest
Please give the ones rerad by JK they are a really good story and listen
If Simon Beckett reads this ...Insist on JK reading your books..

Good story boring narrator

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