The Poison Artist by Jonathan Moore review – the streets of San Francisco prove genuinely scary

An enigmatic woman comes between a toxicologist and a murderer in this hypnotic and disturbing thriller

In Jonathan Moore’s chillingly disturbing The Poison Artist, the brilliant toxicologist Caleb Maddox is asked by his friend, San Francisco’s chief medical examiner Henry Newcomb, to examine a body that has been pulled from the bay. Henry is worried his own lab is missing something – there have been six other recent drownings – and wants Caleb to take a look.

Caleb welcomes the distraction. He’s just broken up with his girlfriend, Bridget – we meet him with a bruised, bleeding forehead after a fight. He knows he needs to get on with his work – he’s researching the physiological effects of pain, the chemical markers it leaves behind – but can’t focus. Looking into Henry’s request, he makes a horrifying discovery. Before the man died, “he went through as much pain as a man can take. Three hours, maybe more. Total, unbearable agony.”

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