The Poison Artist

Dr Caleb Maddox is a crack San Francisco toxicologist leading a ground-breaking study of the human pain threshold based on minute analysis of chemical markers. He has also just broken up with his artist girlfriend after she discovered a shocking family secret in his past. Seeking solace, Caleb finds a saloon called House of Shields where he is mesmerised by a beautiful woman dressed like a 1940s movie star. The enigmatic Emmeline shares a pouring of absinthe with him and vanishes. As he pursues her through the night-time city, he becomes entangled in a serial murder investigation that has the police stymied until Caleb's analysis of the chemical markers in their bodies reveals that each one was tortured to death. Also present are some of the key components of absinthe ...