Category Archives: Instruments of Death

SAMARIUM – The Good and The Bad

Posted on September 30, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In the past I’ve blogged about lethal radioactive chemicals (here and here) as possible murder weapons to use in your murder mysteries and thrillers. There is another rather dramatic radioactive agent—a beneficial medication at that—which could take center stage in … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Murder, All About Murder, Blog Trends, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Designer Poisons Used For Murder, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Poisoning, Drugs Used For Murder, Drugs Used to Murder, How to Choose a Murder Weapon for a Plot Idea, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, James J. Murray, James J. Murray Blog, Killing Off Characters in Your Novel, Lethal Agents and Murder, Lethal Radioactive Agents, Misuse of Drugs, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Drugs, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Overdose of Samarium, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, Radioactive Drugs Used for Murder, Radioactive Pharmaceuticals and Murder, Samarium, Samarium and Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SMILES – No Laughing Matter!

Posted on September 9, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

I’ve blogged before about designer street drugs being used as murder weapons (here, here and here to name a few). The drug choices are numerous and they are usually deadly in large doses. Using a street drug as a murder … Continue reading →

Posted in 2C-1 Street Drug, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, A New Drug Abuse Threat, A New Street Drug, About James J. Murray, About Murder, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Chemicals Used For Murder, Designer Drug Deaths, Designer Street Drugs, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Abuse, Drug Misadventures, Drugs Used For Murder, Ecstasy Replacement, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, James J. Murray Blog, Methods of Murder, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Drugs, Murder With Party Drugs, New Drug Abuse Phenomenon, Prescription For Murder Blog, Smiles Street Drug, Street Drug Overdosing, Street Drugs, Street Drugs and Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

DIELDRIN – An Old Remedy For A New Kill

Posted on June 17, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In the past I’ve blogged about many compounds that have been used for murder or been used as wartime bio-weapons. One of the common denominators of these lethal compounds is that many were first developed as pesticides and used for … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Chronic Poisons, Contact Poisons, Dieldrin and Its Lethal Effects, Dieldrin Discussed, Dieldrin Used For Murder, DMT, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing Off Characters in Your Novel, Lethal Chemical Poisons, Lethal Insecticides, Lethal Pesticides, Murder Weapons, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Poisons and Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Scorpion Venom – A Lethal Opportunity!

Posted on May 13, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Scorpions are predatory arthropods—exoskeleton or shell-like creatures. They originated in England in the High Middle Ages (around 1200 AD). Although scorpion venom has a fearsome reputation, there are only about 25 varieties (out of the over 1,700 species) that have … Continue reading →

Posted in About Writing, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Chemical Poisons, Deadly Scorpion Venom, Deathstalker Scorpion Venom, Deathstalker Scorprion, Designer Drug Deaths, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Israeli Yellow Scorpion, Israeli Yellow Scorpion Venom, Killing Off Characters in Writing, Lethal Scorpion Venom, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Drugs, New Drug Discoveries, New Drug Research, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Plotting Murder Scenes, Poisonous Scorpion Venom, Poisons Used For Murder, Scorpion Stings, Scorpion Venom, The Deadliest Scorprion, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Tools of Murder, Types of Deadly Scorpions, Uncategorized, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Powdered Glass – An Instrument of Death?

Posted on April 15, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Let’s say that you have a particularly nasty villain in your novel and want to kill him or her off in some unique way. You have a brilliant idea! Crush glass into fine shards and mix them into the villain’s … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Broken Glass and Murder, Characteristics of Murder, Choosing How a Character Should Die in a Story, Crushed Glass and Murder, Deciding How to Kill Off a Character in a Novel, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Glass Shards and Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Killing Off Characters in Writing, Killing Off Characters in Your Novel, New Methods of Murder, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Powdered Glass and Murder, Prescription For Murder Blog, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Plots | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

CYANIDE – A Classic Murder Weapon!

Posted on March 4, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

If you’ve been paying attention to my blogs over the last three weeks, you’ll notice that I’ve been writing about some classic poisons that have been used throughout history as murder weapons and which have been the lethal elements of … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Chemical Poisons, Chronic Poisons, Cyanide and House Fires, Cyanide As A Poison, Cyanide in Household Foods, Cyanide in Household Items, Cyanide Is A Dramatic Killer, Cyanide Poisoning Symptoms, Cyanide Poisoning Telltale Signs, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Lethal Chemical Poisons, Lethal Substances Used For Murder, Murder Weapons, Murder With Cyanide, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Poisons and Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Top Ten Most Famous Poisons, Uncategorized, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

BOTULISM – A Paralytic Nerve Toxin

Posted on February 25, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Botulism, as an accidental illness, is rare these days. More sophisticated canning processes and better preservation of food products have prevented this serious neurotoxin from poisoning those in the modern world. Intentional poisonings, however, are another story. The botulism toxin … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Bio-Defense, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scenes, Botulinum Toxin, Botulism, Botulism as a Bioweapon, Botulism as a Public Health Risk, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Clostridium Botulinum Bacteria, Deadly Poisons Discussed, Designer Poisons Used For Murder, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drugs and Bioterrorism, Drugs For Murder Plots, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing With Lethal Microbes, Microbes Used To Murder, Murder Weapons Discussed, Mysteries and Thrillers Compared, Neurotoxin Poisons, Paralytic Nerve Toxins, Paralytic Poisons and Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

BELLADONNA – It’s More Than A Beautiful Woman

Posted on February 18, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Often some of the most deadly substances were once used for cosmetic purposes—that is, before their lethal qualities became obvious. An example of such commercial carelessness was thallium being marketed as a depilatory agent. It effectively removed unwanted hair, but … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Belladonna and Hyoscyamine Toxins, Belladonna and Scopolamine Toxins, Belladonna As A Murder Weapon, Belladonna Drugs, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Botanical Murder Weapons, Botanicals That Kill, Chemicals Used For Murder, Deadly Cosmetics, Deadly Plant Poisons, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Made From Deadly Nightshade, Drugs Used For Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing With Poisonous Plants, Lethal Agents and Murder, Lethal Botanicals, Murder Weapons, Murder With Poisonous Plants, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, Plant Poisons, Plants Used For Murder, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Poisonous Plants, Poisons and Murder, Scopolamine Adverse Effects, Scopolamine and Amnesia, The Science of Murder, The Toxicity of Deadly Nightshade, The Toxicity of the Belladonna Plant, Tools for Murder, Uses of Tincture of Belladonna, Using Deadly Nightshade as a Murder Weapon, Ways To Kill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

ARSENIC – The King of Poisons

Posted on February 11, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Virtually imperceptible in the past when used as a poison, arsenic became known as “The King of Poisons” because of its lethal potency and because it was undetectable. Then the Marsh test came into use in 1836! From that point … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Arsenic, Arsenic and Cancer, Arsenic As A Murder Weapon, Arsenic Health Benefits and Risks, Arsenic in Murder Mysteries, Arsenic Present in Nature, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Characteristics of Murder, Chemicals Used For Murder, Deadly Poisons Discussed, Deciding How to Kill Off a Character in a Novel, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, How to Choose a Murder Weapon for a Plot Idea, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Lethal Agents and Murder, Murder Weapons Discussed, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Poisons and Murder, Poisons Used For Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Plots, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Nanoparticles to Cure—And to Kill!

Posted on January 28, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Medical science in the 21st century is increasingly more sophisticated and growing exponentially. One of the more fascinating areas of medical research involves the evolution of nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are (in simple terms) small objects that behave as a unit to … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, A How To Blog on Murder Weapons, About James J. Murray, About Murder, All About Murder, Applications of Nanotechnology, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Electromagnetic Nanoparticles, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing With Lethal Nanoparticles, Medical Uses of Nanotechnology, Nanoparticles in Medicine, Nanoparticles Target and Kill Cancer, Nanoparticles To Cure And Kill, Nanotechnology Used For Murder, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Plotting Murder Scenes, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Plots | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments