Category Archives: The Science of Murder

Walking Corpse Syndrome

Posted on July 23, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

I admit that both my wife and I love to watch some of the medical thrillers and police procedural shows on television. We record them and, when time permits, we take a break from life and immerse ourselves into the … Continue reading →

Posted in A Non-Murder Plot, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Murder, About Writing, Accuracy in Writing, Almost Dead, Almost in a Vegetative State, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scenes, Character Development Techniques, Characteristics of Killing, Cotard Delusion, Cotard's and Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Cotard's and Distorted Body Image, Cotard's Syndrome, Developing Better Writing Skills, Fictional Character Development, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Jules Cotard, Living Dead Disease, Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Murder, People Who Live in a Graveyard, Plot Development, Plotting Murder Scenes, Science-Based Zombies, The Delirium of Negation, The Medical Zombie State, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead Syndrome, The Zombie Disease, Treatments for Cotard's Syndrome, Treatments for Walking Dead Syndrome, Walking Dead in Writing, Zombie Wannabe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Narcissus Plant – Pretty But Deadly!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

I’ve blogged before about some deceptively attractive plants that can be lethal when ingested, and I’ve recently discovered one more to add to the list. Parts of the beautiful, flowering narcissus plant can be quite poisonous and deadly! Narcissus is a popular … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Murder, About Writing, All About Murder, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Botanical Murder Weapons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Common Varieties of Narcissus Plant Family, Contact Poisons, Daffodil Plant Dangers, Deadly Daffodil Bulbs, Deadly Poison Lycorine, Developing Writing Skills, Drug Poisoning, Drug Poisoning in Children, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used to Murder, Eating Poisonous Plants, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Interesting Murder Weapons, Jonquil Plant Dangers, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Killing Off Characters in Your Novel, Killing With Poisonous Plants, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, Murder With Poisonous Plants, Narcissus Plant Dangers, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Plant Poisons, Plants That Kill, Plants Used For Murder, Plotting Murder Scenes, Poisonous Daffodil Bulbs, Poisonous Narcissus Plant, Poisonous Plants, Poisons Used For Murder, Prescription For Murder Blog, The Science of Murder, Top 10 Most Poisonous Plants, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Flesh-Eating Crocodile – A New Drug Threat!

Posted on July 9, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

From the title of this blog, I suspect you may realize that I’m talking about a whole new “animal” here—not the large aquatic reptile, but a totally different (and yet just as deadly) crocodile. While researching new methods to kill … Continue reading →

Posted in A New Drug Abuse Threat, About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Murder, About Writing, All About Murder, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Chemicals Used For Murder, Crocodile Drug, Deadly Drugs in America, Designer Drug Deaths, Desomorphine, Desomorphine Abuse, Desomorphine As A Street Drug, Desomorphine Manufacture, Drug Abuse, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Drugs Used to Murder, Elements of Murder, Flesh Eating Crocodile, Flesh Eating Krocodil, Flesh-Eating Crocodile Drug, Flesh-Eating Krocodile, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Krokodil As a Street Drug, Krokodil Made From Codeine, Krokodil vs Heroin, Krokodil vs Morphine, Misuse of Drugs, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, New Drug Abuse Phenomenon, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Plotting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, Russian Street Drug Deals, Street Drug Abuse Substances, The Art of Writing, The Poor Man's Meth, The Science of Murder, Thrill-Seeker Drugs, Tools of Murder, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Polonium – A New Weapon of Mass Destruction!

Posted on June 25, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Last week I posted a blog on thallium, a classic drug used as a murder weapon both in novels and in real life. And this week I have another interesting chemical that can be used in the same fashion. That … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Murder, About Writing, Accuracy in Writing, All About Murder, All About Writing, Biological Warfare, Biological Warfare Treatments, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Botanical Murder Weapons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Contact Poisons, Dimercaprol Chelation of Polonium, Dimercaprol Use, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Elements of Murder, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, Poisons Used For Murder, Poisons Used to Murder, Polonium, Polonium and Murder, Polonium Discovery by Marie and Pierre Curie, Polonium Poisoning, Radioactive Polonium Poisoning, Radioactive Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), Radioactive Weapons of Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

THALLIUM – The Poisoner’s Poison!

Posted on June 18, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

It’s not often that I come across a method to kill a character in a novel with delightful efficiency and flair, but thallium is one of those chemicals. Thallium is a bluish-white metal that, in pure form, is odorless and … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Murder, About Writing, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Biological Warfare, Bioterrorism, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Murder Weapons, Neurological Poisons, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plotting Murder Scenes, Poisons Used to Murder, Prescription For Murder Blog, Radioactive Thallium Poisoning, Thallium Poisoning, Thallium Used to Murder, The Poisoner's Poison, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

MURDER – The True Definition!

Posted on June 11, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

The criminal act known as MURDER is defined in a number of ways, but in most references the definition is distilled to the following words: an unlawful killing with malice. The words unlawful and malice give the term its defining … Continue reading →

Posted in a killer gene, About James J. Murray, About Writing, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Defining Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Murder - The True Definition, Murder is Defined, Murder Weapons, Neuroscience and Murder, Plotting Murder Scenes, Reasons Why People Kill, Reasons Why People Murder, The Killer Gene, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Saxitoxin and Ciguatera – More Killers From The Sea

Posted on June 4, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Last week I blogged about pufferfish and the lethal tetradotoxin that they contain, and we discussed their use as possible murder weapons. Today I want to talk about a couple of other interesting sea toxins that could be incorporated into … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Writing, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, All About Writing, Bio-Defense, Biological Warfare, Bioterrorism, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Ciguatera, Ciguatera and Folklore Medicine, Ciguatera and Marine Microalgae, Ciguatera and Murder, Ciguatera Poisoning, Contact Poisons, Developing Better Writing Skills, Developing Writing Skills, Drugs and Terrorism, Drugs Used to Murder, Flaccid Paralysis, Heat Resistant Poisonings, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, Neurological Poisons, Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, Paralytic Shellfish Toxins, Plotting Murder Scenes, Poisons That Mimic Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Pufferfish and Murder, Pufferfish Poisoning, Sarin Gas, Saxitoxin, Saxitoxin and Biological Terrorist Weapons, Saxitoxin and Murder, Saxitoxin and Suicide, Saxitoxin as Bioweapons, Saxitoxin Poisoning, Severe Food Allergies, STX, Tetradotoxin, The Science of Murder, Toxins From Shellfish, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Most Lethal Toxin From the Sea!

Posted on May 28, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Sea toxins have become very popular as tools of murder, both on television as well as in murder mysteries over the last few years. One of the most popular, and one of the best known, is Fugu, the Japanese name … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Writing, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Characteristics of Killing, Characteristics of Murder, Contact Poisons, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Fugu, Fugu and Murder, Fugu Poisoning, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, Plotting Murder Scenes, Poisons Used to Murder, Pufferfish and Murder, Pufferfish Poisoning, Tetrodotoxin, Tetrodotoxin and Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, TTX and Murder, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

DRUGS and BIOTERRORISM

Posted on May 14, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Terrorism is defined as the use of force or violence against people and property. That action is labeled BIOTERRORISM when the violence involves the intentional release of a biological agent (such as bacteria, viruses or toxins). Bacteria and viruses are … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, All About Murder, Attack of Bacteria, Bio-Defense, Biological Warfare, Biological Warfare Treatments, Bioterrorism, Blog Writers, Blogging, Drugs and Bioterrorism, Drugs and Terrorism, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, New Drug Research, Story Development, Terrorism, The Science of Murder, Tools for Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How To Write a Bloodless Death Scene

Posted on May 7, 2014 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

The storyline for the novel I’m currently writing calls for one of the characters to be murdered. Simple enough! Shoot or stab the person, or use a dozen other ways to kill off the character. But that didn’t fit with … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Writing, Accuracy in Writing, All About Murder, All About Writing, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Characteristics of Murder, Defining Murder, Developing Better Writing Skills, Drugs For Murder Plots, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, Learning the Art of Writing, Murder Weapons, Murder With Drugs, Plot Development, Plotting Murder Scenes, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments