Category Archives: The Science of Murder

Lying for a Living!

FICTION => A Believable Lie -> Taking a small bit of truth or fact and evolving that into a web of deceit, dishonesty or lethal acts (at least in my novels). That’s what we do as fiction writers. We lie … Continue reading

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, About James J. Murray, About Writing, All About Writing, Blog Writers, Blogging, Characteristics of Killing, Creating Emotional Drama in a Murder Scene, Creating Interesting Fiction Characters, Developing Better Writing Skills, Facts About Lying, Fiction Writing - A Believable Lie, How Dishonesty Can Escalate, How Lying Affects The Brain, James J. Murray Blog, Life Skills, Lying and Brain Activity, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Neuroscience, Neuroscience and Murder, New Blog, Plot Ideas and Where They Come From, Practice Makes Perfect, Prescription For Murder Blog, Studies on Lying, The Act of Lying, The Art of Writing, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, Writing Skills, Writing Techniques | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Murder At 30,000 Feet!

Modern pharmaceuticals are excellent alternatives to more invasive procedures when a medical cure is required. Such medications not only prolong life but also enhance it in the process. Ironically, those same wonder drugs can become instruments of death when they … Continue reading

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Lethal Adrenaline Rush

Adrenaline is our friend! It’s one of those hormones that floods our bodies when we severely injure ourselves, feel afraid, or do strenuous exercise. It’s known as “the fight or flight hormone” (along with some help from norepinephrine and dopamine). … Continue reading

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DEA Lowers the BOOM on Kratom!

The herb kratom from the leaves of the tropical tree Mitragyna speciosa which grows in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia has been used for centuries in folk medicine as a psychoactive drug to improve mood and relieve pain. More … Continue reading

Posted in A New Drug Abuse Threat, A New Street Drug, About Ancient Forgotten Cures, About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Alternatives to Opiate Painkillers, Ancient Curing Potions, Blog About Poisons in Fiction Writing, Blog Trends, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Botanical Murder Weapons, Botanicals That Kill, Current Research on Kratom, Deaths From Kratom, Designer Drug Deaths, Designer Drugs of The Past, Designer Street Drugs, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Abuse, Euphoric Party Drugs, Herbal Pain Killers, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, James J. Murray Blog, Kratom Abuse, Kratom and Its History, Kratom to Relieve Pain, Lethal Botanicals, Medical Potential of Kratom, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Party Drugs, New Blog, New Drug Research, New Ways to Manufacture Painkillers, Prescription For Murder Blog, Psychoactive Designer Drugs, Street Drug Abuse Substances, Street Drug Overdosing, Street Drugs From History, Street Drugs of The Past, The Science of Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Synthetic Marijuana – A Continuing Threat

Often I write about interesting designer drugs that can be used as murder weapons (like “Molly” in a previous blog). Today, I’d like to discuss another popular designer drug that’s periodically in the news. Synthetic marijuana first appeared in the … Continue reading

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Whey is Way Cool These Days!

Whey, the tart liquid by-product when making cheese and yogurt, is often sold as a protein source in many nutritional supplements used for bodybuilding and in meal replacement products. It’s also used to enrich baked goods and to produce bread … Continue reading

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The Drugs Women Use To Kill

Women are more sedate killers! Statistics indicate that only 39% of killers using a gun to murder their victims are women, and women are six times more likely to use a poison or a drug to kill (2.5% for women … 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, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Antibiotics of the Past in Use Today, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Bloodless Death Scenes, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Creating Emotional Drama in a Murder Scene, Deadly Drugs in America, Deadly Poisons Discussed, Designer Drug Deaths, Designer Poisons Used For Murder, Designing Murder Plots, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, How to Choose a Murder Weapon for a Plot Idea, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, How Women Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, Interesting Murder Weapons, James J. Murray Blog, Killing a Villain in a Novel, Killing Off Characters in Writing, Killing Off Characters in Your Novel, Lethal Agents and Murder, Methanol and Murder, Methanol Poisoning, Methods of Murder, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Weapons, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Drugs, New Blog, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Plotting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, Reasons Why People Murder, The Psychology of Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Plots, Unique Murder Weapons, Ways to Murder, What Women Use To Kill, Who Women Kill, Women Killers, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Got Milk or Brucellosis?

I’ve often blogged about biological weapons—both those used in the past and those with potential for use in your new thriller plots. The world’s population has certainly been victim to biological warfare in the past. In 184 BC, Hannibal’s warriors … Continue reading

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Conspiracy Theory Heart Attacks

In previous blogs (here and here) I’ve discussed how to construct a murder plot using a drug or medical device that could mimic a heart attack that would be virtually undetectable as a murder—the so-called perfect murder weapon! But there … 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, About Writing, Aggregate Anaphylaxis, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Calcium Gluconate and Heart Attacks, Calcium Gluconate and Murder, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Designer Drug Deaths, Designing Murder Plots, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drugs Used to Murder, Electrolyte Imbalances and Heart Attacks, How to Choose a Murder Weapon for a Plot Idea, How To Write A BloodLess Murder Scene, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Instruments of Death, James J. Murray Blog, Killing Off Characters in Writing, Lethal Agents and Murder, Lethal Chemicals in Murder Mysteries, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder Weapons Discussed, New Blog, New Methods of Murder, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plotting Murder Scenes, Prescription For Murder Blog, The Art of Storytelling, the perfect murder weapon, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Plots, Unique Murder Weapons, Ways to Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

TOXIDROMES: Wet vs Dry Symptoms

In last week’s blog, I introduced the concept of toxidromes—defined as a group of specific symptoms and clues which medical examiners use to identify the specific substance used to poison a victim. In that blog, I discussed two of the … Continue reading

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