Category Archives: Tools of Murder

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Die!

Posted on July 8, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

The potato plant, a member of the perennial nightshade family, has an interesting secret locked up in its leaves, stems and in those funny looking green spuds. The potato, a starchy tuber from the Solanum tuberosum plant and a dietary … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Botanical Murder Weapons, Deadly Plant Poisons, Deadly Potatoes, Death By Potato, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Food Source Poisons, Foods That Kill, Foods Used For Murder, Green Potatoes, Interesting Murder Weapons, Lethal Botanicals, Murder With Food, Neurotoxin Poisons, Neurotoxins, Paralytic Nerve Toxins, Plants That Kill, Poison Potatoes, Potatoes and Neurotoxin, Solanine Poison, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Weapons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Clean Your Windows – Clear Out Your Enemies!

Posted on June 24, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Earlier this year there was considerable news coverage of an unusual attempted murder case. A South Carolina college student allegedly tried to kill her roommates by spraying their food with a window-cleaning product. The student was caught on videotape and … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, About James J. Murray, About Murder, Acute Poisons, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Chemical Poisons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Deciding How to Kill Off a Character in a Novel, Household Chemicals Used For Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Interesting Murder Weapons, Lethal Substances Used For Murder, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Chemical Cleaners, New Methods of Murder, New Methods To Kill Characters in Your Novel, Plotting Interesting Murder Scenes, Poisoning With Household Cleaning Products, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Weapons, Ways to Murder, Windex and Murder, Window Cleaner Poisoning, Window Cleaning Murder, Writing Death Scenes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a 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

Synthetic Marijuana – Fact or Fiction?

Posted on May 6, 2015 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

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 been in the news recently. Synthetic marijuana first appeared in … Continue reading →

Posted in A New Drug Abuse Threat, A New Street Drug, About James J. Murray, Blog Writers, Blogging, Chemicals Used For Murder, Deadly Drugs in America, Designer Drug Deaths, Designer Poisons Used For Murder, Dramatic Murder Weapons, Drug Abuse, Drug Misadventures, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs Used For Murder, Euphoric Party Drugs, Interesting Murder Weapons, K2 Use, Marijuana and Colorado, Marijuana Deaths, Murder With Party Drugs, Party Drugs, Psychoactive Designer Drugs, Spice and Recreational Drugs, Synthetic Cannabis, Synthetic Marijuana, Synthetic Marijuana and Colorado, Synthetic Marijuana and Teenagers, Synthetic Marijuana and Teens, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Unique Murder Weapons, Ways To Kill, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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

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

Oleander – A Beautiful But Deadly Plant!

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

Drugs are designed to cure illnesses, but at times they can also become instruments of death. And historically, many drugs originated as botanicals. Even today, many drugs and their active ingredients come from plant sources. Awhile back, I came across … Continue reading →

Posted in A How To Blog on Murder Plot Ideas, About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, About Murder, All About Murder, Blog Writers, Blogging, Bloodless Death Scene Writing, Botanical Murder Weapons, Chemicals Used For Murder, Designing Murder Plots, Drug Poisoning, Drugs For Murder Plots, Drugs From Oleander Plant, Drugs Used For Murder, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Interesting Murder Weapons, Killing With Poisonous Plants, Lethal Agents and Murder, Murder Weapons Discussed, Murder With Oleander, Murder With Poisonous Plants, New Drug Discoveries, New Drug Research, New Methods of Murder, Oleander Plant, Oleander Poisoning, Oleandrin, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plant Poisons, Plants That Kill, Plants Used For Murder, Poisons Used For Murder, The Science of Murder, Tools of Murder, Ways to Murder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 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