Marks gives a fascinating summary of some of the state-of-the-art tests becoming available in the 1950s to assay insulin – they seem hopelessly crude by present standards (radioactive glucose and rat diaphragms!) but show a creativeness and originality of method which often appears absent from today's ‘black box’ analysers. The surrounding tissue was removed and around 84 units of insulin extracted. In true CSI style (for the 1950s), dodgy dealings were suspected and two hypodermic injection sites where subsequently identified on each buttock of the deceased. Barlow was a nurse whose second wife of eleven months died by apparent drowning in the bath. The book kicks off with the story of Kenneth Barlow, the first documented case of murder by insulin, which occurred in 1957 in England. However, despite the sensationalist introduction, the two authors mean serious business: Vincent Marks is, amongst other things, a former Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Surrey, former Vice-President of the Royal College of Pathologists, and a world authority on insulin and hypoglycaemia Caroline Richmond is described as a “science writer and medical journalist” (I presume her role is to make Marks' writing a little less ‘academic textbook’ and a little more ‘slasher-thriller’). The front cover shows a shadowy figure disappearing down a blood-hued corridor (which bears an uncanny resemblance to the ‘Caves’ in the old RVH) and you get the impression that, with a foreword by Nick Ross, this might be one for the Crimewatch fans among you rather than the hardcore endocrinologists.

I was asked to review this book “as someone who enjoys reading sick serial killer novels” (charming), but I have to admit that it probably is the sort of book I would reach for should I be browsing the shelves of the RSM bookshop.

8 perfect murders book