The Prodigal Son

'McCullough is a tremendous storyteller' THE TIMES Holloman, Connecticut, 1969. A very rare and lethal toxin, extracted from the blowfish, is stolen from a laboratory at Chubb University. It kills within minutes and leaves no trace behind - unless a doctor knows what to look for - and worried biochemist Dr. Millie Hunter reports the theft at once to her father, Medical Examiner Dr. Patrick O'Donnell. Patrick's cousin, Captain Carmine Delmonico, is therefore quick off the mark when the bodies start to mount up. A sudden death at a dinner party followed by another at a gala black-tie event seem at first to be linked only by the poison and Dr. Jim Hunter, a scientist on the brink of greatness and husband to Millie. A black man married to a white woman, Dr. Jim has faced scandal and prejudice for most of his life, so what would cause him to risk it all now? Is he being framed for murder - and if so, by whom? Carmine and his team of detectives must navigate the competitive world of academic publishing, fraught with politics and prestige. The stakes are high: a valuable art collection, a large inheritance, old and upstanding local families, a gold-digging wife, jealous relatives and a young couple's future. PRAISE FOR THE CARMINE DELMONICO SERIES 'readable, fast-moving crime that combines intricate puzzles with the grittiness of hard-boiled detective fiction' THE AGE 'As an artful storyteller, McCullough has more than a few tricks up her sleeve' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD