The Prodigal Son

(Paperback)

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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: an amazing art collection, a large inheritance, old and upstanding local families, a gold-digging wife, jealous relatives and a young couple's future.

Author Bio

Colleen McCullough was born in New South Wales in 1937. A neuroscientist by training, she worked in hospitals in Sydney, London and Yale. By night, she wrote -- and her second novel, "The Thorn Birds" (1977) became a global bestseller. She published 25 novels, ranging from love stories to crime fiction, including the monumental, seven-volume "Masters of Rome" historical fiction series.