Letter from Melbourne

摘要

In the 1980s, I surveyed the appearance of chemists in fiction, and I gave some details of their activities including the chemistry that was mentioned. Crime stories were obvious places to look for honest and dishonest chemists and for a range of enthusiastic amateurs. I thought I had put it all behind me and I had, too, until recendy I saw a note about a book called The nitrogen murder and the old urge returned.