Letter X is the current letter in the Crime Fiction Alphabet weekly meme hosted by Kerrie Smith. Link here to see the other entries this week.
Okay, I'm stretching it, I know by choosing XENOBIOTIC, but try as I might I couldn't find any other interesting X lettered themes (and xenophobia was already taken). I haven't yet read any writers with X as their first or last names though I know they're out there..
The meaning of xenobiotic though, fits in nicely enough with the staple of most mysteries and/or thrillers: murder most foul.
Xenobiotic: Indicating a substance or item foreign to the body.
When you are killing someone you are generally introducing an item or substance foreign to their body. Wouldn't you say? I would.
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Death by fencing foil in OVER MY DEAD BODY by Rex Stout
Death by knife slice in DEATH ON THE NILE by Agatha Christie
Death by poison in SPARKLING CYANIDE by Agatha Christie
Death by meat skewer in DEATH OF A PEER by Ngaio Marsh
Death by dagger in ARTISTS IN CRIME by Ngaio Marsh
Death by explosion in THE WOODEN LEG OF INSPECTOR ANDERS by Marshall Browne
Death by bullets in ONE SHOT by Lee Child
Death by snapping turtle in VOODOO RIVER by Robert Crais
Death by arrow in LONGSHOT by Dick Francis
Death by dinosaur in JURASSIC PARK by Michael Chrichton
...and on and on and on and...
Hehe.
ReplyDeleteI like bloggers with a good imagination.
Perhaps I should change my name to Zenia Xantippe Quagmire - then there would surely be some bloggers who would need my books once in a while ;D
Dorte: I've got plenty of imagination, that's for sure. :)
ReplyDeleteZenia Xantippe Quagmire - it has a certain ring to it. Ha!
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ReplyDeleteLearned a new word today. Too bad it's too late for the review of the book on the crazy poisoner I wrote a few days ago and just posted. I could easily have slipped it in there.
ReplyDeleteJohn: I am happy to have expanded your vocabulary, oh king of the vintage reads. :)
ReplyDeleteYes! I also learned a new word, xenobiotic, which is very apropros to murder mysteries.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, couldn't it be said that nearly all murders are caused by xenobiotic methods? I would add gunshots to knives, epees and poison.
I just finished begrudgingly Over My Dead Body, and that epee was definitely xenobiotic. (I say begrudgingly because I didn't want the book to end; it was so witty and well-done that I wanted to read Nero Wolfes all summer and forget my TBR lists, informal challenges and virtual vacations to Italy, Scandinavia, France, Australia, etc.)