Blood Work

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Great read for fans of early modern European history, history of science or medical research. The murder mystery aspect is a little overstated in the title - I suspect some editor thought it would sell more books. Yes, the book does solve a 350 year old murder mystery, but that takes all of about 10 pages. Dog lovers beware: most of the experiments described in the book were performed on dogs, most of whom did not survive.

Really interesting, but I had a hard time reading the animal experimentation sections (but had no trouble with the human experimentation....go figure!)

The epilogue, with it's comparison to modern-day stem cell and genetic modification research and politics, really transformed the story from historical to topical.