The recent thread about science books for a bright teen reminded me, in a roundabout way, of two books I am casually searching for.
I don’t remember the name of either of them. I would have read them most likely sometime between 1985 and 1995, probably to the earlier end of that. They were both books I had from the library, which is one reason I can’t recall the titles.
The first one - a collection of short stories, perhaps real or based in real events, on semi-medical topics. I retain the vague impression the collection was written by a doctor. One story in the collection has haunted me for years - a small town pharmacist who commits suicide by drinking acid. Another story in the collection was about a marble-carving artist whose daughter dies of Hodgkin’s disease and he does beautiful carvings for her tomb. The stories were mostly dark and depressing, as I recall. I’d like to look at this one again to see if it really was as depressing as I remember it.
The other was a collection of historical medical detective type stories. I think there was a story about rabies, and another one about a group of vacationers in Scotland who get botulism from sandwiches made for their fishing expedition on a loch. I remember thinking at the time this book was interesting and I’d like a copy, but I lost track of the title.
Any help at all would be much appreciated…especially so many years later!