TASTE FOR POISON

Sub-titled 'Eleven Deadly Substances and the Killers Who Used Them' this is "a fascinating tale of poisons and poisonous deeds" according to Kathy Reichs. Original and invigorating, this is a tremendously entertaining dip into the workings of crime from a scientific basis. As any reader of murder mysteries can tell you, poison is one of the most enduring and popular weapons of choice for a scheming murderer. It can be slipped into a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or handle of a door, even filtered through the air we breathe. But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict? In a fascinating blend of popular science, medical history and narrative crime, Dr Neil Bradbury explores this most morbidly captivating method of murder from a cellular level. Alongside real-life accounts of murderers and their crimes, some forgotten, some still unsolved, are the equally compelling stories of the poisons involved - eleven molecules of death that work their way through the human body and paradoxically illuminate the way in which our bodies function. Here are fascinating tales of spurned lovers, shady scientists, medical professionals and political assassins, from the deadly origins of the gin and tonic cocktail to the arsenic-laced wallpaper in Napoleon's bedroom. Chapters include Insulin and Mrs Barlow's Bathtub, Strychnine and the Lambeth Poisoner, Aconite and Mrs Singh's Curry, Cyanide and the Professor from Pittsburgh, Potassium and the Nightmare Nurse and Chlorine and the Killer Nurse of Lufkin among them. Rumpole of the Bailey author once said 'As a rule, women are the great poisoners, although I do recall with pleasure the case of the gentleman solicitor in Wales who poisoned everybody in sight. He couldn't stop himself.' 291pp.