The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder

by Linda Stratmann

Murder by poison alarmed, enthralled, and in many ways encapsulated the Victorian age. Linda Stratmann's dark and splendid social history reveals the nineteenth century as a gruesome battleground where poisoners went head-to-head with authorities who strove to detect poisons, control their availability, and bring the guilty to justice. She corrects many misconceptions about particular poisons and documents how the evolution of issues such as marital rights and the legal protection of children impacted poisonings. Combining archival research with a novelist's eye, Stratmann charts the era's inexorable rise of poison cases both shocking and sad.

• ISBN10: 0300250053
• ISBN13: 9780300250053
• Publish Date: 10 September 2019 (first published 22 March 2016)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Yale University Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 344
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

See this review and more on my blog Mystereity Reviews

What a great book! Very well organized and thoroughly researched, the book neatly lays out the progression of forensic toxicology in the 1800s, encompassing some truly outrageous poisonings in England, France and even in the United States. I don't know what surprised me more, how many people got away with it, or how many people were found guilty of their crimes. Forensic toxicology was in its infancy during the nineteenth century and some of the techniques used to find poisons in the body after death were ingenious. Equally amazing was that many scientists would take samples from the stomach, intestines and vomit of the poison victim and taste a small amount. Good grief, that takes a lot of guts (pun intended.)

Warning: there are numerous references to animals being experimented on, so if you're an animal lover, you may find it hard to read at times (I know I did.)

Absorbing and horrifying, The Secret Poisoner will appeal to fans of true crime or forensic science.