Stratmann, Linda

The secret poisoner : a century of murder / Linda Stratmann. - xii, 328 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : ill., ports ; 20 cm

Originally published in hardback, 2016.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Devilish Dumplings -- Smothered in Onions -- The Greatest Refinement of Villainy -- Arsenic and Old Graves -- The Suspicions of Mr Marsh -- French Porcelain -- This Troublesome World -- Getting Away with Murder -- Alarm and Indignation -- The Essex Factor -- Tobacco Kills -- Nil by Mouth -- The Palmer Act -- Expert Witnesses -- Deadly Doctors -- Matrimonial Causes -- Sleight of Hand -- Disappearing Poison -- Our American Cousins.

"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"--

0300250053 £12.99

GBC025359 bnb


Poisons--History.--19th century.
Toxicology.
Murderers--History--19th century.
Criminal investigation--Great Britain.

364.15230922