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A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie (Bloomsbury Sigma), by Kathryn Harkup
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People are fascinated by murder. The popularity of murder mystery books, TV series, and even board games shows that there is an appetite for death, and the more unusual or macabre the method, the better. With gunshots or stabbings the cause of death is obvious, but poisons are inherently more mysterious. How are some compounds so deadly in such tiny amounts?
Agatha Christie used poison to kill her characters more often than any other crime fiction writer. The poison was a central part of the novel, and her choice of deadly substances was far from random; the chemical and physiological characteristics of each poison provide vital clues to the discovery of the murderer. Christie demonstrated her extensive chemical knowledge (much of it gleaned by working in a pharmacy during both world wars) in many of her novels, but this is rarely appreciated by the reader.
Written by former research chemist Kathryn Harkup, each chapter takes a different novel and investigates the poison used by the murderer. Fact- and fun-packed, A is for Arsenic looks at why certain chemicals kill, how they interact with the body, and the feasibility of obtaining, administering, and detecting these poisons, both when Christie was writing and today.
- Sales Rank: #265961 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-08
- Released on: 2015-09-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.55" h x 1.11" w x 5.69" l, 1.00 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Review
“[An] intriguing and illuminating examination of Christie's use of poisons in her mysteries . . . This compilation should please mystery fans, true crime readers, and lovers of popular science.” ―Publishers Weekly
“This would be a perfect reference for anyone writing murder mysteries and is scientific enough to be used as a textbook . . . The addition of real-life cases and comparisons to Christie's works make this a nice little murder mystery of its own. Fear not, she's careful not to spoil the endings of the classic novels.” ―Kirkus
“Remember the homicidal glee of that old Cary Grant movie 'Arsenic and Old Lace'? Those adorable aged aunts, earnestly luring lonely old men to their house so they could knock them off with poison-laced elderberry wine? If you liked that, you'll like 'A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie'; it has a little of that lethal charm . . . And while it's essentially good book-club-style fun, the book has a practical application: For every poison, it offers some antidotes.” ―Washington Post
“If you're an Agatha Christie fan, read this book. If you're a forensic-science fan, read this book. If you know someone harboring a grudge and an unseemly interest in poison, hide this book. Harkup, a chemist, has written a knockout analysis of poisons used in Christie's novels and short stories . . . This is an absolutely bravura chemical compound.” ―starred review, Booklist
“You don’t have to be familiar with the likes of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, however, to enjoy Harkup's detailed, near-gleeful dip into what she calls Christie's 'deadly dispensary.'” ―Discover Magazine
About the Author
Kathryn Harkup is a chemist with extensive knowledge of poisons and a passion for Agatha Christie's mysteries. She is a freelance science communicator who delivers talks and workshops on the quirky side of science. This is her first book and she lives in Surrey, United Kingdom.
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Amazing information if you are a Christie fan.
By J. Lesley
I was amazed at all the information in this book. Concentrating on the types of poisons used by Agatha Christie in her novels had to be pretty much a labor of love for British chemist Kathryn Harkup because you can tell immediately that she is also a fan of this great icon of crime fiction. The book is written from the British point of view with changes in book titles noted for the American market. I really had my doubts that this subject matter could be presented in such a way that it held my attention for the time it took to read the book, but by the end I found myself wishing there was just one more chapter. But then I would have wanted another and another.
The book is very stylishly presented with artwork which is wonderfully evocative of the 1930s art deco style that I somehow assign to the Christie novels even though they were not all written during, or for, that time period. Maybe the really good television series has something to do with that. Each chapter deals with one specific poison beginning with arsenic, then belladonna, cyanide, digitalis, eserine, hemlock, monkshood, nicotine, opium, phosphorus, ricin, strychnine, thallium, and veronal. Each chapter leads off with a brief synopsis of the major novel, or in one instance a short story, the author will be using as an example of the use of that specific poison, then moves on to the story (history) of the poison, how the poison works in the body to kill, whether there is an antidote, some real-life cases, and then how Christie used the poison. I had been afraid the chemistry associated with where the poison comes from and how it works within the body would have been either too technical or too boring for me to enjoy. Wow, was I ever wrong. I discovered all kinds of wonderful facts. This book is wonderfully readable by those of us who aren't trained in the science of chemicals. Plus Kathryn Harkup has a very wry sense of humor which caused me to get some strange looks when I was sitting in a doctor's waiting room laughing out loud while reading a book about poisons. Let's just say the chairs on each side of me became vacant when someone asked what book I was reading. This is the type of book Agatha Christie fans will keep right on the shelf with all their copies of the novels for reference during future re-readings of the novels. Because let's face it, if you love Agatha Christie novels you don't read them just once.
Another fascinating section of the book is Appendix 1: Christie's Causes of Death. This is a chart listing each novel and short story written by Agatha Christie and the method of the murder in that story. Sometimes, with multiple victims there are multiple murder methods. I found this absolutely fascinating and used the list to make sure I do own each story Christie wrote. Actually I own them multiple times over, but there is no need to go into my personal addiction here.
In discussing how Christie used the poisons the author has revealed some spoilers, but she always warns the reader to skip ahead to another section if they aren't familiar with the story and don't want to know who and how. I really appreciated how Harkup complimented Christie on her thoroughness and knowledge when it was warranted, but she didn't hesitate on several occasions to point out that Christie had gotten some things wrong. Interesting for me was how seldom Christie made mistakes in her information.
This book is most definitely aimed at the devoted Agatha Christie fan. I found it fascinating and if you didn't, well........I challenge you to a duel with the infamous Calabar bean!
Added Sept. 10, 2015: I received this book as an ARC through the Amazon Vine Voices program. Often ARC copies don't hold up very well over time and they will have portions omitted because it is not the shelf-ready book. I enjoyed this one so much I purchased the finished copy in hard cover to keep on my shelf for reference material when I'm reading mysteries.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
For Christie buffs and murder afficionados - but not as involving as hoped for such a golden idea
By Jessica Weissman
Agatha Christie wrote a lot of mysteries where the method was poison. Poison wasn't all that easy to get, and the effects of poison aren't usually the instant death we see on TV. Kathryn Harkup has put together a compendium of poisons known to Christie, with a description of the use, effects, place in the pharmacopia, ease of obtaining, and so on. With notes relating each poison to the Christie book(s) where it was used.
Some interesting points: there are more chemists and scientists and druggists than you might expect in Christie's books, reflecting the ways poison could be obtained then and throwing more people under suspicion. Christie made some large and small mistakes about poisons, some of which seem deliberate.
You won't learn how to poison people from this book (whew) - the Internet is your best source there. Just don't search from your home computer, or hide your IP address when you do and clear your search history. There isn't as much Christie as one might hope. The writing is serviceable. The alphabetic organization prevents more general discussion, I think.
This seemed like a golden idea to me - Christie is popular and important, and people love the idea of poison. If you're a Christie buff you'll want to read this. If you are interested in forensics generally or even in poisons specifically, there are better sources. But the book just didn't sparkle or surprise as much as I hoped.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
An entertaining read on the poisons of Agatha Christie books.
By Tom Bux
A great read for those who are Agatha Christie fans, or just science and general knowledge fans. Each chapter is dedicated to a poison and follows the A is for Arsenic, B is for Belladonna, etc. Very thorough with references to Ms. Christie's books, it breaks down the history and science of the various poisons and really tells you how a lot of the poisons work, many are very gruesome killers. Not for the faint of heart.
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