Kathryn Harkup is a former chemist turned writer and science communicator. Her interests are in anything gothic, gory and geeky, and preferably all three. She has written several books on the crossover between science, literature and pop culture including The Secret Lives of the Elements, The Secret Lives of Molecules, A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, Making the Monster: The Science of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Death by Shakespeare: Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts, Superspy Science: Science, Death and Tech in the World of James Bond and Vampirology: The Science of Horror’s Most Famous Fiend.
Kathryn also loves talking about the darker side of science. She is happy to help anyone devolop their plots to take over the world, or advise them on how to protect themselves from poisoners or the undead.
News & Events
Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology Annual Lecture: Death by Shakespeare
2pm Tuesday 3rd December 2024 – Room A08, Institute of Mental Health, Triumph Road, Nottingham NG7 2TU
The Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology presents their annual lunchtime lecture. This year’s topic is ‘Death by Shakespeare‘
A captivating guest lecture by Dr Kathryn Harkup, a former chemist who has embraced her calling as a vampirologist and science communicator.
William Shakespeare found dozens of different ways to kill off his characters, and audiences today still enjoy the same reactions – shock, sadness, fear – that they did more than 400 years ago when these plays were first performed. But how realistic are these deaths, and did Shakespeare have the knowledge to back them up?
This event is free but please register here
New book coming soon ...
V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death
Fourteen stories. Fourteen more poisons. Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s all made-up …
Agatha Christie revelled in the use of poison to kill off unfortunate victims in her books; indeed, she employed it more than any other murder method, with the poison itself often being a central part of the novel. Her choice of deadly substances was far from random – the characteristics of each often provide vital clues to the discovery of the murderer. With gunshots or stabbings the cause of death is obvious, but this isn’t the case with poisons. How is it that some compounds prove so deadly, and in such tiny amounts?
This book, the follow-up to Kathryn Harkup’s best-selling A is for Arsenic, features fourteen more poisons from the books of Agatha Christie. V is for Venom explores the scientific facts behind the chemicals Christie put to such deadly use in her fiction. How do these compounds affect the body? What is their history of use in real-life murder cases, some of which may have inspired Christie, and how feasible was it to obtain, administer and detect these poisons, both at the time the novel was written and today?
V is for Venom is a celebration of the use of science by the undisputed Queen of Crime.