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.