A is for arsenic - Kathryn Harkup

Agatha Christie's detailed plotting is what makes her books so
compelling. Christie used poison to kill her characters more often than
any other murder method, with the poison itself being 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 discovery of the murderer. With gunshots or stabbings
the cause of death is
obvious, but not so
with poisons. How is it that
some compounds prove so
deadly, and in such
tiny amounts?Christie
demonstrated her extensive
chemical knowledge (much of it
gleaned
from her working in a chemists during both world wars) in many
of her
novels, but this is rarely
appreciated by the reader. A is for
Arsenic celebrates the use of
science in Christie's work. Written
by Christie fan and research chemist
Kathryn Harkup, each chapter takes
a different novel and investigates
the poison (or poisons) the
murderer used. 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 at the time
the novel
was written and today. This book is published as part of the 125th anniversary celebration of
Christie's birth.Fourteen
novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because its fiction
doesn't mean its
all made-up ...