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A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science
by Sandra Hempel
In the first half of the nineteenth century, an epidemic swept Europe: Arsenic poisoning. Available at any corner shop for a few pence, arsenic was so frequently used by potential beneficiaries of wills that it was nicknamed "the inheritor's powder." But it was difficult to prove that a victim had been poisoned, let alone to identify the contaminated food or drink since arsenic was tasteless.
Then came a riveting case. On the morning of Saturday, November 2, 1833, the Bodle household sat down to their morning breakfast. That evening, the local doctor John Butler received an urgent summons: the family and their servants had collapsed and were seriously ill. Three days later, after lingering in agony, wealthy George Bodle died in his bed at his farmhouse in Plumstead, leaving behind several heirs, including a son and grandson - both of whom were not on the best of terms with the family patriarch.
The investigation, which gained international attention, brought together a colorful cast of characters: bickering relatives; a drunken, bumbling policeman; and James Marsh, an unknown but brilliant chemist who, assigned the Bodle case, attempted to create a test that could accurately pinpoint the presence of arsenic. In doing so, however, he would cause as many problems as he solved. Were innocent men and women now going to the gallows? And would George Bodle's killer be found?
Incisive and wryly entertaining, science writer Sandra Hempel brings to life a gripping story of domestic infighting, wayward police behavior, a slice of Victorian history, stories of poisonings, and an unforgettable foray into the origins of forensic science.
"Starred Review. Hempel's fascinating look at how the science of poison detection developed is certain to draw in readers with its masterful combination of telling details, engrossing prose, and drama." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. This book will appeal to readers interested in the origins of forensic science as well as to readers of popular histories of science. Though nonfiction, it will likely appeal to mystery readers as well, with its vivid details, cast of potential poisoners, and curious twists in plot." - Library Journal
"Hempel skillfully weaves whodunit and courtroom drama to take us back to the beginnings of the controversial science of forensic toxicology." - Hugh Aldersey-Williams, author of Periodic Tales and Anatomies
"Sandra Hempel's fascinating book is a story of one of history's most important poisons - and most important murders. It's essential reading for anyone interested in the history of forensic science - and in the way we catch our killers." - Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz-Age New York
"I can't think of another recent work that so thrillingly fulfills the two major aims of literary art: to delight and instruct." - Harold Schechter, author of The Devil's Gentleman: Privilege, Poison, and the Trial that Ushered in the Twentieth Century
"Sandra Hempel has brilliantly researched a famous arsenic poisoning of 1833. The Inheritor's Powder not only tells the story of Bodle's murder and the trial of his grandson, with its surprise ending, but it does so in a way that sets it in the context of a time when society was undergoing profound changes, not least in dealing with the type of crime that for centuries had been virtually impossible to prove." - John Emsley, author of The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison
This information about The Inheritor's Powder was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Sandra Hempel is a medical journalist whose work has appeared in the Times, the Sunday Times, and the Guardian. The author of the award-winning The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump, she lives in London.
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