Historically, poison was a popular murder weapon because it was difficult (or impossible) to detect in the dead victim. Thus countless killers got away with murder. Now of course, modern technology can sniff out poison quite easily, and its use as a murder weapon has plummeted. Still, poisons are a fascinating subject.
'A Taste For Poison' is a compendium of eleven well-known poisons, familiar to fans of mystery fiction as well as true crime aficionados. For each substance, Bradbury describes its provenance, how it works, and its use by a killer. The poisons are aconite, arsenic, atropine, chlorine, cyanide, digoxin, insulin, polonium, potassium, ricin and strychnine.
Many poisons, such as aconite, atropine, cyanide, digoxin, ricin, and strychnine come from plants; insulin is a hormone made in animals; and other poisons are found in soil, rocks, and other naturally occurring substances.
Aconite comes from the monkshood plant
Ricin comes from castor beans
Arsenic is found in minerals
Bradbury explains, 'Whatever the poison may be, there are three distinct stages that occur before death: delivery, actions, and effects." Poisons can be delivered via four paths, ingestion (eaten or drunk), respiration (inhaled), absorption (taken in through the skin), or injection (shot into muscle or blood vessel). Once inside the body a poison might attack the nervous system; interfere with vital organs; affect cell chemistry; paralyze muscles; break down cells; and more. Taken far enough, any of these actions could result in death.
In some ways, the sections on how poisons kill is reminiscent of my college physiology class, but Bradbury's narrative is much more entertaining. I was also struck by the killers Bradbury uses as examples, some of whom crafted murder schemes worthy of the great Agatha Christie herself. Of course most of the murderers exemplified in this book were caught.....and I shudder to think of the many more that walked free.
Many people have heard of poisons like arsenic, cyanide and strychnine, and most of the other featured toxins probably 'ring a bell' as well. So, to provide a feel for the book, I'll briefly outline Bradbury's chapter on a rare and unusual killer - polonium.
Polonium, discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1903, is a lethal radioactive metal. Sadly, one of the first victims of polonium may have been the Curies' daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, who died of leukemia at the age of 58 - possibly from accidental exposure to the radioactive substance.
Marie and Pierre Curie
Irène Joliot-Curie
Polonium-210 is the ideal poison. It's lethal in small amounts, doesn't generate the hard gamma radiation that's easily detected by monitors at airports and shipping ports, and causes death relatively quickly. Of course polonium is very expensive and hard to get, but - in one case (at least) - it was used as an assassination tool.
The story: In 2006 a London man named Edwin Carter suddenly fell ill. He exhibited stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and labored breathing. At the hospital, Carter was diagnosed with gastroenteritis with dehydration, but Edwin's low white cell count argued against it. Nevertheless, Carter was treated with the antibiotics normally used to combat gastroenteritis.
When his health continued to decline, Carter announced that he was an ex-KBG agent named Alexander Litvinenko, and that he'd been poisoned. Hospital staff thought Edwin was delusional until his hair started falling out and his blood platelet count plummeted, which doesn't happen with gastroenteritis.
Alexander Litvinenko in the hospital
An MI-6 handler finally confirmed that Litvinenko had been a KGB agent who had publicly accused KGB officials of being in league with Russian organized crime. Litvinenko was fired in 1999, and defected to Britain, where he became an informant for MI-6.
Litvinenko was poisoned during a meeting with Russian 'businessmen' who would (supposedly) help British firms do business in Russia. Litvinenko unknowingly drank some polonium-laced tea during the conference, and fell ill while the 'businessmen' hustled back to Russia.
It turns out the polonium came from a nuclear facility in Russia, and the 'businessmen' were Russian agents called Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun - ostensibly sent by either Vladimir Putin or the Russian secret service. In any case, no one was ever extradited or arrested.
Andrei Lugovoi
Dmitry Kovtun
Bradbury explains what polonium does in detail, but in a nutshell: Polonium enters the body via the small intestine and breaks down the gut wall. This causes bacterial infections, which make the victim ill. Meanwhile, polonium enters the bloodstream, travels around the body, and destroys the liver, heart, hair follicles, immune system, bone marrow, and so on. Litvinenko's body was "literally shredded apart."
How polonium damages the body
This is more dramatic than most of Bradbury's examples, which usually involve things like spouses killing their partners; nurses or doctors murdering patients; relatives killing for an inheritance; the Borgias poisoning their way to wealth and power; poison gas used for mass murder; and so on. In any case, the book will make you wary of what you eat, drink, touch, or breathe in.
Though most information in the book is available on the internet, the narrative pulls the information together in one place, and the audiobook is excellent for dipping into during free moments.
Thanks to Netgalley, Neil Bradbury, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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