The Secret Poisoner by Linda Stratmann

Linda Stratmann combines her work as a crime novelist with the publication of non-fiction, and her latest title, The Secret Poisoner, recently appeared under the imprint of Yale University Press. In her capacity as membership secretary and committee member of the CWA, Linda is both industrious and highly efficient, and these very positive qualities are reflected in her book, which is packed with the evidence of her extensive research.

The sub-title is "A Century of Murder", and naturally, given the subject matter, the central focus is on the many poisoning cases of the nineteenth century, although there is also some consideration at the end of twentieth century cases - including that of Graham Young, famed as a thallium poisoner -and one case that is even more recent, involving the use of a plant toxin called abrin.

Linda's past career includes a spell as a chemist's dispenser, and the book is testament to her grasp of the scientific technicalities of poisoning (I once attended a fascinating talk she gave about chloroform, the subject of one of her earlier books). But she's also interested, very properly, in the stories behind the cases of murder and attempted murder that she chronicles, as well as in the rivalry between some of the leading toxicologists of the past.

One notable feature of the book is that she is not content simply to focus on the well-known cases. So although we have plenty about Palmer of Rugeley, Christiana Edmunds, and Adelaide Barlett, there is less about Madeleine Smith and nothing about Florence Maybrick. Instead there is discussion of a host of cases that were previously unknown to me, and these I found particularly interesting. She also relates her material to developments in the law (for instance, at one time it was profitable to insure children and then murder them, a horrid kind of villainy that was eventually addressed by legislation). For anyone interested in the history of poisoning cases, this fact-crammed volume will surely prove indispensable.

The Maybrick A to Z

A number of classic true crimes have fascinated me for years. The Crippen case is the obvious example, and yesterday evening I was delighted to read some very positive commentary about Dancing for the Hangman on John Baker's very well-regarded blog. Awaiting me in the post was also a generous article in the Mensa Magazine, which I hope to be able to link to on the website before long.

Among my other favourite real life puzzles is the Maybrick case (especially interesting to me because of its Liverpool setting) and so when I chanced across Christopher Jones’ The Maybrick A to Z a week ago, I couldn’t resist buying a copy. And I've now dipped into it extensively, with pleasurable results. The book is published by Countyvise Press, a small but prolific outfit based on Wirral. The Press produced an anthology of northern crime writing that I put together in the 1990s, and later published my collection of short stories, Where Do You Find Your Ideas? and other stories. But I’d never heard of the Maybrick book until the other day.

Christopher Jones is a deputy head teacher based in Liverpool, the city that was home to James Maybrick and his young American wife Florence. He gives an account of how the couple met and married in 1881, and of the events leading up to James’ mysterious death in 1889. There is an account of the trial – at which Florence was found guilty of poisoning her husband, although she earned a reprieve from the gallows. After serving fifteen years in jail, she was released, and she lived to a ripe old age. But then, in the 1980s, came the sensational discovery of a diary, allegedly written by James, the author of which claimed to be Jack the Ripper.

The combination of these two classic, yet very different, murder cases makes for utterly fascinating reading, and Christopher Jones has done a good deal of research in putting his book together. The format of any A to Z book necessitates some repetition, but on the whole the concept is well-suited to such a complex story. An interesting and worthwhile addition to any true crime library.

Incidentally, this is my 500th post (in 502 days) since I started 'Do you write under your own name?' I'm glad I've kept it ticking over for so long, and I'm very grateful to everyone who has encouraged me to keep going.