V Is for Venom

Agatha Christie's Chemicals of Death

By: Kathryn Harkup

Narrated by: Nicky Diss

Bloomsbury presents V is for Venom: Agatha Christie's Chemicals of Death by Kathryn Harkup, read by Nicky Diss

Fourteen stories. Fourteen more poisons. Just because it's fiction doesn’t mean it's all made-up ...

Agatha Christie is renowned for her captivating plots and creative ways of killing off ill-fated victims. And what better way to add intrigue to a story than poison? The surreptitious ways they can be administered and the characteristic symptoms they produce make these killer chemicals the ideal method of murder in a ‘whodunit’. Christie perfected the use of poisons in her plots; her deft and varied use of toxic substances is one of her great strengths as a writer. But how is it that some compounds prove so fatal, and in such tiny amounts?

The follow up to Kathryn Harkup's best-selling A is for Arsenic, V is for Venom is a compelling exploration of Christie’s use of poisons and her extensive chemical knowledge. Featuring fourteen more poisons from the works of Agatha Christie, this book investigates the science behind the deadly substances, the history of their use in real-life murder cases, and how feasible was it to obtain, administer and detect these poisons in Christie’s time and today. Combining Christie’s murder mysteries, chemical science and true crime, V is for Venom is a celebration of the use of science by the undisputed Queen of Crime.©2025 Kathryn Harkup (P)2025 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Science and Mystery

I love the connections between Christie’s books and the science behind her murder mysteries. I bookmarked several items to add a literary element to my biology class.