How Agatha Christie Used Chemistry To Kill (In Books)

A new book explores the poisonous concoctions in Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries and the science behind how they kill.

Did you know that murder mystery writer Agatha Christie had a background in chemistry? In about half of her stories, the murder is committed using poison—something she was very, very familiar with. She had even trained in apothecaries to mix prescriptions by hand before she became a novelist. Chemist-turned-author Kathryn Harkup wrote about them in her new book, V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death. Harkup talks with Host Flora Lichtman about the science of poisons, why they’re so popular in whodunnits, and how to get away with murder (in fiction writing, of course).

Guest: 
Kathryn Harkup is a former chemist and author of V is for Venom: Agatha Christie’s Chemicals of Death.

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