A Is For Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie is a popular science book by Kathryn Harkup. It discusses Agatha Christie's use of poisons in her crime fiction. A follow up book, V Is For Venom: Agatha Christie's Chemicals of Death, was published in 2025.

Synopsis Harkup provides a short background to Christie's knowledge of poisons as a result of her training as a pharmaceutical dispenser, and then discusses fourteen individual poisons - their characteristics, history, Christie's use of them in an exemplar work, real life criminal cases or investigations, and a more detailed pharmacological mechanism of action. The fourteen poisons, and their corresponding Christie works, are: Arsenic, in Murder is Easy Belladonna, in The Labours of Hercules Cyanide, in Sparkling Cyanide Digitalis, in Appointment with Death Eserine, in Crooked House Hemlock, in Five Little Pigs Monkshood, in 4:50 from Paddington Nicotine, in Three Act Tragedy Opium, in Sad Cypress Phosphorus, in Dumb Witness Ricin, in Partners in Crime Strychnine, in The Mysterious Affair at Styles Thallium, in The Pale Horse Veronal, in Lord Edgware Dies

Reception Kirkus Reviews stated "Technical explanations will daunt average readers with little knowledge of chemistry... but the narrative is informative, and the author's easy style of writing makes up for the slow bits," additionally noting the inclusion of comparisons between Christie's portrayal of the poisonings and real-life incidents.

For the audiobook adaption read by Beth Chalmers, Kirkus said "the subject matter itself is grim, but Chalmers's buoyant tones perfectly suit the well-researched and good-humored text."

Both Library Journal and Publishers Weekly commented of the overall avoidance of spoilers for the mysteries. Publishers Weekly recommended the book for "mystery fans, true crime readers, and lovers of popular science."

The book was a finalist for both the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Non-fiction/Critical Book and the 2015 Agatha Award for Best Non-fiction.

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie preview on Google Books