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The inheritor's powder : a tale of arsenic, murder, and the new forensic science / Sandra Hempel.

TRUE CRIME. In the first half of the nineteenth century, an epidemic swept Europe: arsenic poisoning. Available at any corner shop for a few pence, arsenic was so frequently used by potential beneficiaries of wills that it was nicknamed the inheritor s powder. But it was difficult to prove that a victim had been poisoned, let alone to identify the contaminated food or drink since arsenic was tasteless. Then came a riveting case. On the morning of Saturday, November 2, 1833, the Bodle household sat down to their morning breakfast. That evening, the local doctor John Butler received an urgent summons: the family and their servants had collapsed and were seriously ill. Three days later, after lingering in agony, wealthy George Bodle died in his bed at his farmhouse in Plumstead, leaving behind several heirs, including a son and grandson both of whom were not on the best of terms with the family patriarch.

Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date Res.
C9009233105 364.152 HEM
Adult nonfiction   Stratford Branch . . Available .  
. Catalogue Record 1076531 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 1076531 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
ISBN 9780393349887 (pbk.)
9780393239713 (hardcover)
Dewey 364.152
Author Hempel, Sandra
Title The inheritor's powder : a tale of arsenic, murder, and the new forensic science / Sandra Hempel.
Edition First American edition.
Published New York : W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013.
Physical description viii, 280 pages ; 21 cm.
General note First published in London in 2013 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson with subtitle: A cautionary tale of poison, betrayal and greed.
Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary TRUE CRIME. In the first half of the nineteenth century, an epidemic swept Europe: arsenic poisoning. Available at any corner shop for a few pence, arsenic was so frequently used by potential beneficiaries of wills that it was nicknamed the inheritor s powder. But it was difficult to prove that a victim had been poisoned, let alone to identify the contaminated food or drink since arsenic was tasteless. Then came a riveting case. On the morning of Saturday, November 2, 1833, the Bodle household sat down to their morning breakfast. That evening, the local doctor John Butler received an urgent summons: the family and their servants had collapsed and were seriously ill. Three days later, after lingering in agony, wealthy George Bodle died in his bed at his farmhouse in Plumstead, leaving behind several heirs, including a son and grandson both of whom were not on the best of terms with the family patriarch.
Subject Poisoning -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Arsenic -- Toxicology -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Murder -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Toxicology -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century
Forensic toxicology
Catalogue Information 1076531 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 1076531 Top of page .