A is for Arsenic - Review

Author: Kathryn Harkup

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: Audiobook

Hours Listen: 10 Hours

Agatha Christie's books will always have a special place in my heart because it was the only series that both my Great-Grandmother and I enjoyed. In fact, she was the one to introduce me to Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells. I don't know how many of her books I've read, watched, or listened to, but I find comfort in them. So it only made sense to jump into a book about the poisons she used in her books.

There was so much about this book that I really enjoyed. In fact, I planned on this book lasting me a couple of weeks as my 'work audiobook'. I normally only listen for a couple of hours before I get too busy and switch back to my music. That didn't really happen. What ended up happening was that my job seemed to be getting in the way of my audiobook. So then I'd need to switch over and listen to music to be a bit more productive.

As the title suggests, each chapters follow the alphabet and each letter is a different poison, but only poisons that appeared in Agatha Christie's books. So not every letter is accounted for (whether or not there's a poison for that letter.) It made me excited for every new chapter because it's been so long since I've dove into an Agatha Christie book, and I couldn't remember all the positions. So while a few letters I was confident to call out, a few I wasn't ready for.

I was also ready for how much I actually learned about this book. Not about Christie herself, her stories, or even characters, but how much science was actually in this book. Like I knew I was going to learn about the poisons and how they work, and then how they were used in the stories themselves. But I was ready for Kathryn to really break down each poison and give us more than just its biography. We learn about all the uses, both helpful and harmful, that can come from each poison. The way it was used throughout history, if it's still used today, and in some chapters, we got the entire breakdown of each base component.

As someone whose favorite classes were always chemistry, I loved this part. I loved that we got so much information on these poisons. Some of it was a bit shocking, some parts less so, and others, well, some side effects should really explain why you shouldn't ingest certain things.

The breakdown of each chapter was well done, too. Not only do you get the history of the poisons and it's origin. You learn about the stories each poison appears in, and Kathryn does her best to avoid spoilers. When she couldn't avoid those spoilers, she told you to skip ahead to the next chapter so you could still enjoy the story later. We also got real-life cases where each poison was used, some before Christie's time, and some after. In fact, some might have gotten a bit of inspiration from Christie, if rumors are to be believed.

I loved this book as an audiobook. It's a nerdy, true-crime-loving, murder mystery reading fans kind of book. It's well researched, well organized, and Kathryn knew her audience and what they were looking for. I was sad when I realized I was on the last chapter and to learn I still had about before her next book hits shelves, V is for Venom. 

Seriously, I will so listen to another ten hours of this and not get bored. It made the tiny little science nerd in me so happy.

HAPPY READING!!