The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science

by Sandra Hempel

Book Overview

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,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393239713
• ISBN13: 9780393239713
• Release Date: October 2013
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.5"