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

Sandra Hempel

ISBN 10: 0393239713 / ISBN 13: 9780393239713

Published by W W Norton and Co., New York, 2013

About this Item

First printing. Black lettering on black & green covers in a white pictorial dust jacket. 8ve, 288pp.

Seller Inventory # 008481

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Inheritor's Powder: A Tale of Arsenic, Murder, and the New Forensic Science
• Publisher: W W Norton and Co., New York
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393239713
• ISBN 13: 9780393239713
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

An infamous murder investigation that changed forever the way poisoners were brought to justice.

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.

The investigation, which gained international attention, brought together a colorful cast of characters: bickering relatives; a drunken, bumbling policeman; and James Marsh, an unknown but brilliant chemist who, assigned the Bodle case, attempted to create a test that could accurately pinpoint the presence of arsenic. In doing so, however, he would cause as many problems as he solved. Were innocent men and women now going to the gallows? And would George Bodle’s killer be found?

Incisive and wryly entertaining, science writer Sandra Hempel brings to life a gripping story of domestic infighting, wayward police behavior, a slice of Victorian history, stories of poisonings, and an unforgettable foray into the origins of forensic science.

6 illustrations

About the Author

Sandra Hempel is a medical journalist whose work has appeared in the Times, the Sunday Times, and the Guardian. The author of The Inheritor's Powder and the award-winning The Strange Case of the Broad Street Pump, she lives in London.