Mini Reviews | Books About Books

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Agatha Christie is the greatest crime fiction writer in history. I love her clever use of poison in so many of her novels. It adds another level of mystery; there are so many ways and kinds, the possibilities seemingly endless. Christie carefully selected each poison, practically making it a character itself.

I absolutely loved this book. Harkup has written several books like this, looking at the science behind some of our most beloved characters or authors. There's one on Dracula, Frankenstein, and Shakespeare. That one is my most favorite and you can find the review HERE.

Harkup looks at a variety of poison, over a dozen altogether. Each chapter follows the same template, but given how many different types she discusses, it did not feel repetitive or like it was dragging.

First, the author gives a summary of the book she is using to showcase Christie's skill with the specific poison. Then she begins discussing the poison itself. She gives a history of how it developed, the chemical make-up and science of how it works within the body, symptoms of poisoning, how it's detected, and if there are antidotes.

I definitely would recommend this for Christie fans, and also crime fiction fans in general. Such a fun read!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Full disclosure, Frankenstein is not my favorite. I read it once, years ago. But because I really enjoy this author's work, I gave this one a try and was pleasantly surprised.

While the likelihood of Shelley's methods working in 1818 were non-existent, Harkup looks at the science of the time and the scientists working to make all kinds of discoveries and break-throughs in various fields. Luckily, we are still quite a ways off from being able to do so in our time, as well. Even so, the author explores all the yucky goodness you would expect from a book about a monster put together by dead body parts - the stories of body snatchers, tests to determine rate of decay, etc.

In addition to exploring the scientific advancements at the time, Harkup also writes a significant biography of Shelley as well. I do not know much about her but the basics, and had no idea she was so young when she wrote the book, nor the circumstances surrounding it. I knew a bit more about her mother, but enjoyed learning about her as much as the science of the most famous monster in history.

The author also provides quite a biography of the novel as well. She recounts the writing challenge proposed at Villa Diodati, to write stories to scare one another on that dark and stormy night, then how the book fared when it was first published in 1818, and again when it was revised and reissued in 1831.

Despite no more than a passing interest in Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, this was a fantastic read and I really enjoyed it. I think this is a must-read for fans, and those with an interest in the science of the time period.

Book Review | The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime

 

Rating ⭐⭐⭐

I had such high hopes for this one, but it ended up being somewhat of a disappointment.

The premise was fantastic. The author set out to explore some of the most sensational attention-grabbing murder cases of Victorian England. I feel like the title and subtitle were misleading because we know the Victorians did not invent murder. They did, however, invent making it salacious. Sensational newspaper accounts shouted grisly details (often inaccurate, but who cares? It's murder!) and people actually went sight-seeing to the locations of the crimes. So gross.

Side Note #1: It reminded me of the Villisca Axe Murders in Villisca, Iowa in 1912. A family of six and two girls who were friends with the children were horrifically murdered with an axe and the killers never captures. People from all over the town traipsed through the house when the murders were discovered, even HANDLING THE MURDER WEAPON. So gross, on so many levels. No respect for the dead.

Side Note #2: Okay, so I have been to the Villisca Axe Murder house on a tour given by owner Darwin Linn, who has sadly passed away since then. But we were on a tour of the restored house, not the bloody crime scene, so it is not the same.

Murder became entertainment and the author recounts all the ways in which this entertainment was produced - ballads, operas, novels, broadsides, and more. It is easy to see how this fascination with gruesome deaths paved the way for novelization of these crimes to develop - Sherlock Holmes is a product of this age.

Overall it was not a terrible book, but it became a repetitive one. The chapters were long, and followed the same format: the murder or group of murders were discussed with a good amount of detail, and then we are told how the crimes were depicted and in what medium. I skimmed at times only because the latter was indeed repetitive.

The author has researched and explains the ones you would expect of the era: Burke and Hare, Sweeney Todd, and Jack the Ripper, but also delves into some cases that are lesser-known today, but were huge when they occurred. I appreciate the variety, as many kinds of crimes were explored, though murders were always the most sensational and best-selling.

Side Note #3: When my mom and I were in Edinburgh, we went on a Burke and Hare night tour. It was November, so it ended up just being the two of us and our tour guide, Dougal. He was lovely and quite pleasant to follow around the city. We saw all the places associated with the body-snatchers and their crimes. This is kind of morbid too I suppose, but again, at least we didn't make a day of visiting a crime scene to look at dead bodies and having a picnic lunch with the kids!

I did find it distracting and unnecessary that the author would randomly insert herself in the story to make some quick little quip about the research she conducted. I really hate when authors do this.

Recommended for those with an interest in the shenanigans of Victorians  who were obsessed with murder.