Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and Their Victims by
Katherine Watson
hbk out January 04
Published by Hambledon and London
at £19.99
The sub-title of this book is 'English Poisoners and their Victims' and the implicit
promise that the author will focus as much on the victim as the murderer is borne out,
in part at least, by the text. The very first chapter is headed 'Victims', although it
concentrates mainly on the development of effective tests for determining the
presence of poison in a victim's body. A striking chapter, 'Suffer the Little Children',
discusses the distressing phenomenon of infants poisoned by their parents, who were
'led by poverty, ignorance and indifference to end the lives of individuals who were
little valued by society'. But the examination of the role of the victim in poisoning
cases is patchy; Watson has little to say, for instance, about Cora Crippen, poisoned
by hyoscine, and her discussion of that legendary case is cursory. She concentrates on
the period between 1750 and 1914 and thus mentions only briefly the crimes of Dr
Harold Shipman. I found this disappointing, because the profile of Shipman's victims
was surely the key to his ability successfully to murder so many people for so long
without a hint of suspicion. In particular, the willingness of society to accept the
deaths of the elderly seems to me to provide a shocking clue to the story of England's
most prolific poisoner. Watson's carefully researched book contains much useful and
interesting information, but it falls short of being a definitive study of the subject
described in its sub-title.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Poisoned Lives: English Poisoners and Their Victims by
Katherine Watson
