Reports of Trials for Murder by Poisoning; by Prussic Acid, Strychnia, Antimony, Arsenic, and Aconita. Including the trials of Tawell, W. Palmer, Dove, Madeline Smith, Dr. Pritchard, Smethurst, and Dr. Lamson, with chemical introduction and notes on the poisons used

Step into the shadowy world of Victorian courts, where the hiss of gas lamps and the rustle of legal papers frame a series of chilling murder trials. The book gathers the most striking cases of poisoning from the past half‑century, presenting testimony from surgeons, chemists and barristers as they clash over the identity of the silent killers—prussic acid, arsenic, strychnine, antimony and aconite. By laying out statements from both prosecution and defence experts, the narrative lets listeners hear the scientific arguments that could tip a verdict.

Beyond the courtroom drama, each case is prefaced with a concise guide to the poison in question, explaining how it is produced, how it acts on the body and how 19th‑century investigators tried to uncover it. The volume also reflects on the broader social danger of unregulated medicines and pest‑control products. Listeners will come away with a vivid sense of how early forensic chemistry shaped justice, and why those historic battles still echo in modern toxicology.