My Goodreads Review: The Royal Art of Poison

The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A fast-paced & darkly amusing look at the history of poisoning from the Renaissance onward, with some discussion of accidental poisoning (via cosmetics, mostly) & unintentionally fatal medical practices. A middle section is devoted to several famous cases of suspected poisoning, most of which did not actually turn out to be poisoning at all! Another later section of the book discusses 20th & 21st century political poisoning cases, most of them Soviet / Russian. The author concludes with a helpful & widely varied list of poisons, citing origins, symptoms, & ultimate cause of death.

I'm not sure how much I'll retain from the audio version of this one (there was a lot of detail), but it certainly covered the topic in an interesting manner. Recommended for true crime buffs, history lovers with morbid minds (guilty!) & mystery readers.






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