The heir's dust

A story about poisoning, murder, and the beginning of modern forensic science. In 19th-century England, criminal poisoning was a frighteningly easy practice, yet nearly impossible to prove—a situation that resulted in countless evils. A wave of poisonings swept the country, and as panic spread, a race began to find a definitive test to determine the cause of death. Drawing on the crisis and paranoia that characterized Victorian England, journalist Sandra Hempel recreates, in an original way, the terrifying story of arsenic, which also marks the beginning of modern forensic science.