People are fascinated by murder. The popularity of murder mystery books, TV
series, and even board games shows that there is an appetite for death. With
gunshots or stabbings the cause of death is obvious, but poisons are inherently
more mysterious. In fact, Agatha Christie used poison to kill her characters
more often than any other crime fiction writer. The poison was a central part of
the novel, and her choice of deadly substances was far from random; the chemical
and physiological characteristics of each poison provide vital clues to the
discovery of the murderer. Christie demonstrated her extensive chemical
knowledge (much of it gleaned by working