A Taste for Poison

By Neil Bradbury https://neilbradbury.org/

Published by Harper North (an imprint of Harper Collins) https://harpercollins.co.uk/

304 pages ISBN 9780008449547

Publication date 20 January 2022

I was provided with a review copy from the publisher, many thanks to Alice Murphy-Pyle for arranging this.

From the blurb

Poison is one of the most enduring weapons of choice for a scheming murderer.  In a drink, smeared onto the tip of an arrow or even the handle of a door.  But how exactly do these poisons work to break our bodies down, and what can we learn from the damage they inflict?

Synopsis

Over the course of eleven chapters Dr Neil Bradbury describes the most significant substances used as poison by man. These include poisons derived from plant matter, natural toxins, and mineral metals from the earth; comprising aconite, arsenic, atropine, chlorine, cyanide, digoxin, insulin, polonium, potassium, ricin, and strychnine.

Within each chapter he weaves the story of the history of the discovery of the substance, its practical uses, how misuse as a poison can occur and how it works to destroy the body, along with real-life accounts of famous murders both historical and modern.

The Epilogue entitled ‘The Garden of Death’ goes on to describe the special garden at Alnwick Castle which holds over one hundred specimens of poisonous plants, which is not unlike Blofeld’s suicide garden which was a centrepiece of Ian Fleming’s ‘You Only Live Twice’.

Finally, the appendix sets out the details (route of entry, lethal dose, target, symptoms, and antidote) for all the poisons mentioned, but as the author points out this is for educational purposes and not to guide the potential murderer to his/her choice of weapon!

My thoughts

Crime fiction is an enduringly popular genre and, judging by the number of new books and authors, getting bigger every year. There are many crimes of the statute books, but it must be said that the bulk of crime fiction revolves around murder be it revenge, through passion or the work of a serial killer.  A good murder was entertaining reading a hundred years ago as much as it is now. What has changed though is the methods of despatch. Poison was used as a murder weapon more often in the ‘golden age’ of the detective story quite simply because murder by poison was still common in those days and would remain so until later in the 20^th century when sophisticated detection tests were developed. As the likelihood of detection rose it fell out of favour, though modern compounds have been developed for state sponsored murder in the 21^st century. All of which is covered in depth in Dr Bradbury’s book.

As he points out one of the worrying aspects of poisoning is the number of medical people who use it as a means for murder. They have the knowledge of its action as well as access to it and the trust of patients, though following the actions of Beverly Allitt and Harold Shipman more people are questioning.

Poison was seen as the murder weapon of women both in real life and fiction, as they were seen as lacking in physical strength and had limited access to weapons. Times change though and many authors now include deadly women using all manner of weapons and the whole life order on Joanne Dennehy demonstrates that fiction reflects real life.

The writing style, for me, is perfect. The science parts are serious but suitable for a layperson rather than for a chemistry or biology textbook. The true crime aspects are covered with sensitivity rather than being salacious or gratuitous. To keep it from being too heavy there are occasional injections of humour of the silly or absurd rather than being overly flippant, such as the case of Paul Agutter who ended up with Wayne Smith, the man who falsely confessed to his crimes, as cellmate.

As the author points out one of the interesting facts is that drugs created to do good can when administered incorrectly or in excessive doses can be fatal. Insulin has transformed and prolonged the lives of millions of people but has also been used as a poison. Also, in some instances poison can be used as an antidote to other poisons such as atropine to digoxin and the chemistry is explained within the text.

As a reader of crime fiction, I loved linking the symptoms and actions to books I have read and the introduction of some of the famous names. Naturally, Agatha Christie is included as she wrote about poisoners and the author notes a review of ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles in the Pharmaceutical Journal noted “…we are tempted to believe that the author had pharmaceutical training.”  Christie was, of course, a certified pharmacist and worked at University College Hospital under her surname of Mallowan (as I recently read in ‘Murder at the Savoy’). Arthur Conan Doyle also gets a mention through being in the same class as murderer Thomas Neill Cream at medical school in Edinburgh.

Fans of true crime will not be disappointed as each chapter covers something from the Borgias and their creation of the mysterious Cantarella (based on arsenic) through to Alexander Litvinenko being killed with polonium-210 and the unsuccessful attempt on the Skripals (father and daughter) with Novichok.

As befits a serious work there is the expected bibliography together with a series of footnotes for each chapter. My personal preferences are for footnotes to be included at the bottom of the page, but these are often too long and are what may be described as ‘by the way’ facts which could spoil the flow for some readers and are a definite must read.

This is a cleverly put together book which manages to be both entertaining and informative. Whilst reading I did google a number of references for more insight (such as what Mee’s lines look like) so I clearly found it engaging. If you are fascinated by crime you are going to love it!

Frontline #DrTonyRedmond #Frontline

Saving Lives in War, Disaster and Disease

By Dr Tony Redmond

Published by Harper North

300 pages ISBN 9780008449537

Publication date 16 September 2021

I was sent an uncorrected proof for review purposes.  Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Alice Murphy-Pyle for arranging this

From the blurb

How are life-or-death choices made in disaster zones?

What are the consequences of your action, or inaction?

How do you live with yourself if you want to help but can’t?

Whether in the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing or Sierra Leone’s Ebola outbreak, or in warzones in Kosovo and Kashmir, Dr Tony Redmond has spent a lifetime putting himself in harm’s way to help others stricken by disaster in war, refugee crises, air crashes, earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes and disease outbreaks.

Synopsis

This is an autobiography which centres on the work experiences of the author and mainly concentrates upon his outstanding contribution to medical relief at disasters, both natural and man-made.  In the preface there is a little about his upbringing, but he comes over as a private and modest man who is happier in letting his record of achievements speak for themselves.

My thoughts

Although there is only a little about the author away from his profession, we do get an idea of his overall motivations in the preface.  His family experienced grinding poverty and his parents worked hard just to survive.  As a young man his father travelled to the Argentina initially to be a priest but eventual sought work and adventure on the pampas.  No doubt the tales he recounted sowed the seeds of foreign adventures of a different sort.  I suspect that the main driving force was the poverty he experienced and had recounted to him.  Life remained tough in the immediate post war austerity and ration years, but the introduction of the welfare state did much to alleviate the grinding poverty and meant that when he contracted TB he was able to get proper treatment.  There was also still a spirit to help others within their relative poverty and a sense of being in it together.  Simple empathy and compassion for others will go a long way.

After an opening chapter on the Lockdown of 2020 the book runs through his experiences in chronological order, describing the crisis, what he found on the ground and how he was able to help.  In most cases he was able to assist in the organisation of relief delivery as well as medical procedures.

What we as readers will find hard to comprehend is the chaos on the ground as a great many well-meaning people congregate with a range of skills and back up support.  Through the progression of the book, we can see that protocols have been developed and the importance of organisational and logistical skill is understood.  However, the proliferation of NGOs, minor charities and celebrity foundations has added to the chaos as some feel the need to be seen to be there almost to the extent of competition.  His story of John Travolta and Scientologists flying into Haiti itself is an eye opener and the chapter title of Disaster Tourism is quite fitting. Almost all these people mean well it’s just they cannot see the impact they have on the smooth running of aid delivery.  There is duplication of purchasing, the wrong equipment being bought or supplied as well as waste and corruption at the point of delivery. Dispiriting to the donors hoping their charity donation will make a difference. Dr Redmond suggests supporting the major charities as they are best placed to make a meaningful difference, although some of these have recently been mired in scandal. There also appears to be a charity industry where CEOs are paid huge salaries and move from organisation-to-organisation mimicking ‘captains of industry’.

One aspect of care Dr Redmond is very clear on is that all patients are the same and should be treated so.  He recounts stories of some disaster relief medics who take less care in documentation, fail to obtain informed consent from patients or even trying new or risky procedures using the patients as medical guinea pigs to test their skills.  It would be easy to take the ‘something is better than nothing’ approach and sweep such failings under the carpet but he makes it clear that this neither morally nor ethically correct.  This attitude is to be applauded, the last century has shown that even men of medicine can drift into doing appalling things in the name of research.  Dr Redmond’s approach has been to give the best available care he can, within the prevailing circumstances, as if he were still in the UK, but also to mentor and train the local medical staff to leave a better hospital environment when he leaves.

The author has made great sacrifices to carry out this work.  Although he doesn’t dwell on it, large periods of time spent away from his family often in dangerous locations must have put great strain on him home life and he must have missed key family moments.  His health has also suffered greatly whilst deployed, suffering from heavy metal poisoning and damage to his vertebra which resulted in him eventually having to give up work on the ground and moving to desk-based work.  He seems to have borne this stoically, I guess having seen the suffering he has first-hand he has different reference points to most of us, though clearly he possesses great inner strength as well as bravery.

The most interesting part for me is the work of the armed forces in disaster relief.  As Dr Redmond is at pains to point out working with armed forces compromises humanitarian principles and he gives working with the Israeli Defence Force as an example.  The dilemma comes as armed forces often have the best means and ability to deliver aid in natural disasters.  Indeed, his back injury came in a Navy RIB as his team were carrying out medical relief on remote island whilst the Navy were pitching in with reconstruction work.  I appreciate the points he makes but it seems to me that the armed forces have untapped skills that could be a great resource to do good and show us in a positive light if harnessed in a way that doesn’t compromise the overall humanitarian effort.

The one thing that shines through is his humanity.  Here is a man who saw hardship in his formative years and has been determined to leave the world a better place than he found it as I am sure the legacy of what he has set up will bare testament.  This book gives an insight into the frustrations and some of the danger in medical disaster relief work but is ultimately uplifting. If this book inspires others to follow in his footsteps but with eyes opened to the problems and dangers involved then I’m sure he will be happier with that rather than fame.