Customer Reviews

Deadly Doses: A Writer's Guide to Poisons (Howdunit Writing)

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I became interested in this book, not because I am a writer, but because I'm a toxicologist and love to read anything on poisons.
It's a great place to start, and *mostly* accurate. Hoever, some info is out of date (especially decontamination and antidotes), incomplete, or just plain wrong. It certainly is much easier to read than other toxicology texts, and even though I have my doctorate in pharmacy, I learned a few things! I would suggest though, for people who intend to incorporate poisonings in their writings (accurately), to verify the info with a toxicology text or poison control center.

Deadly Doses is an excellent beginning resource for the writer interested in using poison as an element within a story. It gives a brief history of poisoning, clearly divided chapters (plant based poisons, industrial, medical, etc.), and an easy to read format for each entry. Each poison is listed with a toxicity rating (6 being the highest), form, effects and symptoms, reaction time, antidotes and treatment, case histories, and notes of interest. Because the book has to cover so much, each entry is necessarilly brief and many less toxic forms of poison are glossed over or omitted. The author is quite open about this from the start.

In addition to the known poisons, the author provides a chapter on how to create an imaginary poison for the sake of your story. You may not find exactly what you need to kill your main victim with, but you will certainly come out of this book with a much stronger sense of how to do it and where to look, thanks to a very infomative biliography. As an unlooked for benefit, you may find yourself far more knowledgeable of dangerous substances in your own life, and, while one hopes such knowledge will never be necessary, knowing the syptoms and treatment of a common household poison may be useful (especially if you have children!)

This book is a super reference book for writers. Gives you a short history of poisons,then moves in the classic aka Agatha Christie style poisons. Next we get into the what's on hand style of poisons i.e. household stuff. Plant poisons, the dead mushrooms etc. They cover movie poisons such as spiders and snakes, medical oops-es, what's in the garden pesticides. Even Street Drugs and a few hints on do-it-yourself-versions. They covered the methods, the forms, the symptoms, and even the time that is takes and just how successful (toxicity rating)....anything a writer needs to know....no no no don't touch that mushroom!

Super reference work and highly recommended

Did you know that the pit of a Peach is deadly?? Did you know that lovely foxglove growing in your garden is poisonous?

Deadly Doses has been my favorite book from the Howdunit Series. This book gives a writer the information that is needed to write a believable poisoning in their story line. The variety of poisons and their forms, lethal dose toxicity levels, reaction times, effects, symptoms, and treatments are all covered in Deadly Doses. A writer will gain a wealth of knowledge by reading this book cover to cover. It is simply the best specific-topic writer's resource book I have ever read.

Deadly Doses: A Writer's Guide to Poisons also gives historical cases where the method of poisoning was used in a homicidal or suicidal death. The types of poisons used are amazing. They include plants, household, medical, and even street drugs.

Even if you are not a writer, read this book! It will get you thinking twice about the 'common' products that you use now. I find myself being really careful about the products I use at home and at work. I've even been reading the labels!

This is such a cool book! It has extreamly good descripitons for the 3 basic murdering poisons.... Cynide, Arsenic, and strychnine (yea, yea, I cant spell) It also details every other poison you could think of, and half of which are growing in your back yard, or stored in a cabinet! heehee, better watch what herbs your picking....

I own every book in the Howdunnit series, and it weathered covers and dog-eared pages are any indication, "Deadly Doses" is the most useful of the bunch.

Most of the books in the Howdunnit series are written as primers on the police procedures or criminal modus operandi of a given situation. "Deadly Doses" differs in that it is for the most part a true reference book. A writer may choose a specific drug or poison from the index and look up a precise description including scientific and slang names, reaction times, toxicity, symptoms, antidotes and case histories; or she may choose her poison from an appendix of effects or reaction times or even method of administration.

If there is a flaw in this book, it is a certain lack of completeness. Though there is certainly a greater collection of illicit substances assembled in these pages than any writer could ever need, it is disturbing that the book will on occasion mention a poison or drug that the author did not bother to provide an entry for.

That said, it was this volume that addicted me to the rest of the Howdunnit series (though I have yet to be as pleased with any of the other books as I am with this one). This book is highly recommended as a reference tool to any writer who feels they may have a need to mention a drug or poison in a story with any sense of accuracy at all. It is also recommended as a quick reference for anyone who is interested in poisons at all, though I suspect that there are more in depth texts that a true poison aficionado could refer to.

This writer's guide offers a thourough breakdown of every kind of poison known to man, along with helpful appendices that will help you understand each poison. Truly an asset for every writer's library!

I found Deadly Doses to be a very informative when it came to Plant Poisons that could be used in a Middle Ages setting, the time period for my first manuscript. However when it came to the serious poisons used in that period (i.e. Arsenic) It became less useful, espicially when you need to know what a leathal dose is and what symptoms occur first. This small bit of information probably would have saved me hours on the Internet search for what I did need.

Deadly Doses certainly has loads of information, including the histories of certain poisons, real life examples, and their uses in literature and drama. And though it lacks the engaging tone of, say, Scene of the Crime, Private Eyes, or Missing Persons, the information is set up to be easily read, keeping it from being so dry I simply couldn't get through it (like Police Procedural).

My one complaint is that at times things are glossed over, as though the writers assumed the reader already knows some of the effects or durations of the more well-known poisons. There's also a continued use of medical terms which, to the layman, are rather obscure. The glossary in the back helps, but misses some of the terms used or is unclear as to their meanings.

This book is a must have for any writer. Not just of mystery. The information inside is easy to understand, but very thorough. And the real life examples are interesting and a little creepy. I love the How dunit series.