1. Introduction - Hello Everybody! Welcome to my Lair...

Grab a seat, kick up your feet, enjoy the ambiance of the warm fireplace... fancy a cup of tea? Promise there's no arsenic in it. 

(1) Pink-Skull Tea Set

I always had a passion for mystery in novels - a puzzle to solve as I progress through a book. Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle and Stephen King, famous authors all, crafting incredible crime novels, inviting us to solve the mystery with the protagonist. What I have found the most interesting is the tool used to commit the murder, so often a crime of violence: axe-chopping, gun-firing, knife-stabbing. The most fascinating of all, however, is the most cleverly hidden: poison. 

Poison has ever made a presence in our everyday lives, whether it's bleach in our bathroom, hemlock in our gardens or just the common toxic chemicals found in hardware stores. However, revealed in the history of poisons is more than a simple method of destruction. Contextual understanding of poison lets us understand how authors have exploited poisons, and their inherent subterfuge, to heighten the mystery in their fiction.

(2) Groom Pink-Skull Tea Cup

With each post in this blog, I will be discussing a novel, from Victorian to modern literature, that explores the use of food (or drinks), and its relation to poison. There will be critical analysis of passages of the text, supported by academic research. So, brace yourselves for a blog full of murder, poison, and some very dangerous food. I'm sure you'll look twice at your meals after this! Enjoy. 

Works Cited:
(1) Angioletti, Yvonne. "Installments 1-4, Gold Rose Skull Tea Set." n/a. AngiolettiDesigns, Etsy.com. <htttps://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/499318490/reserved-for-christine-installments-1-4?ref=shop_home_active_21.> Accessed February 2017.

(2) Angioletti, Yvonne. "Pink & Gold Skull Rose Bride / Groom Skull Tea Cup and Saucer, Available as Tea Set, Goth Wedding Couple Cup, Steampunk Wedding, Wedding Tea". n/a. AngiolettiDesigns, Etsy.com. <https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/478328148/pink-gold-skull-rose-bride-groom-skull?ref=shop_home_active_89> Accessed February 2017.