Criminal Poisoning

Book excerpt: Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives offers health care providers, investigators and attorneys a comprehensive look at the history, employment and ex post facto analysis of criminal poisoning. Drawing on the vast expertise of the authors--law enforcement agents and physicians with robust experience in the realm of criminal poisoning--Criminal Poisoning: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives covers the illegal use of poisons to harm people and the methods of detection available to investigators and prosecutors. Each chapter covers a specific toxin, from acids and herbals to drugs of abuse, and includes a case study that explains the diagnostic challenges associated with detecting and prosecuting a criminal poisoning. What's more, the book delves into who may poison--including the psychological factors that motivate someone to kill--and who may be a likely victim.