Hello again. After watching yet another episode of “Murder she wrote” (and yes, I’ve been watching that for the past 30+ years, but still love it), I remembered two things. First, that the glasses I choose at age 14 because they looked like Jessica’s made me look ten years older and were not my wisest fashion choice in the book, and second, that research really is so so important.
But it also comes with the danger of getting trapped for hours reading up on stuff you don’t necessarily need but find too interesting to skip. Like today. I was searching for an article about arsenic laced mushrooms I read some time ago and remembered. I thought they would make a great murder method. So – tactical mistake – I put the words “arsenic”, “victorian”, and “mushroom” in the search bar. The results were not the article I was after, but I read about arsenic in wallpaper, exploding toilets, how victorian ladies managed lavatory visits with all their heavy clothing, arsenic make up, lead, lye and arsenic concoctions to rid themselves of unwanted facial hair ( The ladies of course. The gentlemen sported so much facial hair and sideburns unthinkable and probably forbidden outside the victorian era.)
In short, I fell down the Google trap and spent all afternoon reading articles about everything even remotely related to either arsenic or victorian time. I did find the article about the mushrooms in the end. I looked for the wrong cemetery. Abney park cemetery, not Highgate as I had thought. And not just arsenic from the embalming fluids, also lead from the lead-lined coffins the Victorians used. Makes those mushrooms even more interesting – and deadly.
And despite what my search history may indicate: I’m a writer, not a serial killer. Stay safe
DS Porton Books 