The Women's Weapon of Choice

By Sophie Dawson

Murder has been around since the beginning of man. One of the difference between the way men kill and women seems to be that women want to do it cleanly where men are okay will the more bloody methods. Of course, the men don’t worry about who has to clean up the mess.

Poison is the method of choice when women want to do away with someone. 90% of all poison murders are perpetrated by women. It’s clean, mostly, unless the poison causes vomiting or diarrhea. Physical strength or weapons prowess aren’t needed. Poisons can easily be baked into a food or put in a drink without the victim being aware they are being poisoned. Poisons can either be ingested, inhaled, or absorbed through the skin.

In the 18 and early 19th centuries, arsenic was the most popular poison. It was called the Inheritance Powder, used to speed the demise of the older generation allowing the heirs to gain their fortune, or title, before nature took its course. 

Arsenic was commonly used in Chinese, as well as western medicine. Elizabethan women used a mixture of arsenic, vinegar, and chalk as makeup to whiten their faces. In Victorian times, Arsenic Complexion Wafers were used to clear up acne. It was also used to cure syphilis, making it a very popular drug. 

A brilliant green pigment was made with arsenic. The fabric dyed with this Emerald Green was beautiful but deadly when made into clothing. The arsenic would be absorbed through the skin resulting in many accidental deaths. 

FRC2014.07.406 A+B+C Arsenic Green Dress Photo by Suzanne Petersen, Bata Shoe Museum

Through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance arsenic was the poison of choice since it was undetectable. The Borgias, Pope Alexander VI, and his son, Cesare were all accused of using arsenic as a poison. Many other famous cases of arsenic poisoning are documented. In 1836, James Marsh, an English chemist created an accurate method to test for arsenic poisoning, leading to the end of the commonly used method of murder. Arsenic is now a controlled substance in most countries, not available without a special license.


Sophie Dawson has been researching poisons for her upcoming book, An Agent for Delaney, The Pinkerton Matchmaker Series, releasing February 8 on Amazon in Kindle, Print, and KU.

The Pinkerton Matchmaker

By Sophie Dawson

My almost eight-year-old granddaughter has decided she wants to be a spy when she grows up. For her upcoming birthday I’ve gotten her a trench coat, Sherlock Holmes hat, and a magnifying glass. She has spies and detectives a little bit mixed up in her head. What does this have to to with 19th US century history? 

 

Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant, began the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in Chicago in 1855 as a security guard and detective agency. They were bodyguards, hired by companies and individuals as well as detectives. Their reputation for honesty, for the most part, along with their toughness was augmented with ruthlessness when needed.

Since they were a private ‘police’ force, they weren’t encumbered with restrictions of state and local jurisdiction. They could cross county lines as well as state lines in order to catch their quarry.
Were they perfect? No. They were heavily involved in attempting to squash the labor movement of the late 19th century. They were also one of the first companies to hire women. And thus comes the basis for a new Multi-Author Project.

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The Pinkerton Matchmaker Series follows the exploits of the couples in marriages arranged by Archibald Gordon. He’s the head of the Pinkerton Agency in Denver. (This is all fiction, of course.) He’s been ordered to hire women detectives. Not believing these women should go on cases by themselves he orders his agents to marry and train the women to be agents. If they want an annulment at the end of the case, and it’s still an option, it will be arranged. These are romances, so you can guess how each story ends. There are bumps and stumbles along the way, however. That’s what makes the reading fun.

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 The Pinkerton Matchmaker Series Launch Party is being held on Tuesday, October 16 from 6-9 PM EDT. The thirteen authors will be there telling about themselves, their upcoming books, giving away prizes.

Join us for the fun. The books will be released once a week, so you won’t have to wait long between. They will all be sweet reads with HEA endings. Each book is a stand alone complete story, though some characters will cross over.

The first book The Pinkerton Matchmaker by Christine Sterling and Marianne Spitzer tells how the idea of these marriages of convenience between a seasoned agent and the newly hired female come to be. The Pinkerton Matchmaker is available on Amazon, for .99 and KU.

Sophie Dawson is an award winning author of sweet romance. http://amazon.com/author/sophiedawson