The Poisonous Seed
A Frances Doughty Mystery 1
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
When a customer of William Doughty's chemist shop dies of strychnine poisoning after drinking medicine he dispensed, William is blamed, and the family faces ruin. William's daughter, nineteen year old Frances, determines to redeem her ailing father's reputation and save the business. She soon becomes convinced that the death was murder, but unable to convince the police, she turns detective. Armed only with her wits, courage and determination, and aided by some unconventional new friends, Frances uncovers a startling deception and solves a ten year old murder. There will be more deaths, and a secret in her own family will be revealed before the killer is unmasked, and Frances will find that her life has changed forever. The first book in the popular Frances Doughty Mystery series.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Plucky 19-year-old Frances Doughty, a chemist's daughter, undertakes the challenging task of solving the poisoning of one of her father's customers in this formidable Victorian historical, the fiction debut of true crime writer Stratmann (Essex Murders). When Percival Garton, from an eminent Bayswater family, dies suddenly from strychnine believed carelessly dispensed at William Doughty & Son by the ailing and elderly proprietor, the publicity surrounding the event and the ensuing police investigation threaten the firm's impeccable reputation. Frances decides to turn detective to clear her father's name, though she realizes such work "might lead her into areas inappropriate for both her sex and class." The determined Frances first researches strychnine in her father's library, then interviews everyone involved, from her father's panicky assistant, Herbert Munson, to the victim's high-living brother, Cedric. Dense descriptive prose slows the action in places, but most readers will want to see more of Frances.
