Raisins and Almonds

poisonedpen.com

I was rereading a book in one of my favorite series last night and nearly died laughing at the description of death by strychnine.

In Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood, Phryne Fisher (a wealthy aristocrat and private detective who lives in St Kilda, Melbourne, in the late 1920s) investigates the mysterious death of a young man in an Australian bookshop. I don't want to reveal any spoilers about how the poison was delivered but death happened within seconds.

    The tall man in the long black coat, who had been examining Volume 9 of Hansard for 1911—for which Miss Lee had long abandoned hope that someone would acquire for their library—exclaimed in a foreign tongue and dropped the book. She dashed from behind her counter quickly enough to support him as he sank to the floor. He held out one hand, palm upwards, as though inviting her to notice its emptiness—or was it the small wound on the forefinger?

    His eyes opened wide for a moment, and he spoke again. Then he convulsed, limbs flung out like a starfish, so abrupt and horribly strong that Miss Lee was forced to release him. His head hit the floor and she heard his teeth gnash, a dreadful grating noise echoed by a rattling in his throat. As she grabbed her ruler to lay between his teeth, he convulsed again and lay still. She stood with the ruler in her hand, gripped so tightly that the edge cut into her flesh. The young man was dead, that was plain. What to do next?

This same book was the basis for the Series 1, Episode 5 television show, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: Raisins and Almonds, which can currently be found on Acorn TV.

Of course Miss Fisher solves the case. I only wish she had been in Columbus, Ohio that week.

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