Strong poison

Strong Poison (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers is a classic mystery featuring her celebrated detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. The story begins with mystery novelist Harriet Vane on trial for the murder of her former lover, Philip Boyes, who died from arsenic poisoning after dining with her. The evidence appears overwhelming, but Lord Peter Wimsey is convinced that Harriet is innocent. When the trial ends without a verdict, he has only a limited amount of time to uncover what really happened. Wimsey’s investigation leads through conflicting testimony, hidden motives, carefully guarded secrets, and the unsettling question of how a seemingly impossible poisoning could have been carried out. His search for the truth also introduces one of the most important relationships in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Combining an ingenious poisoning puzzle with sharp characterization, wit, and observations about love, independence, and social expectations, Strong Poison is one of Sayers’s best-known detective novels and the book that introduces Harriet Vane.