A grim and gripping true crime account of serial killer Graham Young, the ‘teacup poisoner’. I didn’t know about him before and apparently the case is lesser known today, but I’m assuming that anyone following the British news in the 70s will have heard of him.
It’s definitely a shocking read. He was sent to Broadmoor at the age of 14 for poisoning his family and friends. In a terrible error of judgement, he was released 9 years later, apparently cured. Few people knew his past history and he went on to poison his colleagues. The case triggered debates and changes in the law around the sale of poisons and the release of offenders from psychiatric hospitals. The book is thoroughly researched and contains everything you could possibly want to know about Graham Young and his crimes. The writing style generally made me want to keep reading, but towards the end it became repetitive, with the same quotes and details used several times. Possibly the book could have been shorter as it seemed a little padded out to me. I liked the section on the history of poison at the beginning.
If you’re into true crime books, this one should be on your TBR.
Published in 2021.
What an interesting subject! I’ve never heard of him but am intrigued. It’s a shame about the padding, sounds as if it would have been a better book if it had had a harder edit.
It was a very compelling read! Books about serial killers are not usually my kind of thing but it wasn’t violent or such although it was shocking. Probably the book would have been too thin without the repetition!