Deadly Doses

Deadly Doses is part of Writer’s Digest’s Howdunit series, a reference written to help mystery and crime writers depict poisoning convincingly on the page. Like the forensic and weapons references it shares a shelf with, it exists so that a writer can get the details right enough to satisfy knowledgeable readers, and it’s written by a professional with relevant expertise. Reviewed as the specialized crime-writer’s reference it is, it serves a real and narrow purpose, with the usual caveat about its age.

This review treats the book strictly as a craft tool for writing believable fiction, which is its sole legitimate purpose, and discusses what it gives a writer instead of any specifics of its content.

What it offers the crime writer

For the mystery writer, the book’s value is verisimilitude. Poisoning is a classic device in crime and detective fiction, from Golden Age mysteries onward, and getting the surrounding details plausible, how investigators would approach a suspected poisoning, how such cases are detected and handled, the general realities that make a fictional plot hold together, separates a convincing mystery from one a knowledgeable reader dismisses.

The book provides that grounding so a writer can construct a poisoning plot that feels real and plays fair with readers who know the genre. It is, in this sense, exactly like the forensics references: a tool for accuracy in service of fiction.

Watch: "Deadly Doses" by Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner - a quick review #deadlydoses #poison, Books by Giles Darling

Accuracy in service of the story

The deeper craft point is that a poisoning plot, like any technical element in fiction, works best when the writer understands enough to deploy it with confidence and conceal the research, revealing only what the story needs. A mystery writer doesn’t need to lecture the reader; they need to know enough that the details they do include ring true and the plot’s logic holds up to scrutiny.

A reference like this lets a writer build that confidence, then wear the knowledge lightly, the same principle that governs any well-researched fiction. The goal is a story that convinces.

What are the weaknesses of Deadly Doses?

The familiar limitations apply, and sharply. The book dates from 1990, and the relevant science, toxicology, detection methods, forensic capability, has advanced enormously since, so a contemporary writer can’t rely on it for current accuracy and must verify anything specific against up-to-date sources, especially given how much modern forensic detection has changed what’s plausible in a present-day setting. It’s also, by nature, a narrow reference useful only to writers working with this particular plot element, and it teaches accuracy instead of storytelling.

A 1990 toxicology reference used straight for a modern setting is a recipe for embarrassment. For the crime writer it serves, it’s a starting point and nothing more.

Is Deadly Doses worth reading?

As a crime-writer’s reference for depicting poisoning believably, it’s a usefully specialized tool from a knowledgeable author, valuable for the mystery writer who wants their plot to convince genre-savvy readers.

It loses ground for its 1990 vintage, a serious problem in a field this fast-moving, and for the narrowness of a single-device reference. Use it to get the plot plausible, then check every detail against current knowledge. For the mystery writer with a poisoner in the plot, it’s a decent tool. For everyone else it’s dead weight.

Frequently Asked Questions