Overview

Food and drink are supposed to belong to the safest parts of life. A family dinner. A lunch break. A bedside drink. A holiday dessert. A glass raised in celebration. In Crimes Where Food and Drink Masked Murder, James Hampstead examines 40 true-crime casefiles in which ordinary meals, drinks, and familiar rituals became the route to poisoning, betrayal, and death. The cases span homes, cafés, workplaces, hotel rooms, neighborhoods, and public spaces. Some ended in convictions. Others remain debated, unresolved, or never brought to final judgment. Again and again, the object at the center is something simple: cheesecake, tea, curry, soup, cocoa, champagne, coffee, wine, soft drinks, a child's bottle. The object is ordinary. The breach it represents is not. Danger does not always arrive loudly. Sometimes it is plated. Sometimes it is poured. Sometimes it is passed across a table with a smile. Why this book Poisoning cases occupy a particular place in true crime. They often begin in ordinary settings, rely on trust rather than force, and leave behind questions of motive, access, timing, and proof. This collection brings together 40 casefiles in which food and drink became central to the crime, whether as method, cover, or point of suspicion. Inside this collection 40 true-crime casefiles centered on poisoning, betrayal, and murder Cases unfolding across homes, cafés, workplaces, hotels, and public spaces A mix of convictions, disputed cases, unresolved questions, and cases never brought to final judgment A serious, casefile-driven approach focused on people, evidence, and legal result Famous and lesser-known cases linked by one chilling theme

Full Product Details

9781764573962

Table of Contents

Reviews

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A compelling and educational true-crime read Bought this for my nephew who enjoys crime stories and plans to become a detective. He found the cases gripping and insightful. It sparked his curiosity and made him think much deeper about investigations. A compelling and educational true-crime read. - N. Singh ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Interesting book I love a good true crime murder book. This one was pretty interesting. It involves food and murder, attempted or accomplished, in a case file delivery. Each case starts as a case file dossier before going into the story itself. I do recommend it. - Marijan S.

Author Information

James Hampstead writes narrative nonfiction about real crimes and the ordinary settings that made them possible. His work focuses on cases where trust, routine, or familiarity became the mechanism of harm: the shared meal, the domestic visit, the workplace habit, the object no one thought to question. He is less interested in spectacle than in the quieter question of how dangerous things move through everyday life undetected, and why certain crimes stay in memory long after the verdict and the headlines have gone.

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