Tag Archives: Poisoning

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical sexism
  • Period-typical racism & racial slurs including antisemitism, antiziganism (g slur) and mentions of blackface
  • Drugging
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Seizures (on-page)
  • Death of a mother from accidental overdose mentioned
  • Murder of a mother/mother-in-law and wife by poisoning (which was first diagnosed as death from heart failure)
  • Incarceration pending trial
  • Military service mentioned
  • Mentions of euthanising a dog

When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain

The past three years have been tough for Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town quietly tucked away in the Ozark mountains. More than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails; there one moment, gone the next, not a trace left behind, until their buried bodies are discovered. 17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & domestic violence including setting fire to a cabin with wife & child inside
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Death of a grandfather from a fall into a ravine
  • Murder by arrow to the throat
  • Gun violence & threats of gun violence
  • Physical assault (hit in the head with a rock)
  • Disappearance of a parent discussed
  • Drowning & near-drowning
  • Accidental poisoning mentioned

Stormfire by Christine Monson

Abducted on her way to boarding school, a terrified Catherine Enderly was brought from England to the coast of Ireland, the prisoner of the angry and powerful young Sean Culhane—a man sworn to vengeance against her family. Frightened but defiant, the young countess met her captor with a strength that belied her fragile loveliness. But even as Sean vowed to have his revenge on Catherine, with each encounter he became more attracted to her. Her fiery innocence was a seduction that lured the passions of long smouldering hostility into a blazing inferno of desire… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & gang-rape
  • Forced starvation
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a mother
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Whipping
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Napoleonic War & colonialization

Wisteria by Adalyn Grace

Blythe Hawthorne has never let anyone tell her what to do—not society, not her overprotective father, and certainly not the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how rude and insufferable he is. In fact, she’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensures that her life in his palace is anything but a fairytale. But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite…and to discover the truth about who she really is.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hallucinations
  • Emesis
  • Blood & gore depiction and dead bodies
  • Plague mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Poisoning
  • Animal death

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism (r slur)
  • Slut-shaming
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Racism & racial slur
  • Sexual assault & incest (implied)
  • Suicide & mentions of suicidal ideation
  • Drug abuse
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Animal death & cruelty

The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

Prince Arris knows that marriage means murder. Thanks to a poorly worded wish to a sea witch, all one needs to rule the Isle of Malys is the heart and hand of the kingdom’s heir. Historically, this has been construed quite literally. Thus, Arris expects that the day after his marriage and murder he will wake up as a sentient tree alongside the rest of his predecessors. His only chance at a long life is finding true and lasting love. When Arris’s parents announce a tournament of brides to compete for his hand and heart, a slew of eligible, lovely and (possibly murderous) bachelorettes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Attempted murder by poisoning
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Loss of autonomy discussed (magical shapeshifting curse)

I Will Mend You by Gigi Styx

My worst nightmare finally stepped out of the mirror. And the only man who can save me is a ghost. I’m trapped in a forgotten nightmare with the monster I most fear. The key to my freedom lies behind a wall of memories. Xero’s specter invades my mind, whispering both vengeance and salvation. He insists he’s real, yet I can’t trust my shattered psyche. But as my tormentors draw close, I must rely on the phantom I betrayed for protection—and for revenge. She’s ensnared by darkness, and only I can set her free. To save her, I must become the vengeful spirit she fears. Amethyst’s mind is a maze of terror and confusion. Freeing… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child & organ trafficking
  • Elder abuse
  • Victim-blaming
  • Rape, dubious consent (‘dubcon’), sexual harassment, & attempted sexual assault
  • Paedophilia, grooming, & child sexual abuse
  • Underage sex work mentioned (secondary character)
  • Gang rape (secondary character)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Hallucinations & memory loss
  • Immolation
  • Abortion (forced) recounted
  • Medical misconduct (medication tampering)
  • Forced feeding
  • Cannibalism & dismemberment
  • Genital mutilation (castration)
  • Murder & murder of a child/infant
  • Graphic torture (on-page)
  • Car accident
  • Poisoning
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Stalking & blackmail
  • Bullying & online harassment

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle

In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy the Cloaks and the Daggers – the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, 17-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city? Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Poisoning mentioned

Twin Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister’s place in the palace. Trained from birth to return to the place of her parents’ murder and usurp the only survivor, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves. Or she would, if only a certain palace guard wasn’t quite so distractingly attractive, and if her reckless magic didn’t have a habit of causing trouble… Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility. Marriage into a brutal kingdom awaits, and she will not let a small matter like waking up in the middle of the desert in the company of an extremely… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Persecution for witchcraft (theme)
  • Child abuse recounted (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)
  • Attempted murder by poisoning (on-page)
  • Minor blood & injury depiction
  • Murder of a father by poisoning mentioned
  • Murder of a mother & great-aunt from their throats being slit (recounted & on-page)
  • Minor battle scenes and fantasy violence, including sword, bow and arrow & knife violence (recounted & on-page) as well as discussions of past war and genocide
  • Imprisonment (on-page)
  • Torture mentioned (off-page)
  • Kidnapping (on-page)
  • Loss of autonomy (magical-induced memory loss and sleep)
  • Animal death (snow leopard, elk, birds)
  • Bullying, including being magically suffocated and thrown off a cliff into the ocean to drown (on-page)

I’m Not Done with You Yet by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Jane is unhappy. A struggling midlist writer whose novels barely command four figures, she feels trapped in an underwhelming marriage, just scraping by to pay a crippling Bay Area mortgage for a house–a life–she’s never really wanted. There’s only ever been one person she cared about, one person who truly understood her: Thalia. Jane’s best and only friend nearly a decade ago during their Creative Writing days at Oxford. It was the only good year of Jane’s life–cobblestones and books and damp English air, heady wine and sweet cider and Thalia, endless Thalia. But then one night ruined everything. The blood-soaked night…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic friendship
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Social Anxiety
  • Heart attack mentioned
  • Murder by poisoning & stabbing
  • Strangulation