'Miraculously well written, compellingly readable ... a book of rare distinction.' <em>The Times</em></p> '[Bell's] solution to the mystery was - and is - a triumph of perseverance ... enthralling.' <em>The Guardian</em></p> '[<em>The Poison Principle</em>] ... measures out, in small loving spoonfuls, grains of information about [a] family story ... Between the quiet drip feed of her personal memoir, Bell mixes in stronger flavors: ingredients from criminology and psychology, botany and chemistry.' <em>The New York Times</em></p> 'A gift of a story and Bell tells it to near perfection.' <em>The Age</em></p> 'An elegantly written memoir about her search for the truth behind her family's darkest secret ... a fine thriller, a richly detailed pharmacopoeia and a splendid dissertation on references to poison in literature.' <em>The Sydney Morning Herald</em></p>