A Beautiful Poison

De: Lydia Kang

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned - and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone - even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

©2017 Lydia Kang (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Excerpt from “Two Fusiliers” by Robert Graves, from The Complete Poems Volume I, edited by Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward. Reprinted with kind permission of Carcanet Press Limited, Manchester, UK. © 1995 The Robert Graves Copyright Trust.

Disturbing, dark & tragic, but excellent

This thriller was darkly disturbing but with a well written, unique approach. As the story unfolds later by shocking layer, one doesn't know whether to love or hate the main characters because of their quirks and how they treat one another. The happenings led me toward one suspect, but I was reeling with horrified surprise when the story twisted to its conclusion. Having recently learned about the sad history of the 'radium girls', I was pleasantly surprised to see it incorporated into this story line. Darkly tragic, well crafted, but the final chapter seems incongruous, even while leaving the reader with a sense of hope for the wounded survivors of the book's events. Perhaps the author felt it necessary to dispel some of the darkness created by the previous chapters.

Love the science

I loved the twist and science. I loves how both gender is portrayed to be visions of science

enjoyed the story, annoyed by the voices

narrators weak attempt to mimic a man's voice made me laugh and pulled me out of the story every time. the chapters where two men would talk to each other? unbearable.

story itself was great.

Great Read!

I was thoroughly enthralled by this wonderful mystery. The characters were complicated and intriguing, as were their relationships. I was sure I had the murders solved and loved the shock as the real resolution played out! The reader did a superb job with the many voices as well!!

Grabs you like a python.

Now seeking all other books written by Lydia Kang. She transports the reader in this story to New York in 1900's during World War 1 and the peak of a flu epidemic. Fortune's have turned, assumptions have been made and revenge of the afflicted coils , tightens with a tease, then chokes out a strange benevolence.

Interesting story

it was good with a few plot twist but nothing too surprising. it was an enjoyable read.

A slow burn

I almost gave up on this book as the story line was a bit slow - glad I didn’t - it is a slow burn to a great ending to the mystery

fantastic!

my favorite this year. I could definitely see myself reading this again one day.

Unexpectedly excellent!

I listened for free with Kindle Unlimited, which is often a crap shoot. Some books are awful beyond belief and some are excellent. This was the latter. I passed on it a zillion times because I’m not a big mystery/thriller fan on audio, but this was so much more than just a mystery.

The mystery was actually quite complex, and I had no clue “whodunit.” Beyond the solving the mystery aspect were the characters, all of whom were well done but the three main characters were written with such nuance. You root for all three of them—even the one woman who is rather selfish at the beginning of the story still has redeeming qualities. Each character grows as a person as they try to make good lives for themselves, which looks different for all three of them.

Loved the historical aspect—so well done—and loved the audio narrator.

I think this might be my favorite fiction read of the year.

Meh.

It’s hard to write a story where one of the major characters is doomed to an early death. It took forever for the inevitable to happen. Overall the story dragged.

The narrator pronounced a lot of words wrong. “Grippe” is pronounced like “grip,” not “gripe” as the narrator said it. There were a bunch of these errors which I found disconcerting.