A Passion for Poison: A true crime story like no other, the extraordinary tale of the schoolboy teacup poisoner

This book was certainly one of the most interesting books I have read to this day. A Passion for Poison tells the story of Graham Young, a school boy serial killer who likes to kill using poison. The story itself is quite intriguing as in usual circumstances regarding serial killers, there is mostly a history of trauma or the person being exposed to very bad abuse in the past which is essentially what triggers their killing instinct. However, with the story of Graham Young it appears that the only problem is issues within the family, which I think is quite unusual and did make me question how much the external environment can provoke these killings. As with most serial killers, Young wanted to go down in history as the best poisoner. (so much so, he even wanted his own figure at Madame Tussaud's wax museum). Young first started out poisoning and consequently killing his family and friends and then began to venture further into his role as a serial killer and began poisoning colleagues at his workplace. Overall, this was a great read and as a fan of true crime stories, that was defintiely one of the best I've come across.

Before reading this book I had never heard of Graham Young the teacup killer. I am not usually a fan of this genre but once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. The book is well researched giving details of Graham’s early life, his Mum died when he was a baby, his early years spent with his beloved Aunt and Uncle. When Graham’s Dad remarried things seemed to go well in their new family. However Graham developed an early interest in poisons, later developing an encyclopaedic knowledge of pharmacology. Graham started small, adding poison to family meals purely to monitor the effects. This in time led to Graham’s Stepmum dying from poisoning although this wasn’t found to be the cause of death. From the first trial and incarceration in Broadmoor things developed including Graham fooling the parole board to release him with dire consequences. This book gave a detailed history with some background of other known poisoners. Once I Started it I couldn’t put it down, I was amazed that Graham managed to fool so many people in authority. I would absolutely recommend this book.

In her new book 'A Passion for Poison', Carol Ann Lee tells the story of Graham Young who came to be known as the 'Teacup Poisoner'. The book takes a very factual view and has clearly been well researched. Having not heard of Graham Young before, I found it very interesting to hear about different parts of his life. The author spends time detailing the early parts of Young's life, his time spent in Broadmoor and then spends the majority of the book discussing the time that Young spent working at Hadlands. It is detailed and thorough and does not leave the reader with many questions about the poisoner's life. Whilst this book wasn't a page turner, it was very interesting and I learnt plenty. I would recommend it for true crime lovers and also those who, like myself, don't often pick up non-fiction books as it is a good example of a different type of book.