Presented by Dr Kathryn Harkup, writer and Science Communicator. We all enjoy a good murder mystery be it on TV or in film. But how accurately are they portrayed? Dr Kathryn Harkup takes us behind the scenes and explains the science that underpins some of our best loved assassinations: from Shakespeare to Shelley and from Agatha Christie to Ian Fleming.

Dr Kathryn Harkup is a former chemist, author and science communicator known for blending
science, literature and pop culture. She completed a doctorate on her favourite chemicals,
phosphines, and went on to further postdoctoral research before realising that talking, writing and
demonstrating science appealed a bit more than hours slaving over a hot fume-hood. Kathryn’s first
book was the international best-seller A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, which was
shortlisted for a Mystery Readers International Macavity Award and a BMA Book Award. She has also
written Making the Monster: the Science of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Death by Shakespeare:
Snakebites, Stabbings and Broken Hearts. In 2021, she published the popular science book The
Secret Lives of Elements, and the nonfiction Vampirology: The Science of Horror's Most Famous Fiend. In 2022, Superspy Science: Science, Death and Tech in the World of James Bond was published dealing more generally with depictions of technology in Ian Fleming's James Bond novels.