I approached “The Intrigues of a Poisoner” because I’m fascinated by the life and crimes of the Marquise de Brinvillers, who poisoned members of her family and many others before the law caught up with her.

Therefore, I was quite disappointed that the marquise hardly appears. Rather, the focus starts with the man she was having an affair with – army captain Godin de Sainte-Croix – who winds up in the Bastille, courtesy of the marquise’s father’s influence.

The scenes set in the Bastille are the parts I enjoyed most. Here, Sainte-Croix meets infamous Italian poisoner Exili. Exili teaches Sainte-Croix the secrets of administering poison.

About halfway through the book, after the scenes in the Bastille, the focus shifts completely to a character called Oliver. I won’t say too much on this in case I reveal any spoilers, but the shift of focus spoiled things for me.

The theme largely changes too. It’s all about love, and for several pages it’s a complete bore, until the two lovebirds come out of their shells and arrange secret meetings. Even so, the contrast to the first half of the story is vast, which for me proved disappointing.

The characters are all believable, but some of the dialogue is too melodramatic, and therefore not quite so believable.

The author’s portrayal of the Marquise de Brinvillers is very good, which makes it more of a shame that he didn’t feature her more, or expand the tale to include at least some of her notorious activities.

The one element that did annoy me was that the third-person narrator occasionally mentions how certain places weren’t like they are nowadays. Remarks like this feel completely out of place. It’s almost like a transition from fiction to non-fiction.

Early on, the narrator also remarks on what the Marquise de Brinvillers would do – and in some cases who’d she’d poison – in future, as well as alluding to her fate. Such remarks don’t belong in historical fiction. It’s as though the author takes for granted that all his readers know the Marquise de Brinvillers’s story, so he might as well have the narrator mention it, especially as these events aren’t featured in the book.

As for “Captain Coutanceau”, I gave up after a couple of pages. It didn’t grab me by then, so I decided to pass it by. “The Intrigues of a Poisoner” was always my point of interest. ( )