Queen Cleopatra famously forced servants to commit suicide by means of a strychnine tree’s fruit seeds, which contain lethal levels of strychnine and brucine, in order to determine if it would be the best means for her own suicide. Upon seeing their agony (which included painful vomiting, facial contortions and convulsions) she opted for the apparently less horrific choice of the asp.

In The Grotto's Secret, my character finds some natural toxins in a lab and ... well, I won't give away the plot!

Remember that horrid thick medicine you were spoon-fed as a child to keep you healthy? Read how poisonous castor oil actually is and be shocked!

More Natural Toxins and Poisons

I didn't use this bushman' s poison in The Grotto's Secret but my mind is bubbling away with ideas for another novel that I am writing.

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Read The Grotto's Secret to find out what happens ...

Find out more weird and wonderful things I did while writing my historical conspiracy thriller.