The Apothecaries’ Hall is buzzing with intrigue after an extraordinary outbreak of food poisoning at the Livery Dinner claims the life of one of its members. But who would want to poison the Apothecaries? And were they targeting the Society or specifically the deceased?
John Rawlings, the young and ebullient 18th Century apothecary and occasional sleuth, is in a perfect position to help London’s famous blind magistrate, John Fielding, with his enquiries. Meanwhile he is careful not to neglect his own intriguing personal affairs.
As Rawlings searches for gossip, he soon discovers that a fellow apothecary had visited the dying man’s house on the morning of his death, that the Beadle has fallen out with the Master and that a bereaved parent whose son died as a result of misdiagnosis has vowed vengeance on the entire Society.