Perfect Poison

A Female Serial Killer's Deadly Medicine

By: M. William Phelps

Narrated by: J. Charles

In Northampton, Massachusetts, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Kristen Gilbert was known as a hardworking, dedicated nurse - so why were her patients dying?

So many emergencies and sudden deaths occurred while Kristen made her rounds on Ward C that her colleagues jokingly called her the "Angel of Death". Yet most people didn't suspect the horrifying truth behind the nickname: that Gilbert's polished façade concealed a scheming, manipulative liar and a homicidal, narcissistic sociopath.

From August 1995 through February 1996, Gilbert dealt out wholesale death. Her victims were helpless patients who trusted her as a caregiver, only to learn too late that she was a killer, her weapon a drug capable of causing fatal heart attacks.

She got away with murder until three of her fellow nurses could no longer ignore the proliferation of deadly "coincidences" on Gilbert's watch. Investigators believe Kristen Gilbert may have been responsible for as many as 40 deaths. As the law closed in, she struck back, faking suicide attempts, harassing witnesses, stalking her ex-boyfriend, and terrorizing the hospital with bomb threats.

In March 2001, after being found guilty of four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, "Angel of Death" Kristen Gilbert was sentenced to life imprisonment.

©2008 M. William Phelps (P)2008 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"A first-rate investigative examination." (Dr. Michael Baden, forensic pathologist and host of HBO's Autopsy series)
"Charles' precise reading takes listeners into Gilbert's paranoia." ( AudioFile)

Great book. The Author really did his homework!

If you like true crime, this is the book for you. You really feel like you are getting the whole story. You will not be bored, but you will be perplexed. How someone could take a life is a sad mystery to all.

Well written.

Unlike other true crime authors Phelps doesn't bore us with extraneous information just to fill pages. He gets to the meat of the story that keeps you gripped and coming back for more.

Fascinating and creepy

What did you love best about Perfect Poison?

Well written, hard to put down, intriguing look at a woman with a dangerous borderline personality disorder.

What about J. Charles’s performance did you like?

The reader does just fine when simply narrating and oddly enough does well with the female character's voices. He does seem to go over the top when voicing some of the male characters. Why, for instance, does the DA sound like Ted Baxter from the old Mary Tyler Moore Show?

Any additional comments?

Still a great read especially if true crime stories fascinate you.

Excellent!!

What a great delve into such a twisted mind. Well written and researched. Highly recommended

Truely haunting

What a diabolical women. It's hard to conceive of someone so completely evil. I was riveted.