Name: Poison Flowers: A Bordeaux Housewife’s Murderous Secret
Author: Viviane Janouin-Benanti

In Bordeaux, the capital of the Aquitaine region of France, the diabolical Élisabeth Ducourneau poisoned her victims, one after the other, without ever being suspected of the crimes. It took an anonymous letter to alert the police and put an end to her criminal career. The poison she used, digitalin, is easy to get it taken and leaves barely any trace. It was almost the perfect crime, but what were her motives? In this enthralling novel, you’ll discover an ordinary woman, a devoted wife, an exemplary mother, who becomes a ruthless killer, a killer who could have continued on for much longer if justice had not caught up to her and put her in prison. The punishment for her crimes: the guillotine

This true story, however, is also about the despair of a father who returned broken after Great War and the turmoil of the interwar years in France. With the Second World War approaching, this book plunges us into an intense atmosphere where people are grappling with the rise of fascism and the arrival of refugees fleeing oppressive states, in particular Spaniards running away from Franco’s regime. The story also brings to light antisemitic acts that were on the rise in France, paving the way for the Vichy government.

A captivating true crime novel in which Viviane Janouin-Benanti masterfully finds the words and captures the mood to transport us into another place and time.

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Some photos from the book

L'empoisonneuse à la digitaline — Portrait of the poisoner with digitalin

Mariage de l'empoisonneuse — The marriage of the poisoner

Bordeaux, Gate of Burgundy, close to the poisoner's café

Book Reviews

This author, who specializes in true crime stories, offers a perfect portrayal of each crime. She recreates the atmosphere of the time period remarkably well.

Review by Delphine Cingal on Goodreads (September 12, 2007)

These novels based on true events are both well documented and lively, making for a very enjoyable read.

Review by Claude Le Nocher on Rayon Polar (April 17, 2007)

In Poison Flowers, Viviane Janouin-Benanti delves into a particularly complex and fascinating era in history to tell the story of Gabrielle: born in 1904, a devoted wife, a perfect mother, a generous woman who visits the sick in hospitals…who commits almost perfect crimes for very strange reasons. The depths of the human soul hold no secrets for Viviane, whose studies of law and criminology allow her to dive deep into its crevices.

Ouest-France, July/August 2007

Gabrielle’s story begins in 1922, at a wedding that already feels like an argument. She marries Laurent, a devoted socialist and railroad worker, despite her bourgeois mother Adèle’s disdain for his modest means. The family is still vibrating with the aftershocks of World War I—her father, André, is a shell of himself, drifting between silence and fevered recollection, the Spanish flu having only deepened the psychic crater the trenches left behind.

Bordeaux itself becomes a character: the Saint-Michel spire looming over Rue des Faures, the Pont de Pierre tying riverbanks together, the little café at 85 Rue des Faures where Gabrielle pours wine, gossip, and cheer. The book’s photo album grounds the fiction in place—there’s even a snapshot of the café’s exact site—reminding you this isn’t just an author’s invention.

Viviane Janouin-Benanti doesn’t show you a monster; she shows you a method—how knowledge, grievance, and opportunity can mix into something as deceptively pretty as a poison flower. The narrative is intimate without being lurid, researched without being pedantic, and paced to match the patient timing of the crime itself. By the time the blade falls at Fort du Hâ, you’ll feel you’ve walked every step from the school lab to the café counter to the courtroom bench—and you’ll eye your next digestive tea with more caution than you’d like to admit. If you’re after a smart, unsettling true-crime novel that doubles as a portrait of a city and a century-old mindset, Poison Flowers is a must-read.

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