This is not actually a book. First 46% of this book contains 3 essays which have no connection in them. Remaining 54% contains sample chapters from other books of Karen Maitland.
No wonder this book is free of cost.
First chapter lists incidences from medieval era about murders committed by children either direct or indirect. 2nd and 3rd chapters are the lists of medieval poisons and antidotes. This makes no sense. 2 stars for the 1st chapter only which I found worth reading. ( )

In this short ebook Karen Maitland relates some true crimes through the centuries (from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century), where children were not the victims but the perpetrators. While some are fairly chilling when considering the severity of the deed and the youth of the children involved, I thought the individual accounts were thrown together rather haphazardly and were distinctly lacking not only in detail but also a more coherent narrative. What struck me was that the polished prose usually so evident in her novels was not much in evidence here, and it didn't help that the text still showed several spelling and grammatical errors. A rushed job, maybe?

I found the list of the top ten medieval poisons and antidotes much more interesting, with several snippets of interest worth remembering. My favourite: why are plates of food still decorated with parsley? ( )