Sex, murder, and academics are the strange bedfellows in The Poison Tree, a first novel by Tony Strong. Set in Oxford, where protagonist Terry Williams has come to get a doctorate in detective fiction, the story revolves around crimes committed before Terry"s arrival, namely a horrifying murder that occurred in the very house into which she has moved. Soon history seems to be repeating itself: poison-pen letters start arriving, a murderous stalker roams the streets, and Terry begins to uncover the ugly secrets that lie just beneath the surface of Oxford"s seemingly idyllic environment.