In the ruthless worlds of espionage, global politics and the criminal underground, there are many grim ways to die:

Tea laced with polonium. A face full of the nerve agent VX. A gentleman’s umbrella that shoots ricin pellets.

Sometimes the assassination attempts leave a mystery in their wake, as in the case of the Russian double agent Sergei V. Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, who were poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent called Novichok in Salisbury, England, this month.

The episode set off an escalating diplomatic row between Britain and Russia, and is one in a long line of dastardly plots that have captured the public’s imagination. Here is a selection, and the deadly implements deployed.