John Garrigus’ A Secret among the Blacks makes an important contri-bution to the historiography of pre-revolutionary Saint Domingue. The book “tells the story of men and women who . . . over thirty years, prepared the land they lived on for revolution” (1). It sheds light on the lives of several enslaved and free black people who were all caught up in poisoning scandals such as Medor, a domestic servant and Assam, a plantation nurse; Makandal, the well-known alleged conspirator; enslaved driver, Nicholas; Lizette, a free black woman and her free adult son, as well as the less poison-related case of enslaved foremen, Jean-Jacques and Hippolyte.