[clueless (OP)]

Hello.

I guess I could use information for a detective story of mine I’m contemplating. I watched an episode of Death in Paradise, where a woman cooked tobacco I think of one cigarette only and presumably in boiling water. She then placed the dried/cooked tobacco in an empty capsule and swallowed the capsule, soon after dying, in order to frame this “murder” to a certain priest.  I guess I could use tips/info about details regarding this particular instance of deadly nicotine poisoning if I were to understand it and write an acceptable story w/o appearing ignorant.

Thanks if You know something about this and can shed light on this tragic matter, regarding: nicotine poisoning.

[Bored chemist]

A single cigarette would be very unlikely to kill a healthy adult.
But the nicotine from a packet of 20 could.
Nicotine tastes very bitter, so you would have to disguise that somehow in the story.

[clueless (OP)]

Thanks for an offered explanation.

But why boil tobacco of the mentioned twenty cigarettes? In the episode tobacco was boiled. 

[Bored chemist]

Because you want just the nicotine, rather than the rest of the tobacco.

[alancalverd]

Lethal dose of nicotine is about 60 mg.Tobacco contains around 1 - 2%  nicotine by weight so there's enough in a pack of 20 cigs to kill you at 50% extraction, but as BC says it's very bitter and needs to be disguised to be administered as a poison.

Fortunately it is highly soluble in alcohol, so you could extract it with gin or vodka which you then serve with a bitter mixer. I'd recommend sloes and sugar - your victim will die with a happy smile.

Getting rid of tobacco is not a problem. Once you have extracted the nicotine, dry the residue: it's a pleasant and now fairly harmless smoke, and the ash is easily dumped in a public wastebin along with everyone else's fag ends.

You might do better with pipe tobacco or a big cigar. IIRC there's quite a lot of potassium nitrate in cigarette tobacco to keep it burning, and it is even more soluble than nicotine so might make the drink taste salty. But why bother with chemistry? Nowadays you can buy liquid nicotine for human consumption in an e-cig shop, though it is banned as an insecticide!

[Bored chemist]

your victim will die with a happy smile.

Not if they have nicotine poisoning.
It's not a nice way to go.

[rohite]

Oh, you should ensure accuracy, especially concerning sensitive topics like poisoning.