"either a very bad joke or an insult" [SILV] We occasionally hear "Mr. Cocksure" and "jack-in-office" thrown about as epithets in the Sherlock Holmes stories. But by and large, there is very little profanity in these Victorian and early Edwardian detective tales. But Sherlock Holmes manages to insult and put down some of his rivals, in a decidedly cool and casual way. Explore the sometimes harsh language that was meant to insult in this episode of Trifles. Have you left us a rating and review on...
Sep 26, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 91
"come on to the Continent with me" [FINA] Watson occasionally accompanied Sherlock Holmes onto the Continent (i.e., Europe), but there were many other instances when Holmes's work took him there without Watson. And we, along with Watson, were later treated to tantalizing hints as to what happened. What were some of these places and what were the untold and exotic tales that Sherlock Holmes was involved with? They are the topic of this episode of Trifles. Have you left us a rating and review on t...
Sep 20, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 90
"off to violin-land, where all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony" [REDH] One of the most off-hand but arresting comments that Sherlock Holmes made was that he owned a Stradivarius violin. That he had purchased for a mere 55 shillings! What do we know of Stradivarius instruments, and about Holmes's own ability on the violin? Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? Every review helps more people find the show. And please consider supporting our efforts th...
Sep 13, 2018•17 min•Season 2Ep. 89
"when a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals" [SPEC] The Sherlock Holmes stories are told from the perspective of a doctor. So it only stands to reason that he would notice other medical men throughout his adventures with the great detective. As we look at doctors across the Canon, we find heroes, villains, suspects, victims, clients and more. This episode takes a closer look at who some of these medical types were, and what roles they played in the plots. Have you left us a rating...
Sep 05, 2018•19 min•Season 2Ep. 88
"the good doctor took us to the yew alley" [HOUN] John H. Watson, M.D., late of the Army Medical Department, had a number of medical practices throughout the Sherlock Holmes stories. He waffled between being a flat-sharing colleague of Holmes and a doctor with his own thriving practice. From Paddington to Queen Anne Street, we follow Watson's rise. But what of his methods? Did he dispense reasonable medical care of the age? Or was he too far removed from the practice of medicine by the time he t...
Aug 29, 2018•15 min•Season 2Ep. 87
"any other spirit but rum" [BLAC] We're accustomed to thinking about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson being associated with whiskey and brandy. But there are plenty of other kinds of alcohol in the Canon. More than the infamous Imperial Tokay of "His Last Bow," or the ancient and cobwebby bottles, there are some curious references to wine and spirits that warrant your attention. Even if they're a trifle. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? Every review he...
Aug 22, 2018•19 min•Season 2Ep. 86
"I shall run over to Camberwell and call upon Mrs. Cecil Forrester" [SIGN] We know what you're thinking: The Sign of Four wasn't an unpublished case. You, as a Trifles listener, are very astute. We should have expected nothing less. However, within The Sign of Four , we do have a glimpse of a number of unpublished cases: including one with Mrs. Cecil Forrester, with whom Mary Morstan lives in Camberwell. Could this be a connection to a later case mentioned in "The Adventure of the Five Orange Pi...
Aug 16, 2018•14 min•Season 2Ep. 85
"neat morocco case" [SIGN] We all know that Sherlock Holmes used drugs. "A seven-per-cent solution" of cocaine is what he recommended to Watson in The Sign of Four. But in the prelude to that, we're told that Holmes took "his hypodermic syringe from its neat morocco case." This case must have graced the interior of 221B Baker Street. But just what is it? And what do we really know of Holmes's drug mania? Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could real...
Aug 08, 2018•20 min•Season 2Ep. 84
"I trust you have no objection to tobacco smoke" [SIGN] Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous smoker in the world. But in popular culture, he's always pictured with a pipe. The Canon tells us that he also smoked cigars and cigarettes. What was the frequency with which he smoked each? Did he tend to favor one form of smoking over another? And was there something that cause him to choose a pipe versus a cigarette versus a cigar? Step into the smoking room with us as we investigate. Have you ...
Aug 01, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 83
"the irregulars are useful sometimes" [RETI] Homeless children. A gossip columnist. A dog. What do all of these have in common? They're part of the underground network of helpers that Sherlock Holmes cobbled together. With these individuals and more, Holmes was able to fan out across the great metropolis and gather information that helped him solve his cases. And they're the subject of this week's Trifles episode. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We ...
Jul 25, 2018•23 min•Season 2Ep. 82
"before my biographer had come to glorify me." [MUSG] We've previously covered the tantalizing cases that Sherlock Holmes pulled out of his tin box . This time, we spend time thinking about some of his other clients before he met Dr. Watson. There's one we know by name, but the speculation begins fairly early on, as we try to use Holmes's methods to determine who some of his other clients might have been in those first years of his consultancy. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast...
Jul 18, 2018•14 min•Season 2Ep. 81
"a wax-coloured model of my old friend" [EMPT] One of the handiest items found at 221B Baker Street has to be the wax bust of Sherlock Holmes. More than once it played a role as a decoy for Sherlock Holmes. But when did Holmes commission it and how did it get to Baker Street? And was it even the same bust between the two tales? These questions and more await in the latest edition of Trifles. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your h...
Jul 12, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 80
"the streaming umbrella" [FIVE] London is supposed to be a decidedly rainy place. The place where one might expect to find an umbrella or two carried about. But only a handful of stories of Sherlock Holmes included the mention of umbrellas, galoshes, waterproofs or other rain gear. We investigate the trifling matter of the few umbrellas in the Canon. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider supporting our ef...
Jul 04, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 79
"the smartest of the Scotland Yarders" [STUD] When you think of a Scotland Yard inspector in the Sherlock Holmes stories, odds are your thoughts immediately go to Inspector Lestrade. He makes the most appearances in stories and certainly gets the most name recognition, in part thanks to Dennis Hoey's portrayal of the bumbling but capable policeman. But what about good old Inspector Gregson, who appeared alongside Lestrade in the very first Sherlock Holmes story? He manages to make a number of ap...
Jun 27, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 78
"pulling a large tin box behind him" [MUSG] We're accustomed to referring to Watson's famous tin box, held in the vaults of Cox & Co. Inside were contents that we were not meant to see: heretofore unseen tales of Sherlock Holmes. But Holmes himself was in possession of his own tin box, and boy did it contain a few surprises. We take an inventory and surmise what some of the contents meant. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your...
Jun 20, 2018•15 min•Season 2Ep. 77
"a shocking habit,—destructive" [SIGN] It's June, which is the month of the Queen's birthday. What a perfect time to look at the "patriotic V.R." that Sherlock Holmes adorned the wall of 221B Baker Street with. But Sherlock Holmes didn't stop there. He had some other habits that were rather destructive when it came to his rooms. What were they and why did Holmes do that? We discuss these in the latest episode of Trifles. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice y...
Jun 13, 2018•17 min•Season 2Ep. 76
"I pocket my fee" [STUD] How much money did Sherlock Holmes make from his clients? And when did he begin making money? We went back to an early piece of Sherlockian scholarship by Robert Keith Leavitt, first published in Vincent Starrett's 221B: Studies in Sherlock Holmes for inspiration. We run through Leavitt's assessment, commenting on certain cases and even finding a few points where we disagree with his analysis. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet?...
Jun 06, 2018•22 min•Season 2Ep. 75
"Bring me the books" [BLUE] Sherlock Holmes was a consultant—or more properly, a consulting detective—but he was a consultant, nonetheless. And consultants need clients, who in turn pay the bills. But have you ever stopped to think about how Holmes went about collecting his fees? We don't know anything about his fees, other than a handful of high profile cases with rewards, and that (he says) he didn't vary them save for when he remitted them altogether. Have you left us a rating and review on t...
May 30, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 74
"I could easily dispose of the mythical" [SILV] There are assumptions and myths mentioned throughout the Sherlock Holmes stories. Whether they're believed by clients, Scotland Yard inspectors, or others, they throw our attention elsewhere. And the Sherlockian world has had its own fair share of myths to deal with over the years as well. Join us as we try to identify and bust a few myths. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help....
May 23, 2018•13 min•Season 2Ep. 73
"the dreadful affair of the Abernetty family" [SIXN] Among the published cases, there are a handful that can be identified by a simple reference. If we said "a tale for which the world is not yet prepared," you'd say the Giant Rat of Sumatra. Similarly, if we mention "the depth to which the butter had sunk on a hot day," you'd think of the Abernetty family, as mentioned in the opening of "The Six Napoleons." But what was going on there? And what have scholars said about it over the years? Have y...
May 16, 2018•13 min•Season 2Ep. 72
"put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Busybody Holmes!" [SOLI] Sherlock Holmes is possibly the most famous smoker in literature. But more than his ubiquitous pipe, his manner of supporting his habit within his rooms at 221B Baker Street was a bit odd, shall we say. From his placement of cigars and tobacco, to what he did with his pipe remnants, the trimmings around his flat were quite unique, if trifling. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could ...
May 09, 2018•21 min•Season 2Ep. 71
" insight into the character of parents" [COPP] We're coming up on Mother's Day in the United States, and that made us think about parents. We've covered mothers in the Canon discussed alternative parents in previous episodes. But now let's take a look at the most corrosive parental relationships in the Sherlock Holmes stories. After reading Jenn Eaker's article on "A Case of Identity" in the Autumn 2017 issue of The Baker Street Journal , we thought a look at the top 5 worst parents would be in...
May 02, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 70
"Does it not strike you as a strange occupation" [RETI] In the 60 tales that comprise the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, we come across a variety of jobs. Certainly there are the garden variety: cab drivers, butlers, governesses. But what about the more rare? Sherlock Holmes billed himself as the world's only unofficial consulting detective, but he interacted with people whose jobs were out of the ordinary - at least by today's standards. So we decided to spend some time talking about what so...
Apr 25, 2018•23 min•Season 2Ep. 69
"see what V has to say" [SUSS] Among the cases that Watson tantalizingly dangles before us, "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" offers the Matilda Briggs and the giant rat of Sumatra (one of the tales we mentioned in Episode 55 concerning Weird Animals ), one of the most famous of the untold adventures. But it also offers up a handful of others in quick succession, coming from the 'V' volume of Sherlock Holmes's index, rather than from the tin box mentioned in "Thor Bridge," and they are worth...
Apr 18, 2018•20 min•Season 2Ep. 68
"abstruse chemical analysis" [SIGN] Along with the deerstalker, Inverness cloak, magnifying glass and curved pipe, Sherlock Holmes is most often associated with chemistry – chemical compounds as well as chemistry equipment. In this installment of our Inside 221B series, we take a look at Sherlock Holmes's experience with chemistry and other laboratory setups we encounter in the stories. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. ...
Apr 12, 2018•18 min•Season 2Ep. 67
"I was overwhelmed by the honour" [BERY] Sherlock Holmes was a well-known public figure. But he was also a known and sought-after expert specifically by other well-known public figures and entities. Which notable public figures sought and received Holmes's services and then bestowed upon him some gift other than cash? Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider supporting our efforts through Patreon or PayPal ....
Apr 04, 2018•20 min•Season 2Ep. 66
"I heard you marching about" [SIGN] From the first cricket match in England in 1877 to the wireless mentioned in 1914, there are numerous things connected to Sherlock Holmes that happened in the month of March. As the month draws to a close, we reflect on happenings historical and Canonical. Let's see if our bluster lives up to the weather this month is known for. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast player of your choice yet? We could really use your help. And please consider sup...
Mar 28, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 65
"two rather leprous mendicants" [ILLU] When Watson glances across his notes and teases us with adventures that he and Sherlock Holmes have experienced, but only gives us a topic with only the barest of details, it makes us wonder exactly what happened. So is the case in this episode as we talk about the Amateur Mendicant Society and its rather unique meeting location — which in this case coincides with a real-life Sherlock Holmes society. Have you left us a rating and review on the podcast playe...
Mar 21, 2018•16 min•Season 2Ep. 64
"as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street" [REDH] Step into the sitting room at 221B Baker Street with us again and look around, as we take in the sights, smells and sounds within that most famous of addresses. This time, we investigate the physical elements that accompany alcoholic drinks within the walls of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson's abode. Namely: the gasogene and tantalus. We explore the origins of those phrases and discuss them in detail. Have you left us a rating and...
Mar 14, 2018•15 min•Season 2Ep. 63
"a line of books of reference beside the mantelpiece" [NOBL] In Episode 58, we discussed Sherlock Holmes's index books – those collections in which he tracked criminal cases, looked up necessary trivia, etc. But this time, we reach a little deeper and discuss some of the actual named reference books at 221B Baker Street. Which publications were these and how did they help Holmes and Watson connect the dots and solve some cases? It's a trifle, certainly, but there's nothing so important as trifle...
Mar 08, 2018•19 min•Season 2Ep. 62
