Tea, Tonic & Toxin

Send us Fan Mail Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (1929) marked Hammett’s transition from short stories to novels. His portrayal of the Continental Op as a “hard-boiled” detective eventually became a prototype for many detective stories to come. A former detective, Hammett knew his stuff. Read : Buy it used or on Amazon . (Reading time: ~4 hours) Reflect : Check out the conversation starters below....

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Tea, Tonic & Toxin book club and podcast! Our focus is the history of mystery. We’re reading and discussing the best mysteries, detective stories, and thrillers ever written. Time Magazine included Red Harvest as one of the 100 Best English-Language Novels from 1923-2005, noting Dashiell Hammett created the prototype for the hard-boiled sleuth. The book surely b...

Send us Fan Mail The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) has become known as one of Agatha Christie’s most controversial novels due to an unexpected stunner of a twist at the end. Christie considered it her masterpiece. In 2013, the British Crime Writers’ Association voted it the best crime novel ever written. Read : Buy it used, read it for free , or get it on Amazon . (Reading time: ~4 hours) Reflect...

Send us Fan Mail The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) has become known as one of Agatha Christie’s most controversial novels due to an unexpected stunner of a twist at the end. Christie considered it her masterpiece. In 2013, the British Crime Writers’ Association voted it the best crime novel ever written. Read : Buy it used, read it for free , or get it on Amazon . (Reading time: ~4 hours) Reflect...

Send us Fan Mail WHOSE BODY? by Dorothy Sayers Dorothy Sayers’ Whose Body? is the first of 16 detective novels published by Sayers, one of the queens of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. This 1923 novel introduces Lord Peter Wimsey, considered the father of the amateur “gentleman sleuth” who will appear in many British novels for decades to come. Read : Buy it used, read it for free , or get it...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Tea, Tonic & Toxin book club and podcast! We’re reading and discussing the best mysteries and detective stories ever written. Whose Body? (1921) is the first of 16 detective novels published by Sayers, one of the queens of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. The story introduces Lord Peter Wimsey, considered the father of the amateur “gentleman sleuth” who will...

Send us Fan Mail The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) is the first Hercule Poirot mystery! Can Belgian detective Hercule Poirot solve an unsolvable crime? From the Times Literary Supplement (1921): “[The story] is said to be the result of a bet about the possibility of writing a detective story in which the reader would not be able to spot the criminal. Every reader must admit that the bet was w...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Tea, Tonic & Toxin book club and podcast! We’re reading and discussing the best mysteries and detective stories ever written. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) is the first Hercule Poirot mystery! From the Times Literary Supplement (1921): The story is “said to be the result of a bet about the possibility of writing a detective story in which the reader wou...

Send us Fan Mail When a freelance spy is murdered in Richard Hannay’s London flat, Richard Hannay goes on the run. Fearing for his life, his goal is to stay one step ahead of both the police and the spies who will stop at nothing to find him. What are the thirty-nine steps, and can Richard Hannay manage to stay one step ahead of his pursuers?  Published in 1915, The Thirty-Nine Steps is one of the...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Tea, Tonic & Toxin book club and podcast! We’re reading and discussing the best mysteries and detective stories ever written. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan, published in 1915, is one of the most popular espionage thrillers ever written. The action-packed story begins in May 1914. One day, our protagonist, Richard Hannay, finds a man named Franklin Scudder...

Send us Fan Mail Published in 1913, Trent’s Last Case is considered one of the first “whodunits” – stories in which new clues appear throughout, making it possible for readers to feel as if they’re solving the crime along with the detective. Also, this Philip Trent mystery includes a “less than perfect” sleuth – in contrast to Sherlock Holmes. Agatha Christie called it one of the three best myster...

Send us Fan Mail Published in 1913, Trent’s Last Case is considered one of the first “whodunits” – stories in which new clues appear throughout, making it possible for readers to feel as if they’re solving the crime along with the detective. Also, this Philip Trent mystery includes a “less than perfect” sleuth – in contrast to Sherlock Holmes. Agatha Christie called it one of the three best myster...

Send us Fan Mail The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) is G. K. Chesterton’s first collection of short stories featuring Father Brown, a nondescript Catholic priest who solves crimes using intuition and by tapping into spiritual and philosophic truths rather than scientific details. The stories are clever, thoughtful, and lovely. Meet our first guest, Deb Donner. She's a bookaholic. Reading is...

Send us Fan Mail The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) is G. K. Chesterton’s first collection of short stories featuring Father Brown, a nondescript Catholic priest who solves crimes using intuition and by tapping into spiritual and philosophic truths rather than scientific details. The stories are clever, thoughtful, and lovely. Meet our first guest, Deb Donner. She's a bookaholic. Reading is...

Send us Fan Mail The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) G. K. Chesterton’s first collection of short stories featuring a Catholic priest who solves crimes by tapping into spiritual and philosophic truths. Trent’s Last Case (1913) In E. C. Bentley’s “whodunit,” new clues appear throughout the story, making readers feel as if they’re solving the crime along with Trent. The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) In...

Send us Fan Mail “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) Edgar Allan Poe is the mystery master. Set in Paris, this gruesome tale introduces amateur detective Auguste Dupin and his trusty sidekick. “The Purloined Letter” (1844) Edgar Allan Poe called it “perhaps the best of my tales of ratiocination.” It’s a great mystery — minus the Gothic horror of “Rue Morgue.” Bleak House (1853) In Charles Dicke...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Baroness Orczy’s 1910 collection of short stories, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard , about a lady detective — one of the first in fiction!  Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel , w...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles .   This turn-of-the-century, Gothic-inspired spine-tingler includes a spectral hound and a decidedly hands-off Sherlock Hol...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles .   This turn-of-the-century, Gothic-inspired spine-tingler includes a spectral hound and a decidedly hands-off Sherlock Hol...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Israel Zangwill’s 1892 novel, The Big Bow Mystery .   Set in London’s working-class East End, The Big Bow Mystery is one of the earliest examples of the locked-room mystery genre. In the...

Send us Fan Mail Set in London’s working-class East End, this 1892 book is one of the earliest examples of the locked-room mystery genre. In The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill, two detectives race to solve a murder, an innocent man is condemned, and only at the very end is the startling solution revealed. Locked Room Mysteries . The Big Bow Mystery is generally seen as the first locked room my...

Send us Fan Mail The “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Watson — two of the most famous characters in English literature — make their first appearance in this tale, which forever changed the way mystery novels were written. Reasoning Backwards : Holmes says that if you describe a train of events, most people “will tell you what the result would be. They can put those e...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1887 novel, A Study in Scarlet .   The “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Watson — two of the most famous characters in English literatur...

Send us Fan Mail Australia’s first literary sensation, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide upon publication. Set in the charming and deadly streets of Melbourne, this 1886 thriller highlights class and social issues as a crime is committed by an unknown assassin. Legitimacy — Frettlby was married to Rosanna, and Sal was conceived in wedlock. Madge is Frettlby...

Send us Fan Mail Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for anyone who loves mysteries and detective stories. We’re making our way through the 19th-century stories that helped the genre evolve. Next up: Fergus Hume’s 1886 novel, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab .   Australia’s first literary sensation, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab sold hundreds of thousands of copies worldwide upon publication...