Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"Holmes pointed to the street lamp" [SIXN]   It's impossible to think about Victorian London without imagining street lamps. We're most familiar with the gas-powered versions, but there were other iterations before.    What was the origin of London's famous gas-lamps, and which Sherlock Holmes stories do they feature in? It's just a Trifle.   We also have an announcement about a special episode on...

"she confessed with distress" [LADY]   Sherlock Holmes took on clients of all sorts, often when they were puzzled, had nowhere else to turn, or were particularly worried.   And three ladies in particular in the Canon were worried. But they stand head and shoulders above some of the other female victims we find. Who are they and in which stories do they appear? It's just a Trifle.   We also have an...

"a love-story or an elopement" [SIGN]     We don't think of the Sherlock Holmes stories as being romances, and yet there are elements of romance that find their way into these tales about complicated human relationships at all levels.   We look across a handful of stories to tease out the romantic elements and love interests in them. It's just a Trifle.   We also have an announcement about a speci...

"a fierce old bird of prey" [SPEC]    Birds are part of British life. Such is the reality of living on an island. And there were a great variety of birds we hear about in the Sherlock Holmes stories.   While many of them were commonplace and part of the hunting and dining habits in Victorian England, there were others that were a little more exotic. It's just a Trifle.   We also have an announceme...

"You're crazy!" [DANC]  Sherlock Holmes had his eccentricities, without a question. Many scholars over the years have debated his mental health, with a wide variety of diagnoses.   But there has been a suggestion that a physical condition in Holmes and its treatment may very well have masked another disorder—one of the mind rather than the body. It's just a Trifle.     Links / Notes This episode: ...

"to produce his meretricious finales" [BLAN]  There are a number of times in the 60 Sherlock Holmes stories when Holmes criticizes Watson's efforts as a writer. Holmes takes the view of a practitioner, while Watson is trying to reach a different audience.   Indeed, it's when Holmes himself attempts to fill in for Watson that he finds just how difficult it is. Were Watson's conclusions meretricious...

"hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind" [FINA]  Family matters a great deal in the Sherlock Holmes stories, although we don't discover anything about Holmes and his family background until halfway through the stories that make up The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes , where we meet Mycroft.   And yet, there were many instances in which family bloodlines gave Holmes an indication of what he w...

"a pin, a cork, and a card" [HOUN]   When it came to exotic insects, butterflies were all the rage in Victorian England. They were sought after by naturalists and collectors, to become part of collections in studies as well as institutions.   We have a few collectors in the Canon who made it their business to pin butterflies to cork and display them. Here's what we know about them and about their...

 "extraordinary stories about your financial ability" [STOC]  Money was occasionally a concern for Sherlock Holmes. But when, and more importantly, why? All of those police engagements were likely pro bono work, after all.   His relationship with Watson began over the need to economize, and over the course of his career, he enjoyed some remarkably wealthy individuals as clients. It's just a Trifle...

 "Have you noticed anything amiss with them of late?" [SILV]  "The Three Gables" isn't likely to be found on anyone's "best of" list of Sherlock Holmes stories. It arrives late in the Canon, and rather weakly at that.   But it is worth pointing out a few items within that are rather curious. One might even call them a Trifle.   Have you left us a rating and review on  Apple Podcasts yet? You don't...

  " it was her plot as much as mine" [ABBE]  From the realm of conjecture: what if the star-crossed lovers in "The Adventure of Abbey Grange" and "The Problem of Thor Bridge" weren't simply victims of circumstance? What if the damsels in distress weren't being unfairly persecuted?    That is, what if they plotted the demise of the hated member of their love triangle and were able to fool Sherlock...

"Maybe you collect yourself, sir" [EMPT]  Sherlock Holmes shared his reading interests on occasion, and they tended to be wide and varied. Some of them were for professional development purposes, yet others seem to exist to expand his thinking.   Was Sherlock Holmes a book collector? And if he was, what kind of care did he take for his volumes? It's just a Trifle.   Have you left us a rating and r...

"pinned like a beetle on a card" [BLAC]  It's the third week of the month, and that means it's the exotic animal episode. Last month we covered worms, and we mentioned the slow-worm, which Mr. Sherman said kept the beetles down.   A listener called in with a comment on that episode, and it led to this one, where we look at this detestable insect, its place in Victorian England, and how it spread....

"passionate, whole-hearted, tropical, ill-balanced" [THOR]    Maria Gibson (nee Pinto) was a troubled woman. What could have driven her to her final acts? Is she a victim? A villain? A sympathetic character?    If anything she was less two-dimensional than she is typically assumed to be. Could her demise have indeed been a murder rather than a suicide? It's just a Trifle.   Have you left us a rati...

"a general practitioner with very limited experience and mediocre qualifications" [DYIN]    We know Watson had a serious medical career before he met Holmes. But what do his qualifications mean? And aside from the brandy, how did his training come in handy?   Helen Simpson's "The Medical Career of John H. Watson" in H.W. Bell's Baker Street Studies  provides some insight into what Watson was telli...

"some arm-chair lounger who evolves" [STUD]  From a humble beginning to the heights of international fame and importance, the career of Sherlock Holmes was a rocket ride. And his personal relationships took an opposite ride.   This is the third and final entry in this series on the evolution of Sherlock Holmes. And it's anything but a Trifle.   Have you left us a rating and review on  Apple Podcas...

"Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms?" [BOSC]   On the third episode of every month in Season 5, we explore exotic animals in the Sherlock Holmes canon. This month's animal is a rare one: worms.   While you may be thinking the only reference is the remarkable worm unknown to science that left Isadora Persano stark staring mad, there are a few others. But just a Trifle more.  ...

"window-breaking Furies" [VALL]   Windows are everywhere in the Sherlock Holmes stories. But in certain cases, they form an essential part of the plot. In some cases, it may be transparent. In others, not so much. Whether they're decorative, a passage of one form or another, or are broken in the course of a crime, some windows serve a purpose in the Canon. It's just a Trifle.   Links / Notes This...

"It is full of old houses which are named after the men who built them centuries ago." [SUSS]   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a master storyteller. He gave us memorable characters and plots that painted a picture over the course of the entire Canon. But more than plot or characters, place played an outsized role. What does the geography in the Sherlock Holmes stories tell us? It's just a Trifle. And...

"evolved from his own inner consciousness" [BOSC]  In Episode 237, we looked at how Holmes's personality traits changed over the course of his career. We're back for another look using four separate stories, each 10 years apart. What can the Canon tell us about the ways Holmes's interests, tastes, enthusiasms, relationships, reputation, and more changed during his long career? It's just a Trifle....

"Cyanea! Cyanea!" [LION]   In the third week of every month in our fifth season, Trifles looks at exotic animals. We turn to the sea this time, examining jellyfish. And this episode brought us into contact with an old publication: the Catalogue of an Exhibition Held at Abbey House, Baker Street, London, May–September 1951 . For those intimately familiar with the Sherlock Holmes stories, there is o...

"Let me show you the evolution of this case" [WIST]   In our last episode, we discussed the subtle yet undeniable change in the nature of the relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade. But what about the evolution of Holmes himself? What aspects of his character changed over the course of his career, from a 20-something during his first case at university to his final case four d...

"That you, Lestrade?" [EMPT] One might say that Sherlock Holmes and Inspector G. Lestrade had a contentious relationship. While this may be the popular stereotype between the two professionals, a long-term assessment doesn't bear this out. Listener Ron Lies has shared a paper of his that takes us through the Holmes-Lestrade relationship chronologically, and things may be a little different than th...

"Altogether there are eight maids" [MUSG]   Two stories. Two jewels. Two lady's maids. And two strikingly similar circumstances. In "The Blue Carbuncle" and "The Six Napoleons," published just 11 years apart, we can find some remarkable parallels that result in the disappearance of minor players who were involved in critical plot points. It's just a Trifle.   Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/tri...

"some secret society, some implacable organization" [VALL]  We know the Mafia, the KKK, and other named secret societies permeate the Sherlock Holmes stories. They add to the mystery and mystique of the plots. But what were some of the lesser-known secret societies? And were they really that secret? It's just a Trifle. Have you left us a rating and review on  Apple Podcasts  yet? You don't need to...