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2022 SCHEDULE

The 2022 schedule included books from the Victorian and Edwardian eras (1837-1910).

JANUARY – The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), Edgar Allan Poe

FEBRUARY – The Purloined Letter (1844), Edgar Allan Poe

MARCH – Bleak House (1853), Charles Dickens

APRIL – Bleak House (1853), (continued), Charles Dickens

MAY – The Woman in White (1860), Wilkie Collins

JUNE – The Notting Hill Mystery (1862-3), Charles Warren Adams

JULY – The Moonstone (1868), Wilkie Collins

AUGUST – The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886), Fergus Hume

SEPTEMBER – A Study in Scarlet (1887), Arthur Conan Doyle

OCTOBER – The Big Bow Mystery (1892), Israel Zangwill

NOVEMBER – The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902), Arthur Conan Doyle

DECEMBER – Lady Molly of Scotland Yard (1910), Baroness Orczy
the murders in the rue morgue - edgar allan poe - tea tonic and toxin bookclub and podcast

January 2022

Reading Time: 1 hour

 

Why It Made the Cut
Edgar Allan Poe is the master of mysteries and thrillers, and some consider “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1841, to be the first detective story. Set in Paris, the story features amateur detective Auguste Dupin, along with his trusty sidekick who narrates the gruesome tale. 
More About "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allan Poe - Tea Tonic and Toxin Bookclub and Podcast

February 2022

Reading Time: 1 hour  

Why It Made the Cut
Edgar Allan Poe called “The Purloined Letter” “perhaps the best of my tales of ratiocination.” The story, published in 1844, is an excellent mystery, minus the Gothic horror of “Rue Morgue.” Together, Poe’s stories form the foundation of the mystery novel as we know it.
More About "The Purloined Letter"
Bleak House - Charles Dickens

March and April 2022

Reading Time: 18 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
Bleak House is arguably Dickens’ masterpiece. In this 1853 novel, Dickens addresses class and lineage, law vs. justice, social responsibility, guilt, and identity. Along the way, Inspector Bucket, the first important police detective in English literature, investigates a murder.
More About Bleak House

May 2022

Reading Time: 12 hours
 

Why It Made the Cut
In The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins tells the story of a woman wrongfully locked away in an insane asylum. This 1860 thriller includes a ghostly woman, a secret society, switched identities, foreign agents, paranoia, bribery, blackmail, and conspiracies. What’s not to love?
More About The Woman in White
The Notting Hill Mystery

June 2022

Reading Time: 5 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
In The Notting Hill Mystery (1862-3), often called the first English detective novel, a woman dies after drinking acid. It looks like an accident until an investigator reviews the case. The maze of intrigue includes a kidnapping, a sinister mesmerist, and a series of possibly unpunishable crimes.
More About The Notting Hill Mystery
The Moonstone - Wilkie Collins

July 2022

Reading Time: 8 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
Often considered the first GREAT mystery novel, The Moonstone (1868) includes a stolen Indian gem with a bloody past, red herrings, breathtaking plot twists, a small circle of suspects, bumbling cops, and one amazing detective. Once you pick it up, you might have trouble putting it down.
More About The Moonstone
the mystery of a hansom cab - fergus hume - tea tonic and toxin bookclub and podcast

August 2022

 Reading Time: 5 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
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.
More About The Mystery of a Hansom Cab
study in scarlet - sir arthur conan doyle - tea tonic and toxin bookclub and podcast

September 2022

Reading Time: 3 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
The “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Watson — two of the most famous characters in literature — make their first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. This 1887 tale forever changed the way mystery novels were written.
More About A Study in Scarlet
The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill

October 2022

Reading Time: 3 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
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, two detectives race to solve a murder, an innocent man is condemned, and only at the very end is the startling solution revealed.
More About The Big Bow Mystery
the hound of the baskervilles - sir arthur conan doyle - tea tonic and toxin bookclub and podcast

November 2022

Reading Time: 4 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
This turn-of-the-century, Gothic-inspired spine-tingler includes a spectral hound and a decidedly hands-off Sherlock Holmes. The Hound of the Baskervilles, published in 1902, is considered Conan Doyle’s best — and one of the most gripping and suspenseful murder mysteries ever written.
More About The Hound of the Baskervilles
lady molly of scotland yard - baroness orczy - tea tonic and toxin bookclub and podcast

December 2022

Reading Time: 4 hours

 

Why It Made the Cut
Baroness Orczy, author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, wrote this 1910 collection of short stories about a female detective, Molly Robertson-Kirk. One of the first female detectives in fiction, Lady Molly of Scotland Yard uses her feminine intuition to solve crimes.
More About Lady Molly of Scotland Yard