Archives: Episode

Sarah and Carolyn decide to book one-way tickets to Melbourne because Fergus Hume’s 1886 novel is just that good. The mysteries are aplenty, and the Australian setting is pure delight. Who committed the murder in the hansom cab – and why? So many twists, turns, and red herrings …

Sarah and Carolyn dig into the second part of Wilkie Collins’ 1868 novel, The Moonstone. Who stole the Indian gem from the young woman who inherits it from the guy who initially stole it. (You tracking?) The second part (second period) is called The Discovery of the Truth. It’s SO good!

Sarah and Carolyn discuss the first part of Wilkie Collins’ 1868 novel, The Moonstone. This masterpiece includes a stolen Indian gem with a bloody past, plot twists, red herrings, a small circle of suspects, and a couple amazing detectives. The first part (first period) is called The Loss of the Diamond, and it’s a serious page-turner.

Sarah and Carolyn discuss a little-known 1865 mystery that’s purportedly set in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood. The New York Times Book Review called the story “both utterly of its time and utterly ahead of it.” Sarah also discusses her hatred of italics, and Carolyn regrets stealing a French fry back when she worked at McDonald’s.

Sarah and Carolyn discuss Dickens’s stunning novel, which introduces the smartest guy in the room (and possibly all of London), Inspector Bucket. He’s a model for so many detectives to come, which is reason 4,372,876 why Carolyn thinks this novel is Dickens’s best. For her part, Sarah thinks he’s a little sketchy (Bucket, not Dickens).

In our Bleak House Podcast, Sarah and Carolyn discuss Dickens’s very best novel, Bleak House. Yes, that’s the Tea, Tonic & Toxin gang throwing down the gauntlet. If you know of a more compelling, more heart-wrenching Dickens novel, please let us know. If you don’t, start reading this amazing book now. As in, right now.

Sarah and Carolyn discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s famous “howdunit” starring C. Auguste Dupin. We determine that Dupin and the narrator would make terrible dinner guests, as they both seem sort of hermit-like and night-owl-ish and full of themselves. However, we do wish Poe had written a dozen more mystery stories with Dupin at the helm.

Sarah and Carolyn discuss the near impossibility that anyone could figure out who murdered those two women in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” The story introduces amateur detective Auguste Dupin. He’s as annoying as he is smart, and he could give Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot a run for their money.

Sarah and Carolyn debate whether Wilkie Collins’ 1860 thriller The Woman in White is a sensation novel or detective story … or both. See, we’re playing both sides here, because books can be many things. And because Carolyn’s annoyed by Hartright and Sarah’s annoyed by all of the women characters. Or something along those lines.

Sarah and Carolyn discuss Wilkie Collins’ masterpiece. And by masterpiece, Carolyn means The Woman in White. Though Sarah might argue his masterpiece is The Moonstone. Thing is, The Moonstone doesn’t have Marian Halcombe in it. Or Count Fosco, for that matter. If you’re picking up what I’m putting down, then you’re on Team Carolyn.