Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Scott Monty & Burt Wolder

Discussing details in the Sherlock Holmes stories

  • 18 minutes 42 seconds
    Sherlock Holmes and Edwin Drood
    "Oh! a mystery is it?" [STUD] When Charles Dickens died in 1870, The Mystery of Edwin Drood was only six chapters into its 12-chapter run. There were no sketches or outlines of what would come next, so for a century and a half, scholars have puzzled over the solution. In 1968, Colin Prestige, BSI ("Captain Jack Croker") made a bold claim: that Sherlock Holmes could have handily solved the case, in "Sherlock Holmes and Edwin Drood," which appeared in Vol. 18, No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal. It's this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist" episode and it's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    18 December 2025, 4:56 am
  • 30 minutes 30 seconds
    Calling Cards
    "He sent in his card with a message" [CROO] In our own digital age, business cards are nearly artifacts of the past. And calling cards? They're so outdated we had to create this episode. Numerous individuals in the Sherlock Holmes stories present their cards to Sherlock Holmes and Holmes presents his card to a few people as well. What's the history behind calling cards and visiting cards and how did they play into the stories? It's just a Trifle. We have bonus content for our supporters: images of Victorian calling cards that might surprise you.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

    10 December 2025, 7:38 pm
  • 28 minutes 11 seconds
    Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study in Scarlet?
    "Nine to seven." "Seven to five." [STUD] For anyone who has first experienced Sherlock Holmes through A Study in Scarlet, Chapter VIII is a shock to the system, placing us squarely in the Great Akalai Plain with John and Lucy Ferrier, and narrated by... who? Ben Vizoskie had that same question in the 2000 BSJ article "Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study in Scarlet?" which was awarded the Morley-Montgomery Award that year. Many scholars have pondered this over the years, but Ben seems to have cracked the code. And it's no Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. The latest episode wonders about J pens. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Our Merch Store is now open: Trifles mugs, notepads, and oval stickers can be yours (or someone else's, if you'd like to make it a gift). Start shopping today. Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    3 December 2025, 7:15 pm
  • 33 minutes 26 seconds
    Angels of Darkness
    "upon the track of the avenging angels" [STUD] The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes series continues with a three-act play that wasn't published until over a century after it was written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story of its discovery and dating is even more interesting than the play itself, which is reminiscent of the American chapters of A Study in Scarlet and is... Well, you'll hear. It's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    27 November 2025, 1:16 am
  • 19 minutes 13 seconds
    A Most Valuable Institution
    "all the main ones in the press reports" [THOR] Sherlock Holmes knew how to use newspapers to his advantage. Time and again, we see him scanning the agony column and making clippings. He told Watson "The press is a most valuable institution if only one knows how to use it." Just how did he use it and in which cases? It's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    19 November 2025, 7:21 pm
  • 21 minutes 42 seconds
    Lucky Thirteen
    "thirteen in number" [HOUN] Ask the average citizen about the number thirteen, and it is likely to inspire terror, or at least some slight trepidation. Right up there with black cats and overturned saltshakers, the number thirteen has a long history associated with bad luck. But what about in the Sherlock Holmes stories? Where does the number thirteen pop up and what can we infer from it? It's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    12 November 2025, 7:21 pm
  • 40 minutes 50 seconds
    The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew
    "and actor and a rare one" [SIGN] The monthly feature of Morley-Montgomery Award-winning articles continues apace, when we share these top-notch pieces of Sherlockian scholarship from the pages of The Baker Street Journal. This episode is from S.E. Dahlinger's truly remarkable 1999 article "The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew," which gives us a better understanding of William Gillette and the play that made him a household name (and a fortune). It's a large article and a very significant Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode, released at the beginning of every month. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    5 November 2025, 7:21 pm
  • 22 minutes 27 seconds
    The Tall Man
    "I have never seen so tall a man" [SIGN] Our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes continues on, with a slightly different entry this time. Previous examples have been fully developed stories; this is simply a story outline. How it surfaced is just as interesting as the outline itself, perhaps more. The reader/listener will be left to decide if this could have made a full-blown story. Ultimately, it's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    29 October 2025, 1:28 pm
  • 18 minutes 56 seconds
    Paddington vs. Waterloo
    "proceed to Waterloo" [HOUN] For those looking to travel from London west to Dartmoor (particularly those interested in stopping at Coombe Tracey), you might do well to do as Dr. Watson did and meet Sir Henry Baskerville at Paddington Station. One small thing, though: there's another station that will get you our west. And if you're another character, you might fancy that. Why? It's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    22 October 2025, 6:20 pm
  • 23 minutes 36 seconds
    T.S. Eliot and the Great Grimpen Mire
    "so subtly influenced by it" [STUD] It is well known that T.S. Eliot lifted lines from "The Musgrave Ritual" and appropriated them for Murder in the Cathedral, as well as found inspiration for Macavity in the Napoleon of crime. In this "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode, Don Hardenbrook, BSI ("Huret, the Boulevard Assassin") found a deeper meaning in Four Quartets, a collection of four interlinked poems by Eliot. One that echoes of The Hound of the Baskervilles. And it's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    15 October 2025, 6:21 pm
  • 25 minutes 28 seconds
    The Moor as a Character
    "a huge expanse" [HOUN] Credit: Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 There are four main characters in The Hound of the Baskervilles: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, the hound, and the moor. [Record scratch SFX] Yes, the moor. Inspired by a clip from an old IHOSE episode, we explore why this ever-present setting looms large in the story, both when it's explicitly mentioned and when it's not. It's just a Trifle.

    If you have a question for us, please email us at [email protected]. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

    Don't forget to listen to "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This is a benefit exclusively for our paying subscribers. Check it out (Patreon | Substack). Leave Trifles a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to this episode here or wherever you get podcasts Links Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
    9 October 2025, 1:35 pm
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