“it was a dramatic one” [GLOR]  One of Sherlock Holmes's traits was that he was a master of disguise. And in the very first short story, "A Scandal in Bohemia," we find him in not one but two disguises. However, it's more than costuming that made him successful at subterfuge. Curtis Armstrong shares his insights on why Sherlock Holmes was able to fool so many people, including Watson.  And it's just a Trifle. Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at...

 “the Continental express” [FINA]  When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was anything but a straight route. Our travel series traces their trip. What did Holmes and Watson's journey onto the Continent entail? How long did it take? And what might we say about their choices? It's just a Trifle. Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll...

 “you have erred, perhaps” [COPP]  We have John H. Watson, M.D. to thank for the Sherlock Holmes stories, and we typically take them at face value. That is, we trust that Watson was telling us the truth. While Sherlock Holmes complimented Watson for his choice of cases, he also had criticisms of Watson's writing, taking issue with his storytelling process. Does this mean Watson's accuracy might also be called into question? It's just a Trifle. Do you have a topic you'd like to...

“gone—stolen, vanished” [BRUC]    A few episodes ago, we investigated various items that clients brought to Sherlock Holmes and items that acted as vital physical clues. It was something of a show-and-tell.   This time, we're flipping the idea on its head and considering various stories where something—or someone—goes missing. What and who will be it? Tune in for this Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your...

“with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit” [STUD]    There were a number of individuals who exhibited strength in the Sherlock Holmes stories, to varying degrees. But which of them would you classify as the strongest?   One of our listeners had an idea as to who it might be, so we surveyed the Canon and found a handful of others to make this a deeper discussion. Turns out it's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at...

“the loss of the old black boot” [HOUN]    Brown boot, black boot — these two items of Sir Henry Baskerville's went missing at the Northumberland Hotel shortly after he arrived in London. And they begin to put Sherlock Holmes on the scent of The Hound of the Baskervilles.   However, there's a wrinkle regarding the old black boot that persists throughout the story. George Fletcher, BSI ("The Cardboard Box") made a note of this curious detail for the very first time in The Papers on the...

“not the name of a young woman, Watson” [SUSS]    Here's a strange one. We hear of the Matilda Briggs in one story. Do you know which story and what it was associated with?   This entry in our Travel Series takes us on a mysterious sea voyage that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write a short story and then borrow a real name from this true tale and plant it in Sherlock Holmes story. What as the connection? Well, that's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend?...

“Look at that!” [3STU]    Sherlock Holmes had clients of all kinds. Some that visited him with vague fears. Others that were concerned about missing documents.   But when he had cases and clients that included a little show-and-tell — where a physical object was displayed — well, that is just a Trifle.   And listen closely, because we ask for some input from you on this one!   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your...

“She responded beautifully” [SCAN]    Occasionally — very occasionally — there are flaws in Sherlock Holmes's reasoning. Or, if not flaws, then something that doesn't quite hold up when we put our own magnifying lens against it.   There is one such example in "A Scandal in Bohemia," as pointed out by a listener. One we had never considered before, but one that is just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your...

“To a collector of fairy tales” [HOUN]    Of the many things we know about Sherlock Holmes — or think we know about him — his knowledge of chemistry and his violin-playing skills are probably most closely associated with him.   However, in 1952, Remsen Ten Eyck Schenck pulled the evidence together and compared it with what merely passed as opinion in a Baker Street Journal article. And what he found is more than just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us...

“his attitude and manner told their own story” [SCAN]    The tragedies on September 11 ensured that it is a date that will forever be stamped in the history books. What to do when it coincides with an episode drop date for Trifles on our monthly travel series?     As we glanced through the Sherlock Holmes canon, we found that a number of trips and voyages were associated with tragic outcomes. Part of it was a matter of the times and the risks of traveling; others seemed to be...

“his attitude and manner told their own story” [SCAN]    Last month, we lost prolific Sherlockian David Stuart Davies. But prolific doesn't quite cover it. He was insightful and delightful, he amused and schmoozed, he wrote and spoke, created and debated, was always elated.   In his memory, we're taking a deeper look at his article "First Encounters of the Holmes Kind" from Vol. 47, No. 1 of The Baker Street Journal — an essay on why "A Scandal in Bohemia" was the perfect first short story...

“he had actually won as much as four hundred” [EMPT]    It's hard to believe, but we've managed to notch our 400th episode of Trifles. And we can't think of a better way to celebrate than by highlighting some of our favorite episodes from throughout the show.   We put our usual amount of consideration and thinking into this effort, and we think it's something that will delight old listeners as well as new. It's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at...

“private revenge” [CHAS]    In "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," Watson tells us that a woman with a "dark, handsome, clear-cut face" lifted her veil and "emptied barrel after barrel into Milverton’s body," leaving him dead on the floor.   But in the Summer 2024 issue of The Baker Street Journal (Vol. 74, No. 2), Carla Coupe wonders if Watson wasn't giving us the whole story. It's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at...

“‘journeys end in lovers’ meetings,’ as the old play says” [EMPT]    When it came to London, Sherlock Holmes preferred to stay put. That's what Paul Gore-Booth would have us believe. When he assessed the many tales, he found that most happened in London and its immediate suburbs.   But Gore-Booth went one further: he conjectured about the locales of various unpublished cases. If you know Trifles, you'll recall that we delved into some of the unpublished cases in Season 2. Together,...

“I did it clumsily” [DANC]    Sherlock Holmes was a man of great precision. We learn about his attention to detail and his preferences for improving the art of detection from the very first time we meet him.   But there were instances of clumsiness — his own and from others — that crop up throughout the Canon. It's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected] and if we use your idea on the air, we'll send you a thank-you gift. ...

“I am much more anxious” [MISS]    Four episodes ago, we began a discussion about anxiety in the Sherlock Holmes stories. We managed to make from A Study in Scarlet up through The Hound of the Baskervilles. What about the rest of the Canon?   Worry not! We continue the journey from The Return through The Case-Book. While Sherlock Holmes shows some anxiety in this half of the Canon, we'll find that his clients and others are more anxious. It's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic...

“she seems indeed to be on a very different level” [SCAN]    There is one woman in the entire Canon of Sherlock Holmes stories that we can instantly recall as an adventuress. You know who we're talking about.   Can you think of at least one other off the top of your head? We'll help with that. Plus, we'll explore just how the term "adventuress" evolved and what it meant in polite society. It's just a Trifle.   Do you have a topic you'd like to recommend? Email us at...

“concealed it at Mapleton” [SILV]    This month's Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist episode goes back to 1949 to Volume 4, Number 1 of The Baker Street Journal and Jay Finley Christ's article "Silver Blaze: An Identification (as of 1893 A.D.).   Here Christ looks at what contemporary readers of the Strand would have thought of Watson's tale, specifically identifying which horse Silver Blaze was supposed to be. Oh, and for our Patreon and Substack supporters, we have a video version of...

“I flatter myself that I could find my way about.” [HOUN]  Dartmoor and its surroundings provided the perfect setting for The Hound of the Baskervilles. Not only did the area have a sense of history (and prehistory) about it, but the sparse surroundings added to the mystique.   And the wonderful part is that if we were to set foot there in 2024, we would recognize the landmarks and even some of the buildings. In 1965, Kelvin Jones took to identifying some of the real-life locations that we...

“weighed down with some great anxiety” [FIVE]    Where would Sherlock Holmes be without fear and anxiety? It was a common state of mind for a number of his clients, but Holmes himself also exhibited anxious behavior from time to time.   In which stories can we find anxiety? Don't be nervous; we have 10 examples. But there are still more to come that will feature in a discussion in a second part. It's just a Trifle.     All of our supporters are eligible for our monthly drawings...

“I sent down to Stamford's for the ordnance map” [HOUN]  In a number of instances in the Sherlock Holmes stories, we find ourselves guided by maps. Not only as critical elements of the plot, but also as visual aids to readers. In which stories do we find maps? And what about those that required floorplans to be sketched out as well? It's just a Trifle. This topic was suggested by listener Ron Groenewoud, who'll be receiving a thank you gift for his efforts. If you have a topic you'd...

“he is a remarkable linguist” [GREE]    Sherlock Holmes has been translated into scores of languages all around the world (just ask Don Hobbs). But what languages was he fluent in or have passing familiarity with? This is the question Dean W. Dickensheet tackles in Vol. 10 No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal in his article "Sherlock Holmes - Linguist." It's the latest in our series looking at old Sherlockian scholarship and it's just a Trifle.   All of our supporters are eligible for...

“We have three years of the past to discuss” [EMPT]    Once again, we pack our Gladstone bags and prepare for an episode where we travel. This time, we head to Sussex Downs and then across the Atlantic to New York in some of the early years of Sherlock Holmes's retirement. What brings us there is from the fertile imagination of Les Klinger, who posits a connection between Sherlock Holmes, Wilson Hargreave, and Andrew Carnegie. It's just a Trifle.   All of our supporters are...