Episode 429 – The Mathematics of Mrs. Watson

“As to your dates, that is the biggest mystification of all.” [CREE] It's not often that we get a piece of Sherlockian scholarship that had its origin in a mainstream publication. And in this case, it's from one of the original Sherlockians.In 1932, Ronald Knox set out to review two new Sherlockian books, but he managed to turn it into...

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Episode 428 – British Businesses

“preoccupied with business matters” [COPP] If you came across the name of a business in the Sherlock Holmes stories, do you think you could identify which story it came from? What about the type of business it was?We put your Canonical skills to the test in this episode as we quiz you (and each other!) on some familiar and not-so-familiar...

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Episode 427 – My Biblical Knowledge Is a Trifle Rusty

“There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion,” [NAVA] The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article this month is "My Biblical Knowledge is a Trifle Rusty" by Henry T. Folsom, BSI ("The Golden Pince-Nez"), from The Baker Street Journal, Volume 15, No. 3. Rev. Folsom took the opportunity as a practitioner of...

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Episode 426 - The Field Bazaar (The Apocrypha Part 1)

“I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha” [VALL] We're starting a short series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes: stories that are not in the Canonical 60 but that have some relevant interest.The first installment is "The Field Bazaar," written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1896 for his alma mater. It's a short item and it provides...

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Episode 425 – Disguise Is Key

“see through a disguise” [HOUN] The third episode of every month is a look into a piece of Sherlockian scholarship, and this time it brings us to Vol. 64 No. 3 of The Baker Street Journal from 2014 with a piece by Maria Fleischhack, BSI ("Rache").In this article, Maria looks at various Germans in the Sherlock Holmes stories and tracks...

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Episode 424 – Banks in the Canon

“drawn on six different banks” [VALL] Banks and bankers are important to Sherlock Holmes. From clients to necessary fiduciaries, they represent an essential part of the real and Canonical worlds.Which banks are mentioned? What bankers do we meet? And what about one very specific bank to which we owe a debt of gratitude? It's just a Trifle.All...

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Episode 423 – The Methods of Sherlock Holmes

“You know my methods. Apply them!” [HOUN] In 1893, a curious entry appeared in the Tit-Bits magazine: an examination paper on the methods of Sherlock Holmes. A cash prize was offered to the winner (whom we know).The author of the quiz, though? That's been unknown for nearly a century and a half. Until Michael Meer came along and made...

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Episode 422 – Baritsu

“the Japanese system of wrestling” [EMPT] When Sherlock Holmes defeated Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, he had a secret weapon: his knowledge of a certain style of Japanese wrestling.Of course, we don't find this out until his return, and even then, Watson (or is it Holmes?) conveys the wrong name. It's just a Trifle.All...

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Episode 421 – Turkish Baths

“the sweat was pouring down my face” [BLUE] Turkish baths come up in just two of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Quick—without looking it up, can you name which? We know Watson enjoys both of them; Holmes joins him for one.In this episode, we discuss the origins and history of the Turkish bath, and specifically focus on the Victorian Turkish...

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Episode 420 – Who Wasn't Jack the Ripper

“when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth” [SIGN] In our monthly discussion of an old piece of Sherlockian scholarship, we find ourselves in the back alleys of Whitechapel, discussing Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Our source of this discussion is not one but two back-to-back...

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Episode 419 – Partnerships

“We shall then take you into partnership” [SIGN] Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are forever linked, thanks to that first meeting at Bart's. They were both looking for someone with whom to share rooming expenses, but found themselves thrust together on some of Sherlock Holmes's greatest cases, becoming one of history's greatest partnerships.But...

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Episode 418 – The Origin of 221B Worship

“a singular set of people, Watson” [WIST] Image credit: The Baker Street IrregularsThis podcast is a by-product of being active in the world of Sherlockians. But how did Sherlock Holmes societies first gain footing? What was the origin?In the inaugural episode of our new series on Morley-Montgomery Award winners (exceptional Sherlockian...

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Episode 417 – Christmas with Sherlock Holmes

“the compliments of the season” [BLUE] There is only one Sherlock Holmes story that takes place at Christmas: "The Blue Carbuncle," which took place on "the second morning after Christmas." In his Gas-Lamp for the 1959 Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, editor Edgar W. Smith, BSI ("The Hound of the Baskervilles") entertained...

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Episode 416 – Sherlock Holmes Was No Burglar

“I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal” [CHAS] In some cases, Sherlock Holmes was a bit of a vigilante in his pursuit of justice. He didn't mind breaking the law in a good cause. That led to him burgling various households. Or did it? S. Tupper Bigelow, BSI ("The Five Orange Pips") was a lawyer...

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Episode 415 – Battlestations!

“You look like a general who is planning a battle” [HOUN] The Battle of Marengo, by Louis-François Lejeune (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)One simple sentence in "The Abbey Grange" served as the spark to the fuse of this Trifles episode. In one sentence, Sherlock Holmes referenced two of Napoleon's battles — each with a different...

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Episode 414 – The December Cases

“He disappeared upon the 3d of December” [SIGN] "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is inextricably linked with the month of December. But what about the other cases Sherlock Holmes handled in the final month of the year?Our research picked up only one other, and it isn't obvious by a careful reading of the Canon. Jay Finley Christ...

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Episode 413 – The Newgate Calendar

 “You seem to be a walking calendar of crime” [STUD] Sherlock Holmes used the calendar to help him determine the significance of certain cluse and actions, noting phases of the moon and recurring events.But there was another calendar that was useful to Holmes, which he mentioned in passing: the Newgate Calendar. It wasn't a calendar...

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Episode 412 – A Touch of the Dramatic

 “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...

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Episode 411 - The Continental

 “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...

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Episode 410 – John Watson, Unreliable Narrator

 “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...

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Episode 409 – Something's Missing

“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...

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Episode 408 – The Strongest Man in England

“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...

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