Sherlock Holmes: Trifles
Episodes
Toast
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"he arranged a number of breadcrumbs" [PRIO] Toast is a simple accompaniment of breakfast that we take for granted. We place bread in an app...
The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"researches which have a medico-criminal aspect" [DYIN] This month, the Morley-Montgomery Award brings us up to the year 2006, when Harold B...
Fingerprints
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty" [FINA] As a student and practitioner of the latest forensic sciences as they pertained to the world o...
Mr. Moriarty
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"through the courtesy of Mr. Moriarty" [FINA] Each month, we look at a bit of Sherlockian scholarship that deserves to be unearthed and explored...
A Study in Solecisms
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"I can't stand his lordship" [MAZA] For hapless Americans, the titles used by peers in the Sherlock Holmes stories can be vexing indeed. One wou...
Thaddeus Sholto (Mis)Diagnosed
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"It confirms my diagnosis, as you doctors express it." [SIGN] Our latest Morley-Montgomery award episode features another dive into the medical...
Shaving
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"we have had a close shave" [SIGN] Holmes was always clean-shaven, Watson always had a mustache. This is the way of the world of Sherlock Holmes a...
Dr. Watson & Mr. Wilde
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"a bit of professional business between two gentlemen" [3GAR] In this month's Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist, we turn again to a bit of Britis...
Revenge
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"a methodical revenge" [STUD] They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But what about when it's just threatened? In this episode, we ...
The Case of 'J'
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"some strange and inexplicable horror in the background" [CARD] This Morley-Montgomery award-winning article is the only one written under a pseud...
Earls
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"You evidently do not know the Earl" [CHAS] For modern audiences (particularly those not familiar with British aristocracy), the titles of t...
Oxford or Cambridge
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"one of the brightest intellects of the University" [3STU] Of the long-running debates about the Sherlock Holmes stories (the location of Wa...
Professor Moriarty
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"I must really know more before I leave him." [MISS] Professor Moriarty. We know him as the arch-rival of Sherlock Holmes. In many ways, he was...
Upon the Dating of Blood Stains
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"whose interest is it that the letter should come out?" [SECO] Season 10 kicks off with another Morley-Montgomery Award winning article from The Ba...
The Chronology of the Apocrypha
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"that is the biggest mystification of all" [CREE] You thought we were done with the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes? Silly you. As Inspector Baynes s...
The Man Who Was Wanted
24 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"evidence was wanted" [GOLD] The final installment in our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes brings us to "The Case of the Man Who was Wa...
Sherlock Holmes and Edwin Drood
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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. The...
Who Wrote the American Chapters of A Study in Scarlet?
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Nine to seven." "Seven to five." [STUD] For anyone who has first experienced Sherlock Holmes through A Study in Scarlet, Chapter VIII is a sh...
Calling Cards
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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'r...
Angels of Darkness
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"upon the track of the avenging angels" [STUD] The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes series continues with a three-act play that wasn't published un...
A Most Valuable Institution
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"all the main ones in the press reports" [THOR] Sherlock Holmes new how to use newspapers to his advantage. Time and again, we see him scanni...
Lucky Thirteen
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"thirteen in number" [HOUN] Ask the average citizen about the number thirteen, and it is likely to inspire terror, or at least some slight tre...
The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"and actor and a rare one" [SIGN] The monthly feature of Morley-Montgomery Award-winning articles continues apace, when we share these top-notc...
The Tall Man
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 tim...
Paddington vs. Waterloo
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"proceed to Waterloo" [HOUN] For those looking to travel from London west to Dartmoor (particularly those interested in stopping at Coombe Trac...
T.S. Eliot and the Great Grimpen Mire
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 ...
The Moor as a Character
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"a huge expanse" [HOUN] Credit: Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 There are four main characters in The Hound of the Baskervilles: Sherl...
On the Chaldean Influences in Cornish
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"traced in the Cornish branch of the great Celtic speech" [DEVI] The Morley-Montgomery Award series rolls on, and this time we've jumped from ...
The Crown Diamond
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"What good are you going to get out of your diamond?" [MAZA] We're back in the theater for another Sherlock Holmes story in our series on the...
Lhassa & Mecca
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"amused myself by visiting Lhassa...looked in at Mecca" [FINA] The Great Hiatus, as the interval between "The Final Problem" and "The Empty Hou...
The Lumber Room
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"lumbering upon its way" [DEVI] Across the Sherlock Holmes stories, we find a few mentions of what seems to be a strange and magical place in E...
The Location of Baskerville Hall
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I was able to reach Baskerville Hall" [HOUN] There are a handful of locations in the Sherlock Holmes stories that are regularly sought out by...
The Stonor Case
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"took to the stage" [TWIS] When faced with four months of an empty theater in a six-month lease in 1910, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did the only th...
John H. Watson Never Went to China
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Well, but China?" [REDH] Our recent episode about real people who inspired characters in the Sherlock Holmes stories spills over into this ...
The Fabulous Originals
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"There are the originals" [LAST] Sherlockians go to great pains to "play the game," meaning that Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson were real. I...
St. Saviour's, Near King's Cross
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"entirely mistaken" [CHAS] The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article we're discussing this month is by the legendary Jack Tracy, author of...
The Story of the Lost Special
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"engage a special" [FINA] This marks the fourth episode in our series of The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes — stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyl...
Playing Tricks with the Law of England
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"play tricks with me and I'll crush you" [ABBE] Was Sherlock Holmes too lenient with how he handled some of the criminals he defeated? There a...
Untangling the Skein
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein" [HOUN] It has long been accepted that the original title of A Study in Scarl...
£100
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"put £100 down in front of him" [BLUE] Humans are suckers for round numbers. And 100 seems like a perfectly reasonable one to settle on. It's...
John H. Watson―Word-Painter
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I had painted" [TWIS] The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article we're discussing this month is by H.C. Potter from Vol. 26, No. 2 of The Baker...
How Watson Learned the Trick
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"why should anyone play me such a trick?" [CARD] After a brief hiatus, we're back to the third in our series of The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holm...
A Second Case of Identity: The Second Mrs. Watson
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Is Mrs. Watson in?" [FINA] We all know Watson had more than one wife; the number has been debated over the years. But it's his second wife th...
About the Moor
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"traces of the ancient people" [HOUN] When Watson noted a "difficult and dangerous quest" on "the forbidden moor" in The Hound of the Baskervi...
On the Hound
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"What, in heaven's name, was it?" [HOUN] One of the most famous Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles, tells a terrifying sto...
The Archaelogical Holmes
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I am a bit of an archaeologist myself" [3GAR] We find ourselves digging into a reference in "The Devil's Foot" in this episode, with the help of a ...
The Back Yards of Baker Street
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I went into the back yard" [BLUE] The third week of the month means we look at a piece of Sherlockian scholarship — particularly one that m...
Capital Punishment
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"You have done your best to get an innocent man hanged." [NORW] Capital punishment in the United Kingdom evolved over a period of time. From t...
The Solitary Man-Uscript
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy" [SOLI] The latest installment in our review of Morley-Montgomery Award-winning articles is by A...
An Aborted Avatar
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"a strange, loud whiz" [EMPT] We came across a quite unusual observation — a Trifle, if you will — in an old issue of The Baker Street Jou...
Gypsies
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"general resemblance to an itinerant" [VALL] A term we don't hear as frequently these days is "gypsy." Unless you're headed to see a Sondheim mus...
On Stage and Off
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"before my biographer had come to glorify me" [GREE] Once again, we find ourselves in a "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist"-themed episode, where we...
The Man with the Watches (The Apocrypha Part 2)
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha" [VALL] The second in our series on the Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes — stories that are not in the o...
The Alleged Use of Cocaine by Mr. Sherlock Holmes
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"you are mistaken about my alleged agents" [MAZA] Along with the calabash pipe, deerstalker cap, and Inverness cape, one of Sherlock Holmes...
North American Businesses
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"the great North American Continent" [STUD] Picking up where we left off in Episode 428 ("British Businesses"), we're moving to the other side...
The Mathematics of Mrs. Watson
20 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 it...
British Businesses
13 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"preoccupied with business matters" [COPP] If you came across the name of a business in the Sherlock Holmes stories, do you think you could identif...
My Biblical Knowledge Is a Trifle Rusty
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion" [NAVA] The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article this month is "My Bib...
The Field Bazaar (The Apocrypha Part 1)
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Disguise Is Key
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 t...
Banks in the Canon
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"drawn on six different banks" [VALL] Banks and bankers are important to Sherlock Holmes. From clients to necessary fiduciaries, they represe...
The Methods of Sherlock Holmes
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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 ...
Baritsu
30 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"the Japanese system of wrestling" [EMPT] When Sherlock Holmes defeated Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, he had a secret weapon: his...
Turkish Baths
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Who Wasn't Jack the Ripper
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" [SIGN] In our monthly discussion of an old pie...
Partnership
09 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
The Origin of 221B Worship
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"a singular set of people, Watson" [WIST] Image credit: The Baker Street Irregulars This podcast is a by-product of being active in the ...
Christmas with Sherlock Holmes
25 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"the compliments of the season" [BLUE] There is only one Sherlock Holmes story that takes place at Christmas: "The Blue Carbuncle," which took p...
Sherlock Holmes Was No Burglar
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Battlestations!
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"You look like a general who is planning a battle" [HOUN] The Battle of Marengo, by Louis-François Lejeune (public domain - Wikimedia Common...
The December Cases
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"He disappeared upon the 3d of December" [SIGN] "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is inextricably linked with the month of December. But ...
The Newgate Calendar
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"You seem to be a walking calendar of crime" [STUD] Sherlock Holmes used the calendar to help him determine the significance of certain cluse ...
A Touch of the Dramatic
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 Sca...
The Continental
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"the Continental express" [FINA] When Sherlock Holmes was trying to outrun Professor Moriarty, the trail led from London to Switzerland. It was...
John Watson, Unreliable Narrator
07 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 valu...
Something's Missing
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"gone—stolen, vanished" [BRUC] A few episodes ago, we investigated various items that clients brought to Sherlock Holmes and items that acte...
The Strongest Man in England
24 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit" [STUD] There were a number of individuals who exhibited strength in the Sher...
That Old Black Boot
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"the loss of the old black boot" [HOUN] Brown boot, black boot — these two items of Sir Henry Baskerville's went missing at the Northumberla...
Matilda Briggs
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 w...
Something to Show for It
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Look at that!" [3STU] Sherlock Holmes had clients of all kinds. Some that visited him with vague fears. Others that were concerned about miss...
Bohemian Alternatives
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"She responded beautifully" [SCAN] Occasionally — very occasionally — there are flaws in Sherlock Holmes's reasoning. Or, if not flaws, th...
Baker Street Fables
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 ch...
Fateful Voyages
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 Perfect Act of Telling a Story
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"his attitude and manner told their own story" [SCAN] Last month, we lost prolific Sherlockian David Stuart Davies. But prolific doesn't quite co...
The Great 400
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Who Killed Charles Augustus Milverton?
21 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"private revenge" [CHAS] In "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," Watson tells us that a woman with a "dark, handsome, clear-cut face...
The Journeys of Sherlock Holmes
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"'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 P...
Clumsiness
07 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"I did it clumsily" [DANC] Sherlock Holmes was a man of great precision. We learn about his attention to detail and his preferences for improv...
Anxiety Part 2
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Victorian Aventuresses
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 instan...
Silver Blaze: An Identification
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 S...
The Geography of the Hound of the Baskervilles
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"I flatter myself that I could find my way about." [HOUN] Dartmoor and its surroundings provided the perfect setting for The Hound of the Baskervi...
Anxiety
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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 nu...
Maps & Floorplans
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Sherlock Holmes, Linguist
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"he is a remarkable linguist" [GREE] Sherlock Holmes has been translated into scores of languages all around the world (just ask Don Hobbs). ...
Years of Mystery
13 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"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...
Elderly in the Canon
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"his age, and an affliction" [STOC] The panoply of elderly individuals in the Sherlock Holmes stories is impressive: Mr. Frankland, the old cra...
Linoleum
30 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"the flooring was also thoroughly examined" [SPEC] Cocoanut matting, bearskin rug, carpets — there are a number of notable floor coverings...
Forests
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"Vast sections of it have been cleared" [BLAC] When you're really down in the details about something — something trifling, perhaps — i...
The Long Road from Maiwand
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"at Maiwand without losing my nerve" [STUD] Maiwand: Saving the Guns by Richard Caton Woodville, 1883 (Wikimedia Commons) It is gene...