Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

Latest Episodes:

Who Was Barker? Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

"my friend and rival, Mr. Barker" [RETI]

We occasionally get suggestions for topics, and this is one of those cases. Kaj Johansen wondered "who was Barker?" — as in "Barker, my hated rival on the Surrey shore," in "The Retired Colourman." It led us to a short article in The Baker Street Journal by William Schweickert (Vol. 43 No. 2) that takes us through Mercer, Shinwell Johnson, and Langdale Pike and then proposes that Barker held a particularly important role. What was it? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Thorndyke on the Holmesian Method Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

"I've heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes" [NAVA] In this month's "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" theme, we turn our attention to another detective — a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes: Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke. The creation of R. Austin Freeman, Thorndyke appeared in 21 novels and 40 short stories published between 1907 and 1942. In Baker Street Miscellanea No. 9, Howard Brody uncovered Thorndyke's opinion of Sherlock Holmes's methods, and it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The Shivers Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

"It is not cold which makes me shiver" [SPEC]

We've all had moments when we've shivered. Perhaps it's from being exposed to the cold for a while, so the entire body spasms in an effort to create heat. Or maybe it's a tingle along our spine, brought on by something that scares us. We trace the appearance of shivers and shivering in the Sherlock Holmes stories, to determine who was shivering and why. We even explore a little about origins of the word itself. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. "Trifling Trifles" is back — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. This time, "Lomax" emerges from the sub-library. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Holmes Alone Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

"the gap of loneliness and isolation" [MAZA] Holmes and Watson go together like every great paring. To think of one of them, one must, by simple association, think of the other. It seems almost anathema to consider them alone. In his 2009 Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article "Holmes Alone: Glimpses of Post-Watson Baker Street in 'The Mazarin Stone,'" Marshall Berdan, BSI ("Henri Murger") paints a very different picture than the lost-without-his-Boswell detective. His analysis is just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "Lomax." 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

The Morley-Montgomery Award episode series (Patreon | Substack)
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Female Villains Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

"These villains have coaxed this unhappy lady to London" [LADY] Professor James Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian Moran, Dr. Grimesby Roylott — it seems as if the male villains in the Sherlock Holmes stories get all of our attention. And yet, there are a number of women who are complicit in Canonical crime — and in some cases the instigators. Who are they and where do we find them? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. We've got another "Trifling Trifles" episode coming up — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. Make sure you're signed up so you don't miss this is exclusive benefit 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

All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Musgrave Musings Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

"a rough familiarity" [LAST] According to one Sherlockian scholar, there is material in "The Musgrave Ritual" that is strangely familiar. You may or may not have picked up on it before. We certainly didn't. E. Butler Richards, in Vol. 9 of Baker Street Miscellanea, wonders if Watson or Holmes was pulling the wool over our eyes in this entry from an early part of Holmes's career. Does he succeed in convincing us of his thesis? It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" 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 Download | 25.4 MB 22:54 Links

Baker Street Miscellanea (Abebooks)
Pseudepigrapha (Wikipedia)
E. Butler Richards (IMDb)
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Up Against It Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

"Funds were wanting, however" [STUD]

Not every case Sherlock Holmes took involved a crime. Often times, clients were dealing with a puzzling situation or a conundrum without a crime. And taking their cases to Sherlock Holmes was the best recourse. And a number of these cases involved clients who were in a bit of a financial jam. Interestingly these cases all appeared in fairly close succession. Coincidence? Perhaps it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" 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 Download | 21.5 MB 23:01 Links

George Gissing
I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Episode 91: The Confidence Game
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

The Real Swedish Pathological Society Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

"Corresponding member of the Swedish Pathological Society" [HOUN] When James Mortimer, M.R.C.S. left behind his walking stick in The Hound of the Baskervilles, it was filled with clues — enough to lead Watson to his medical directory, which listed Mortimer as a member of the Swedish Pathological Society. In his 2008 Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article in Vol. 58, No. 4 of The Baker Street Journal, Mattias Boström, BSI ("The Swedish Pathological Society") determined that Mortimer's membership was an impossibility. He explains why and it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. There's a new "Trifling Trifles" episode out — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" 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 Download | 21.9 MB 23:04 Links

The Morley-Montgomery Award episode series (Patreon | Substack)
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Holmesless in Aldershot May 27, 2026

Show notes

"To my astonishment it was Sherlock Holmes" [CROO] What if we told you that Watson wasn't exactly honest with readers in "The Crooked Man"? That his telling of the tale masked that it was actually he, and not Sherlock Holmes, who solved the case. John Rabe, son of old Irregular W.T. Rabe ("Colonel Warburton's Madness") questions Watson's version of "The Crooked Man" in Vol. 76, No. 1 of The Baker Street Journal. And it's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" 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

The Baker Street Journal
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

Entombment May 21, 2026

Show notes

"the business in the crypt" [SHOS] If you experience claustrophobia, this may not be the episode for you. Because it's all about being shut up in close spaces. And it's the monthly "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the Theorist" episode. Denise M. Rogers walks us through the gothic theme shared between Edgar Allan Poe and some of the Sherlock Holmes stories in her Baker Street Miscellanea article "Crypts, Secret Rooms and Subterranean Passageways: Entombment as a Motif in the Canon" from Spring 1990. It's just a Trifle. If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift. Our Merch Store is 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. Don't sleep on "Trifling Trifles" — short-form content that doesn't warrant a full episode. We release these at the beginning of every month. The latest episode is "for those with ears attuned to catch the distant view-halloo!" 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

Baker Street Miscellanea (Abebooks)
All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

Music credits Performers: Uncredited violinist, US Marine Chamber Orchestra Publisher Info.: Washington, DC: United States Marine Band. Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0

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