Lighting the Pipes

Second in our series of "Sherlock Selects" for the Summer is "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box". Originally published in January of 1893 (and first covered on LTP in June of 2017), Conan Doyle himself ruled against anthologizing this tale due to its controversial subject matter. But you can't keep a good story down and "The Cardboard Box" would soon enough see wide release in both the UK and America. We had a lot of fun chatting through this twisted tale of morbid mail and jealous love!

This season, we'll be buffering new episodes with re-introduced and smaller story reviews. For these selections, we reach back into our first season vaults and renew our love for some favourite Sherlock pieces and chats. First up is "The Abbey Grange", one of Josh's choices from The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Originally published in March of 2018, we had a great time talking through the beats of this locked room mystery.

"Later" marks the third and most recent crime story written by Stephen King for the Hard Case Crime label. Offering readers a predictable mix of the supernatural and police procedural, the horror master's latest tale continues his career penchant for coming-of-age narratives with soul-searching themes. Josh and Scott break down the narrative and weigh its subtle strengths as series three of LTP picks up momentum.

Josh and Scott kick off a new series of crime story explorations with a trip to Lindsey Davis's Ancient Rome, guided by Imperial Informant, Marcus Didius Falco. "The Silver Pigs" is set in AD 70, during the rule of Vespasian, and travels from the Aventine to Roman Britain where a conspiracy involving the trade of silver ingots propels Falco further into deep and dangerous territory. Join us for a time-travelling romp through antiquity as Davis reconstructs ancient Rome for modern crime readers through the lens of her cynical detective.

For their series finale on the Philip Marlowe novels, Scott and Josh reflect on their reading of the canonical sweep and rank the stories and features of Raymond Chandler's enduring collection.

Chandler's final complete Marlowe novel was written at a time of deteriorating health and tumultuous circumstances for the author. Not surprisingly, some of these conflicts from 1958 find their way into the story. Marlowe is different here and the narrative is markedly unique, in ways both satisfying and off-putting to readers. Josh and Scott complete their "Marlowe Sweep" by examining the context behind and story of Chandler's finishing full-length adventure.

1953 saw the publication of Raymond Chandler's sixth Philip Marlowe novel, "The Long Goodbye". Chandler himself regarded it as his best work and many fans agree. Nevertheless, behind the scenes it was getting harder for Chandler to find peace. Personal issues and professional conflicts continued to grow, marring his sense of contentment. Josh and Scott sit down to expose the context behind this penultimate Marlowe adventure and, of course, "light the pipes" over its striking narrative features.

Driven by amphetamine, Graham Greene knocked out this thriller in only 6 weeks of 1939 in a rented room of a Bloomsbury flat. He wrote fervently as premonitions of a second world war grew more tangible around him. Josh and Scott take a break from their Raymond Chandler campaign to investigate and weigh the merits of this compelling espionage adventure.

After a five-year hiatus, Raymond Chandler returns to the world of Philip Marlowe with "The Little Sister". His small-town client brings big-city trouble as the investigation into her missing brother turns up a lot of Tinseltown intrigue, including ice-pick murders and sexual betrayal. Coloured by Chandler's own experiences within the studio system, this fifth Marlowe adventure shows no mercy in presenting a deeply problematic view of show-business and the rotten cogs of its machinery.

For his fourth novel, Raymond Chandler sends detective Philip Marlowe away from the steamy tumult of Los Angeles and up into the fresh mountain air in search of a client's missing wife. The investigation starts simply enough but soon careens along a grotty path of quick-fire hunches and deadly secrets that take no prisoners. Josh and Scott drag the narrative waters of this complex caper as their survey of Raymond Chandler's writing continues!

Commenting on the gigantic success of his company, Walt Disney once famously said "...it was all started by a mouse". Years later, it would again be a mouse that helped to safeguard Disney's future, this time by restoring hope and energy into its animation wing. 1986's "The Great Mouse Detective" is a smaller cog in the studio's machine but one full of curios and performances that merit discussion. Here, we take a trip down the Baker Street mouse-hole and review this classic.

While it may snuff the hopes of Sherlockians in search of a faithful adaptation of Conan Doyle's detective, there's still a lot to enjoy about Netflix's "Enola Holmes". Scott and Josh are joined in this special episode by their "Bond By Numbers" co-host, Jeff Chapman, to review the film and discuss the controversies surrounding its release.

Raymond Chandler's third novel offers readers a different look at detective Philip Marlowe than afforded in his first two outings while expanding on themes of spiritual decay and corruption. A missing wife, a lost doubloon and a frightened secretary are three early clues that our protagonist follows as his case for the grizzled matriarch, Mrs Murdock, gains traction. What unfolds is a story of grotty forgery, sinister blackmail and deep family secrets. Josh and Scott also take a look at a new "Stories of Southern Humor and Crime" anthology.

Raymond Chandler fought hard, insisting that the title for his second Philip Marlowe novel was right in playing off more erudite connotations of romance and drama. Like "The Big Sleep" before it, "Farewell" is a challenging text, at times both raucous and textured, driven by smoky characters, clever prose and explosive narrative impetus. Los Angeles and its criminal environs are again decorated for readers through Marlowe and his wry observations but remain steeped in the historical and cultural prejudices of Chandler's America. So, please pile in the Packard and join LTP through the highways and byways of Marlowe's sophomore mystery!

Bowman and the BFG kick off their Raymond Chandler review series with "The Big Sleep". After introducing the writer's early life and formative years for the journey ahead, the foundations for the publication of his first novel are established. Finally, the PIPES are resurrected and "The Big Sleep" goes under the microscope.

Lighting the Pipes is returning! Join Scott and Josh (Bowman & the BFG) for a new season of reading, research and reviewing as they scour the streets with Raymond Chandler's detective, Philip Marlowe. You heard right, sweethearts! So trade in the deerstalker and riding crop for a fedora and .44: dirty crime and social slime demands our attention this season!

The Finale! After nearly two years of happy hiking and in-depth analysis through the pages of Arthur Conan Doyle's canon, Scott and Josh descend from their adventures in this final episode with some well-deserved takes on the series. In addition to ranking some fun and key features of the canon, Bowman and the BFG take on the big challenge of selecting 25 stories from the canon to preserve and recommend in their own 5-volume "editions". Lighting the Pipes comes to an end here with the final conversation about ACD's canon and the lasting Holmes influence. Recorded

Ta-Da! Episode 21 sees Josh and Scott bring their 20-month canonical tour to an end with a final hurdle over the remaining stories of "The Case-Book" and reach the summit of Mt. Sherlockia. This final reading episode has got it all (for better or worse): jealous wives, monkey-men, dastardly jellyfish, suspicious dogs, circus tragedy and vengeful decorators. The heavy-lifting now done, "Lighting the Pipes" will return with its finale in Epsidoe 22, Bowman & the BFG's "Guide to the Canon".

Episode 20 sees Josh and Scott tackle four further stories from The Case-Book and creep closer to the conclusion of their exhaustive labour of love. First up is "The Mazarin Stone", whose dramatic, adapted features are more than evident than its supposed creativity (ooh, burn!). "The Three Gables" sees Holmes and Watson investigating a strange property proposal and a foreign "lady of favour", whose appetite for love leaves something to be desired. Next up, cover your neck and grab your garlic! Bowman and the BFG take on "The Sussex Vampire" before considering the obscurities and familiarities of "The Three Garridebs".

Recorded on holiday in Canada, Episode 19 sees Bowman and the BFG reunited in person after 3 years and lighting their pipes over the first two installments of ACD's final Holmes story collection. The adventure begins with the "Illustrious Client" where we meet one of the better villains seen for a while in the canon. Scott and Josh then chew the fat over the "Blanched Soldier" and its variety of problem features. Plans for an exciting "Drinks from the Holmes Universe" side-car discussion never quite transpires but will appear at a later date instead. Look for that in our series wrap up, just a couple of months away!

In Episode 18, Scott and Josh punch their first-class tickets and complete "His Last Bow", the penultimate Holmes collection, with an analysis of three remaining stories. After chasing Lady Frances Carfax (somewhat pointlessly) to Switzerland and back again, Bowman & the BFG pedicure the slopes and edges of "The Devil's Foot". They close shop by reviewing the titular story and its patriotic farewell set admidst the backdrop of world conflict. Recorded 23 June 2018.

Published as a collection in 1917, "His Last Bow" is the penultimate set of Sherlock Holmes stories by Conan Doyle. Comprised of sporadically appearing tales carried in the Strand Magazine and Colliers Weekly, its contents span the years from 1908 and 1917. These first four tales couldn't be more different from one another... or could they? Hmm... join Bowman and the BFG as they light their pipes and dig into the grotty colonial confusion that is "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge", dance steps around "The Red Circle", submerge with "The Bruce Partington Plans" and visit the bedside of "The Dying Detective". Recorded May 19-20, 2018.

Shovel the coal and stoke the fires! In Episode 16, Bowman & the BFG take a trip to Vermissa Valley in and explore "The Valley of Fear", its colourful denizens and the complex virtues of Arthur Conan Doyle's fourth and final novel treament for Sherlock Holmes. Secret societies, smoking guns and revenge killings all feature on the menu in this "locked-room" mystery with a grand narrative back-story.

In this episode, Bowman and the BFG wrap up discussions on the final 4 stories of "The Return" and wax rhetoric on issues of class, cigarette history, insane wives and favourite cudgels. First up are "The Golden Pince-Nez" and "The Missing Three-Quarter" where left-over lenses and a missing rugby star are features of investigation. The mysteries of "The Abbey Grange" and "The Second Stain" conclude this 3-hour behemoth and Scott and Josh find themselves in closer agreement on the tales than they originally expected.

In this instalment, Bowman and the BFG celebrate their nearly-1-year anniversary of Lighting the Pipes by tackling four further adventures from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes". Whaling, sailing and harpoon flailing take center stage in "Black Peter", while "Charles Augustus Milverton" sees Holmes go undercover in love to best a master criminal. Discussion of the "Six Napoleons" and its fan-favourite features comes third and Episode 14 comes to a close with "The Three Students", where Doyle helps Holmes "earn his blue" by placing him in the midst of a college caper fit for an Archie double digest.

Technical difficulties resolved (we told you they were amateurs!), Bowman and the BFG get back to lighting their pipes with three more stories from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes". First up, the duo cut shapes over "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" and all of its been-here-before atmosphere. They then take a country ride with "The Solitary Cyclist" before concluding Episode 13 by visiting the "Priory School" and chewing the fat over a high-profile disappearance.

With "The Hound of the Baskervilles" behind them, Bowman and the BFG sit down to discuss the great detective's resurrection; enter "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", starting with "The Adevnture of the Empty House" where readers finally get the chronological follow-up to Holmes' plummet from the Reichenbach falls. Originally intended to be a three-episode show, technical troubles forced Episode 12 to conclude prematurely, quickly after our hosts chopped kindling over "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", Conan Dolye's second story of "The Return".

After Sherlock Holmes took the literary plunge over the falls in "The Final Problem", public outcry for his return was strong enough (helped by equally generous offers from publishers) for Conan Doyle to resurrect the fabled detective. Cleverly, Doyle doesn't bring him back to life in linear chronology but through this stand-alone novel, an earlier case from Watson's diary. Bowman and the BFG get into the Halloween spirit with their detailed take on this popular tale, possibly Conan Doyle's most celebrated Holmes narrative.

Only two stories remain to discuss from Conan Doyle's "Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" and here Bowman and the BFG give full treatment to both. First up is "The Naval Treaty", one of Doyle's supposed personal favourites and longest story. Secondly, "The Final Problem" and the great issues of Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes' death are put under the spotlight.

Here, four stories go under the microscope as Scott and Josh light their pipes and discuss the further Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Your hosts bow to "The Reigate Squires", straighten out the mystery of "The Crooked Man", apply some bedside manner to "The Resident Patient" and try to translate the workings of the "The Greek Interpreter".

In Episode 8, Bowman and the BFG follow Sherlock and Watson to Birmingham in "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk", meet his university pal and a tale of mutiny in "The Gloria Scott" and get all geometric in "The Musgrave Ritual". This conversation covers the fourth, fifth and sixth story in "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes".

Given the explosive popularity of his "Adventures", it was a no-brainer for Conan Doyle to revive his titular hero in a second collection of serialised stories for "The Strand". First out of the gate for "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" is "The Adventure of Silver Blaze", which finds Holmes and Watson on location in Dartmoor. This famous case is followed by the graphic tale of revenge, "Adventure of the Cardboard Box". Scott and Josh throw their full plot-spoiling, feature-analysing selves at both stories before closing shop on Episode 7 with a look at "The Adventure of the Yellow Face".

Episode 6 sees Bowman and the BFG share their thoughts on the final three stories of Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Lively discussion on the growing influence of America colours "The Noble Bachelor", while a royal bank loan brings ropy collateral damage in "The Beryl Coronet". The collection (and conversation) concludes with the imposing sway of the "Copper Beeches".

In this instalment, Josh and Scott sit down to examine tales 7, 8 and 9 from Conan Doyle's "Adventures". Starting with the yuletide setting of "The Blue Carbuncle", the duo trade views on jewel theft before moving on to evaluate the highs and lows of the famous "Speckled Band". The gothic features and deceptively simple plot of "The Engineer's Thumb" round off the discussion.

Discussions on "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", "The Five Orange Pips" and "The Man With the Twisted Lip" mark Bowman and the BFG's second foray into the stories of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".

"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" appeared two years after "The Sign of Four" and in serialised form within the pages of "The Strand Magazine". Here, in their first look at the collection, Scott and Josh discuss the first three stories: "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League" and "A Case of Identity".

Two years after Sherlock Holmes first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet", ACD dropped "The Sign of Four" onto the literary landscape. Larger and more imperial in scope, many regard this novel as Conan Doyle's finest extended Holmes adventure. Bowman and the BFG light the pipes and serve up their analysis in Episode 2.

In Episode 1, Scott and Josh (Bowman & the BFG) wield their amateur podcasting touch in discussing Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story. The series starts here, with our inaugural episode recorded in February 2017. Introductions, a brief Doyle biography and our approach to scoring and indexing our reading are each presented before diving into the origins of the Holmes phenomenon with "A Study in Scarlet".