Tea, Tonic & Toxin

Send us Fan Mail
HOME SWEET HOMICIDE (1944) by Craig Rice is a classic in the mystery genre that features three resourceful siblings determined to solve a neighborhood murder. Rice’s sharp wit and unique approach to the detective genre earned her widespread acclaim, including a rare Time Magazine cover, solidifying her legacy as one of the most distinctive voices in mystery fiction.
Jeff Marks, publisher at Crippen and Landru, joins us to discuss Home Sweet Homicide by Craig Rice. He wrote Craig Rice’s bio (Who Was That Lady?) and has been nominated for an Edgar, three Agathas, and many other awards.
Get your copy of our guest's books here! 
History of Mystery book slections available in our Amazon Storefront or support your favorite local bookstore in our Bookshop Storefront as well! Guests have their own list here!
Or if you happen to be in lovely Roanoke, Virginia, stop in person at the BiblioPub to get your copy.
Watch clips from our conversations with guests!
For bonus episodes and to get all episodes first, join our Patreon community.

Real Violence vs. Comic Framing in Home Sweet Homicide by Craig Rice

Does the novel successfully balance murder with comedy? Did the comedy ever undermine the stakes for you, or did it actually make the danger feel stranger and sharper? How does the novel handle blackmail, kidnapping, murder, and corruption? How does this novel make murder funny without making it weightless?
What moments in the book reminded you that murder is serious business and is not, in fact, just a game for the children?
Craig Rice is often praised for blending mystery with screwball comedy. (Carolyn even noted some similarities to The Brady Bunch.) She has been called the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction—do you agree with this assessment?
Are there moments where the book feels almost like a film comedy rather than a traditional novel?

Crime Fiction About Crime Fiction

This is a mystery about children who have absorbed detective conventions from their mother’s books. How self-aware is the novel about mystery tropes?
Is the book an affectionate satire of detective fiction? Or a love letter to the genre’s imaginative power?
How effective is the actual puzzle once you set aside the comedy? Is it a strong mystery in its own right? Is the mystery itself strong enough to survive if you stripped away the charm?
The book keeps introducing suspects, hidden histories, false identities, and side scandals. Did that feel delightfully layered or did you have trouble keeping track of all the details?

The Social World / Historical Context of Home Sweet Homicide by Craig Rice

Published in 1944, the novel sits in a wartime America full of newspapers, movie culture, celebrity, crime magazines, and public scandal. In what ways does that broader world shape the book’s energy?
How important is class in this book? Is it less rigid than in British mysteries, or simply rearranged into American forms of status and aspiration?
For all the jokes and plotting, this is also a very affectionate portrait of a family. What makes Marian and the children believable as a family unit? What about this family gives the book its emotional warmth? Why do the kids want their mom to marry Bill Smith? Are they looking for a father? Are they trying to reduce their mother’s workload?
What do you make of the book’s title?
Jeffrey Marks received a grant while working on that book. It was nominated for an Agatha and, fittingly, won an Anthony Award. Marks is currently working on a biography of Erle Stanley Gardner, a book on Gardner’s work with his Pre-Innocence Project, Court of Last Resort, and a dual biography of the two men who wrote as Ellery Queen.
In 2014, Jeffrey Marks offered to help Doug Greene fix issues with the Crippen & Landru Publishers website. After fixing those issues, he proceeded to upgrade the website to a new shopping cart software package. That led to creating a more robust eBook program. In 2018, Doug Greene retired (to become Senior Editor) and Marks took over the company.
Jeffrey Marks has been nominated for a Maxwell award (DWAA), an Edgar (MWA), three Agathas (Malice Domestic), two Macavity awards, and three Anthony awards (Bouchercon). Marks retired from teaching in 2020, today, he writes from his home in Cincinnati, which he shares with his spouse and two dogs.
Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail
Jeffrey Marks (publisher, Crippen and Landru) joins us to discuss Home Sweet Homicide (1944), written by Craig Rice.
After numerous mystery author profiles for The Armchair Detective, Mystery Scene, and other genre publications, Jeffrey Marks chose to chronicle the short but full life of mystery writer Craig Rice. That biography (Who Was That Lady?) encouraged him to write mystery fiction.
He has been nominated for a Maxwell Award (DWAA), an Edgar (MWA), three Agathas (Malice Domestic), two Macavity Awards, and three Anthony Awards (Bouchercon).
Get your copy of our guest's books here! 
History of Mystery book slections now in our Bookshop Storefront as well! Guests have their own list here!
Or if you happen to be in lovely Roanoke, Virginia, stop in person at the BiblioPub to get your copy.
Watch clips from our conversations with guests!
HOME SWEET HOMICIDE (1944) by Craig Rice is a classic in the mystery genre for its clever combination of humor and an engaging plot. Featuring three resourceful siblings determined to solve a neighborhood murder, the novel highlights Rice’s knack for lighthearted storytelling and crafting intricate puzzles. The children’s enthusiasm for amateur sleuthing adds a whimsical (and relatable) touch.
Rice’s sharp wit and unique approach to the detective genre earned her widespread acclaim, including a rare Time Magazine cover, solidifying her legacy as one of the most distinctive voices in mystery fiction.

First Impressions About Home Sweet Homicide by Craig Rice: The Carstairs Children as Detectives

What was your first reaction to the Carstairs children? Endearing, exhausting, too clever by half, or instantly relatable and irresistible? (Carolyn particularly loved how they tracked expenditures and measured and divided amounts and quantities of food and drink—she and her siblings did the same.)
The children think that reading mystery fiction has trained them for real detection. Is the novel making fun of that idea, celebrating it, or both?
How does the sibling dynamic shape the story? Would the mystery work as well without the constant bargaining, bickering, loyalty, King Tut dialogue, and shared invention? Who’s the brains, who’s the strategist, who’s the pragmatist, and who’s the chaos engine?

Craig Rice and Marian Carstairs: Mothers, Writers, Workers

Marian is a working widow supporting her family by producing popular crime novels at warp speed. What does the book suggest about women’s work—especially Marian’s endless labor as mother and writer? How unusual or modern did she feel as a protagonist, even when she’s not technically the central sleuth?
What does the book suggest about the life of a woman writer—especially one writing under multiple (male) names and trying to turn imagination into income?
The children are deeply invested in getting Marian both publicity and romance. In what ways do the children act like parents? In what ways does Marian act childlike?

Gender, Performance, and Identity

What does the novel do with feminine performance—movie glamour, flirtation, false helplessness, beauty, tears, “slick chicks,” and social manipulation? Do you think the book is poking fun at gender roles—or quietly depending on them to make the machinery work?
Like Craig Rice herself, Marian writes under male names. The book keeps circling questions of presentation, alias, performance, and reinvention. How important is that to the novel’s worldview?
How does Marian compare with other women in Golden Age crime fiction?
Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail
Maureen and Jay join us to discuss their wonderful interactive whodunit, You Are the Detective: The Creeping Hand Murder. It’s 1933, and your job is to help Scotland Yard solve an impossible murder. Are you up to the task?
Get your copy of our guest's books here! 
History of Mystery book slections now in our Bookshop Storefront as well! Guests have their own list here!
Or if you happen to be in lovely Roanoke, Virginia, stop in person at the BiblioPub to get your copy.
Watch clips from our conversations with guests!
For bonus episodes and to get all episodes first, join our Patreon community.
November 1933. London. Seven people receive mysterious letters. Someone knows their terrible secrets. They are summoned to a posh townhouse where one is stabbed right in front of the others, but somehow no one saw a thing.
Can you help Scotland Yard solve the mystery? An interactive murder mystery from the bestselling author and illustrator of Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
Dear Detective, Have you seen the story in the papers about the dreadful murder of the American novelist? The crime is so devious, so logistically impossible, that it seems to have been committed not by a person but by a disembodied hand. I must confess that we are at a loss. Who wrote the poison pen letters that lured these seven people to this deadly gathering? What do a poet, an earl, an actress, a cook, a telephone operator, and a lothario have in common? And how can a man be stabbed in a room full of suspects when none of them went near him or saw a thing? We have had our best people on the case, Detective, and we still can’t make heads or tails of it. We are giving this case file to you. Can you decipher the clues, decode the witness statements, and identify the murderer? You are our last hope. Can you help us crack the Creeping Hand Murder? Yours truly,
Detective Chief Inspector of the Metropolitan Police
Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail
Special guests Ruta Sepetys  and Steve Sheinkin join Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss their book The Bletchley Riddle.
Remember, you are bound by the Official Secrets Act…
Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister, Lizzie, share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amid one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi’s Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.
The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother’s disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues that unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept?
Get your copy of all of our History of Mystery book selections here! (including even some 2027 selections)
History of Mystery book slections now in our Bookshop Storefront as well! Support your local bookseller.
Or if you happen to be in lovely Roanoke, Virginia, stop in person at the BiblioPub to get your copy.
Watch clips from our conversations with guests!
For bonus episodes and to get all episodes first, join our Patreon community.
Ruta Sepetys (Rūta Šepetys) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Considered a “crossover” novelist, her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal and honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ruta is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. Her books have won or been shortlisted for more than fifty book prizes, appear on over forty state reading lists, and are currently in development for film and television.
A former textbook writer, Steve Sheinkin is now making amends by writing books young people might actually want to read.
He’s the author of fast-paced, cinematic, nonfiction page-turners, including Bomb, Fallout, Undefeated, Born to Fly, The Port Chicago 50, and Impossible Escape.
He is also the author of The Bletchley Riddle, a middle grade novel written with Ruta Sepetys. The historical mystery is set in Bletchley Park, Britain’s top secret codebreaking factory during World War II.
Steve’s many accolades include a Newbery Honor, three Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, a Sibert Medal and Honor, three National Book Award finalist honors, and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He lives with his family in Saratoga Springs, New York.
BiblioPub
The cozy reader’s refuge that Roanoke has always needed.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail
We were delighted to discuss all things mysterious with Otto Penzler in this episode. 
Otto Penzler joins Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss the Golden Age of Mystery.
Otto Penzler is president and CEO of MysteriousPress.com and proprietor of New York City’s Mysterious Bookshop.
Widely regarded as a leading authority on crime, mystery, and suspense fiction, he founded The Mysterious Press in 1975 and later launched Penzler Publishers, including American Mystery Classics and Scarlet. A prolific editor and publisher, he has received two Edgar Awards, the Ellery Queen Award, and the Raven.
Get your copy of all of our History of Mystery book selections here! (including even some 2027 selections)
History of Mystery book slections now in our Bookshop Storefront as well! Support your local bookseller.
Or if you happen to be in lovely Roanoke, Virginia, stop in person at the BiblioPub to get your copy.
Watch clips from our conversations with guests!
For bonus episodes and to get all episodes first, join our Patreon community.
Otto Penzler is president and CEO of MysteriousPress.com and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. Long regarded as one of the world’s foremost authorities on crime, mystery, and suspense fiction, he has spent decades shaping the field as a publisher, editor, bookseller, and champion of both classic and contemporary crime writing.
In 1975, Penzler founded The Mysterious Press, a publishing house that became one of the most respected names in mystery and suspense fiction. He sold the company to Warner Books in 1989, reacquired the imprint in 2010, and continued publishing literary crime fiction through Grove/Atlantic. Since January 2021, The Mysterious Press has again been independently owned. Through MysteriousPress.com, in partnership with Open Road Integrated Media, he publishes both original works and classic crime fiction.
In fall 2018, Penzler established Penzler Publishers, which introduced American Mystery Classics, a line dedicated to bringing distinguished mystery and detective novels back into print, many after decades of unavailability. In September 2020, he launched Scarlet, an imprint devoted to psychological and domestic suspense. Charles Perry serves as publisher of all Penzler Publishers imprints, and Luisa Smith is editor-in-chief of Scarlet.
Penzler’s contributions to the mystery world extend well beyond book publishing. For seventeen years, he published The Armchair Detective, the Edgar Award-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction. He also created Otto Penzler Books and The Armchair Detective Library, further expanding his influence on the genre’s publishing landscape.
Crippen and Landru
The very best in short mystery fiction

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...