Tea, Tonic & Toxin

Send us Fan Mail
DIED IN THE WOOL (1945) by Ngaio Marsh is a set in the remote New Zealand countryside on a sheep farm during World War II. The story follows Inspector Roderick Alleyn as he investigates the suspicious death of a politician while conducting counter-espionage work.
The book is known for its blend of murder mystery and wartime espionage. Marsh’s vivid characterization and clever narrative structure make it a compelling and timeless entry in the genre. She was one of the Queens of Crime, and this novel is among her best.
History of Mystery book selections 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.
Z.J. Czupor has joined us TWICE to discuss Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers and Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh.
His new murder mystery, Dead Men Don’t Drink, is published at zoltanjames.substack.com. He’s also the author of THE BIG WEIRD: Haikus in Times of Pandemic and Chaos. He is immediate past president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and an active member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He’s represented by Terrie Wolf (AKA Literary Management).
Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh
1. The Hook & the Vibe in Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh

Opening image: a missing public figure turns up inside a wool bale. Did that seem instantly macabre, instantly weird, instantly kind of funny? What was your initial response?

Ngaio Marsh is doing “Golden Age puzzle” in a distinctly New Zealand landscape during wartime. Did that feel like a refreshing shift from the usual manor-house geometry, or did it still read as country-house logic in different clothes and during bleak times?
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
On Fire and Under Water is a new crime fiction anthology from Rock and a Hard Place Press. The anthology explores the intersection of climate change and crime through the lens of 15 short stories from some of today’s best crime fiction writers.
Edited by Anthony Award-winning author Curtis Ippolito and the editorial team at RHP Press, the stories peel back the curtain on the ways in which climate change impacts real people in their most desperate hour.
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.
“The Devil Doesn’t Live Hand to Mouth” is a short story in the anthology by Puja Guha. Mozambique has been hit hard by Cyclone Jasper. Antonio’s Bahia Mar Sanctuary, a boutique resort/coastal B&B, has been destroyed. But he has another option. A Chinese spy, Ernest Mao, has asked Antonio to place a few bugs in the home of the uber-wealthy Fred and Gina.
His dream is dead. His resort is gone. He drives a 10-year-old Toyota Corolla. Everything about Fred and Gina is a reminder of what he will never have. Antonio grapples with his decision – what should he do?
“Long Night of the Polar Bear” by C.E. McKenna takes place in Longyearbyen, a small coal-mining town on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Svalbard is between Norway and the North Pole. Atle Solas has been banished by his boss, Vlad, to Svalbard for accidentally killing an old woman during a job. He has a plan for escape: before heading to Svalbard, he had copied the contents of his boss’ daughter’s laptop onto a thumb drive. He has stored the thumb drive in a small cavern carved into the back of the leg of a dancing polar bear in the bar. His plan is to collect €2 million for the contents and retire in Thailand.
“No one is allowed to be born on Svalbard and the dead are shipped immediately to be buried off-island. This place is a land of living, but not life, of dying, but not death.”
C.E. McKenna is a writer and historian from Colorado. She has history theses in the libraries of Reed College and Oklahoma State, and her short stories have found awards and publication with Writing by Writers, Desperate Literature, Cagibi, Lumina, Quarterly West, Northwest Review, and Shift. In 2022, she completed AWP’s 17th Writer to Writer Mentorship Program, and in 2024 was invited to the Chateau d’Orquevaux for a 4-week writing residency. She is currently an MFA student at Emerson College with an expected graduation of 2026.
Most of C.E. McKenna’s work focuses on the untold stories of the American West. Her short fiction and research often deals with the dangers of western environments—particularly wildland fire. Her long-form work combines deft historical research with speculative fiction, resulting in vivid, thrilling pageturners. Her debut novel, The Primary Source, is about the murderous origins of Stanford University.
C.E. McKenna lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she works as a software developer and spends her free time traipsing local hiking trails, attempting to avoid moose.
Tea, Tonic & Toxin interviews Raymond J. Brash, who discusses his short story “Ban Yuh Belly,” published in On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology. He’s joined by authors Curtis Ipppolito, Puja Guha, and C.E. McKenna.
He’s is a Trinidadian-American writer residing in Colorado with his wife and rescue pittie, Bessie.
He enjoys reading and writing speculative fiction, noir, and anything that crushes multiple genres into a pulpy, edible mash.
Raymond has stories published or forthcoming in The Lines We Cross: Bouchercon 2026 Anthology, On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Crime Fiction Anthology, Shotgun Honey, Rock and a Hard Place Press, and others, and has been nominated for a Best of the Net Award. Follow him on Instagram @raymond.j.brash, Bluesky @rjbrash.bsky.social, or visit his website raymondjbrash.work
“Ban Yuh Belly” is a short story by Raymond J. Brash published in the anthology. “Ban yuh belly” is Caribbean patios meaning “brace yourself and prepare for hard times. The story is set in Trinidad and Tobago. “Rainy season getting worse and worse by the year,” Jeffrey Perrera says. “And they say God is a Trini.”
Jeffrey finds bodies washed up on the shore and takes their money. When we first meet him, he has also taken a watch. Jeffrey tells us, “I don’t read names on cards or stare at pictures too much. It’s easier that way.” Jeffrey is trying to do right by his sister, Denise, and her daughter, Hazel. Denise’s sound and look remind him of Mumzie, their mother.
Curtis Ippolito is an Anthony Award-and Derringer Award-winning writer. He is the author of Burying the Newspaper Man and the newly published Waves of Burden.
His short stories have appeared in many prominent publications and have been featured in several anthologies. He lives in San Diego and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and serves as vice-president of the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Support the show
https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/
https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin
https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com

Stay mysterious...

Send us Fan Mail
DEATH COMES AS THE END by Agatha Christie is a groundbreaking historical mystery set in ancient Egypt. When a wealthy patriarch’s death sparks a series of murders within his family, suspicion and secrets abound. It’s the first full-length historical whodunit.
History of Mystery book selections 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.
Dr. Nicky Nielsen is a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Manchester. Originally from Denmark, he was awarded an AHRC Block Grant to undertake PhD research at the University of Liverpool, investigating subsistence strategies and craft production at the Ramesside fortress site of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. He obtained his PhD in 2016.
Get your copy of our guest's books here!
Read his article Agatha Christie: World’s First Historical Whodunnit Was Inspired by 4,000 Year‑Old Letters

Author’s Note on Death Comes as the End

“The action of this book takes place on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes in Egypt about 2000 B.C. Both places and time are incidental to the story. Any other place at any other time would have served as well, but it so happened that the inspiration of both characters and plot was derived from two or three Egyptian letters of the XIth Dynasty, found during the 1920-1921 season by the Egyptian Expedition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in a rock tomb opposite Luxor, and translated by Professor Battiscombe Gunn in the Museum’s Bulletin.
“It may be of interest to the reader to note that an endowment for ka-service–an everyday feature of ancient Egyptian civilization–was very similar in principle to a medieval chantry bequest. Property was bequeathed to the ka-priest, in return for which he was expected to maintain the tomb of the testator, and to provide offerings at the tomb on certain feast days throughout the year for the repose of the deceased’s soul.
“The terms ‘Brother,’ ‘Sister,’ in Egyptian text regularly meaning ‘Lover,’ are frequently interchangeable with ‘Husband,’ ‘Wife.’ They are so used on occasion in this book.
“The agricultural calendar of Ancient Egypt, consisting of three seasons of four months of thirty days, formed the background of peasant life, and with the addition of five intercalary days at the end of the year, was used as the official calendar of 365 days to the year. This ‘year’ originally began with the arrival in Egypt of the flood-water of the Nile in the third week of July by our reckoning. The absence of a leap year caused this to lag through the centuries, so that at the opening of the agricultural year, i.e. in January instead of July. To save the reader from continually having to make allowance for this six months, however, the dates here used as chapter headings are calculated by the agricultural year of the time, i.e., Inundation–late July to late November; Winter–late November to late March; and Summer–late March to late July.”

Characters in Death Comes as the End
Imhotep, a mortuary priest (ka-priest); fussily pompous; provider for his large household
Nofret, Imhotep’s beautiful young concubine, newly arrived from the north
Esa, Imhotep’s mother; blunt-spoken, disdainful of much of her family; she calls her son a fool
Renisenb (ren-eh-seb), Imhotep’s recently widowed daughter (husband Khay); mother of Teti
Yahmose, Imhotep’s eldest son; he’s kind and hesitant, rarely asserting his rights as eldest son
Satipy (sah-tee-pee), Yahmose’s wife; tall, energetic, loud woman who bullied her husband
Sobek, Imhotep’s second son; handsome braggart who resents his dependent status
Kait, Sobek’s wife; her love for her children dominated her every word and act
Ipy (ee-pee), Imhotep’s youngest son; only his father could tolerate his adolescent arrogance
Henet, obsequious, malicious family retainer, poor relation of Ashayet, Imhotep’s dead wife
Hori, Imhotep’s family’s scribe and man of business; he is in love with Renisenb
Kameni, a handsome scribe and kinsman from the North; he sings songs of love for Renisenb
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...

Send us Fan Mail
DEATH COMES AS THE END by Agatha Christie is a groundbreaking historical mystery set in ancient Egypt. When a wealthy patriarch’s death sparks a series of murders within his family, suspicion and secrets abound. It’s the first full-length historical whodunit.
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, video conversations, and to get all episodes first, join our Patreon community.
Dr. Nicky Nielsen is a Senior Lecturer in Egyptology at the University of Manchester. Originally from Denmark, he was awarded an AHRC Block Grant to undertake PhD research at the University of Liverpool, investigating subsistence strategies and craft production at the Ramesside fortress site of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. He obtained his PhD in 2016.
Nicky Nielsen has excavated in Europe, Turkey and Egypt, and he is currently the field director of the University of Liverpool Tell Nabasha Survey Project, which conducts archaeological investigations of the ancient city of Imet located in the north-eastern Nile Delta.
He has published several peer-reviewed papers, as well as more public-oriented articles, and he is the author of ‘Pharaoh Seti I’ (2018), ‘From Mummies to Microchips’ (2020, co-authored with Professor Joyce Tyldesley) and ‘Egyptomaniacs: How We Became Obsessed with Ancient Egypt’ (2020).
Read his article Agatha Christie: World’s First Historical Whodunnit Was Inspired by 4,000 Year‑Old Letters
In Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie (1944), the Queen of Mystery transports us to ancient Egypt. In 2000 BC, death gives meaning to life. At the foot of a cliff lies the body of Nofret, concubine to a ka-priest. Many see it as fate—the beautiful, venomous young woman deserved to die.
But the priest’s daughter suspects foul play and believes the evil-doer lurks within their household—and watches helplessly as the family’s passions explode in murder.
The novel reflects Christie’s fascination with the ancient world, inspired by her time in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband, Sir Max Mallowan. It’s the first full-length novel to merge historical fiction with the mystery genre, paving the way for the historical whodunit.

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
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.
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...