Tea, Tonic & Toxin
Tea, Tonic, and Toxin is a book club and podcast for people who love mysteries, thrillers, introspection, and good conversation. Each month, your hosts, Carolyn Daughters and Sarah Harrison, will discuss a game-changing mystery or thriller, starting in 1841 onward. Together, we’ll see firsthand how the genre evolvedAlong the way, we’ll entertain ideas, prospects, theories, doubts, and grudges, along with the occasional guest. And we hope to entertain you, dear friend. We want you to experience the joys of reading some of the best mysteries and thrillers ever written.
Episodes
103 episodes
Green for Danger by Christianna Brand (Guest Sergio Angelini): Part 1
GREEN FOR DANGER by Christianna Brand is a masterful wartime mystery set in a British hospital during the Blitz. When a patient dies under suspicious circumstances, Inspector Cockrill investigates a web of secrets among the medical staff. It’s ...
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Season 5
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Episode 102
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54:32
Wartime Mysteries and The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene (Guest Dr Robert Willingham)
We are so excited to expand our discussion of the transcendant The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene with special guest Dr. Robert Willingham.Rob Willingham is a history professor at Roanoke College. After receiving his doctorate f...
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Season 5
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Episode 101
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1:02:29
The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene
THE MINISTRY OF FEAR by Graham Greene is a thrilling blend of espionage and psychological mystery set in wartime London. The story follows Arthur Rowe, an ordinary man caught up in Nazi intrigue. Celebrated for its moral complexity, it r...
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Season 5
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Episode 100
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1:05:28
Mystery Podcast 2025 Retrospective
2025 was an amazing and tumultous year for Carolyn and Sarah, both of us making moves out of Denver. But we kept on reading (albiet at a slower pace!) and loved having conversations about it all. Join us for our take on 2025, and let us know yo...
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Season 4
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Episode 99
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40:08
Rear Window by Cornell Woolrich and "Through a Window" by H.G. Wells
Rear Window (1942) by Cornell Woolrich is a classic in the suspense genre for its masterful use of tension and claustrophobia. The story’s premise—a man confined to his apartment who becomes an unwitting witness to sinist...
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1:08:03
The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton (Guest L Wayne Hicks): Part 2
L. Wayne Hicks joins Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope, published in 1943 by C. W. Grafton (father of Sue Grafton).L. Wayne Hicks is a freelance writer who covered real-life crimes for newspa...
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Season 4
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Episode 97
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53:20
The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope by CW Grafton (Guest L Wayne Hicks): Part 1
L. Wayne Hicks joins Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope, published in 1943 by C. W. Grafton (father of Sue Grafton).L. Wayne Hicks is a freelance writer who covered real-life crimes for newspa...
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Season 4
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Episode 96
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46:58
Mystery Podcast 2026 Reading List
The 2026 book list revealed and discussed. What was selected and why? Do you agree? Disagree? Have authors to add?Get your copy of all of our History of Mystery book selections here! (including even ...
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Season 5
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Episode 95
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59:58
Laura by Vera Caspary
Tea, Tonic & Toxin is a history of mystery book club and podcast. We’re reading the best mysteries ever written and interviewing some of the world’s best contemporary mystery and thriller writers.LAURA by Vera Caspary (1943) is a sop...
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Season 4
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Episode 94
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55:24
Mr Campion's Christmas: Interview with Mike Ripley
Mike Ripley joins Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion novels, along with his latest novel in the series, Mr Campion’s Christmas.Mike Ripley completed the third Albert Campion novel left unfinishe...
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Season 4
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Episode 93
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54:58
Margery Allingham and Albert Campion (Special Guest Mike Ripley)
Tea, Tonic & Toxin is a history of mystery book club and podcast. We’re reading the best mysteries ever written and interviewing some of the world’s best contemporary mystery and thriller writers.Traitor’s Purse (1...
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Season 4
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Episode 92
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48:29
Traitor's Purse by Margery Allingham!
TRAITOR’S PURSE (1940) by Margery Allingham is a mystery thriller classic that masterfully combines psychological tension with a high-stakes plot. Suffering from amnesia, amateur sleuth Albert Campion races to stop a wartime national security t...
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Season 4
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Episode 91
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1:05:29
Baby Hawk: Interview with Tom Epperson
Tom Epperson, a native of Arkansas, headed west to Los Angeles with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton to pursue a career in show business. Epperson’s co-written the scripts for
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Season 4
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Episode 90
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54:09
Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (Guest Owen Hill): Part 2
Farewell, My Lovely (1940) by Raymond Chandler is a cornerstone of the noir genre and the Philip Marlowe books, showcasing Marlowe in one of his most memorable cases. The novel’s richly atmospheric prose vividly captures ...
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Season 4
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Episode 89
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52:35
Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (Guest Owen Hill): Part 1
Farewell, My Lovely (1940) by Raymond Chandler is a cornerstone of the noir genre and the Philip Marlowe books, showcasing Marlowe in one of his most memorable cases. The novel’s richly atmospheric prose vividly captures ...
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Season 4
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Episode 88
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52:44
Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler: Interview with Arvind Ethan David
Arvind Ethan David joins Tea, Tonic & Toxin to discuss Trouble Is My Business by Raymond Chandler.Arvind is a writer and and producer who tells stories and builds accidental businesses around them.Most recently, he re...
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Season 4
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Episode 87
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1:02:21
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Guest Anthony Rizzuto): Part 2
THE BIG SLEEP (1939) is a seminal work in the hardboiled detective genre, and it’s among the best of the Raymond Chandler books. It showcases Chandler’s masterful use of sharp dialogue, complex characters and his gritty depiction of 1930s Los A...
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Season 4
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Episode 86
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49:59
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (Guest Anthony Rizzuto): Part 1
THE BIG SLEEP (1939) is a seminal work in the hardboiled detective genre, and it’s among the best of the Raymond Chandler books. It showcases Chandler’s masterful use of sharp dialogue, complex characters and his gritty depiction of 1930s Los A...
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Season 4
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Episode 85
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50:46
Ahriman: The Spirit of Destruction: Interview with Puja Guha!
Puja Guha grew up and has worked all over the world. Her spy thriller series THE AHRIMAN LEGACY is an Amazon bestseller, and she has been featured on TV and media, including Fox5, Reader’s Digest, and The London Post.Get your
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Season 4
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Episode 84
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1:00:57
Mystery Podcast 2024 Retrospective
Yes, you read that right! 2024! Due to Carolyn & Sarah's lives exploding they've been getting the episodes out a bit slower than they would prefer. Not to worry, they are actively working on solutions to be able to make more tim...
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Season 3
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Episode 83
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1:05:37
Dead and Gondola: Interview with Ann Claire
Ann Claire joins us in studio to discuss Dead and Gondola, the first book in her Christie Bookshop Mystery series. The second book in the series, Last Word to the Wise, was released in 2023.Her Bookmobile Mysteries, San...
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Season 3
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Episode 82
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1:00:05
A Coffin for Dimitrios (The Mask of DImitrios) by Eric Ambler (Guest Neil Nyren): Part 2
The intricate plot, morally complex characters, and exploration of the human psyche in A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS (THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS) (1939) make it one of the first modern suspense thrillers. Eric Ambler paved the way for such writers as John ...
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Season 3
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Episode 81
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50:32
A Coffin for Dimitrios (The Mask of DImitrios) by Eric Ambler (Guest Neil Nyren): Part 1
The intricate plot, morally complex characters, and exploration of the human psyche in A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS (THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS) (1939) make it one of the first modern suspense thrillers. Eric Ambler paved the way for such writers as John ...
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Season 3
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Episode 80
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48:01
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Ten strangers, each with a dark secret, are lured to a remote island and drawn into a deadly game. As the body count rises, paranoia intensifies in this classic whodunit. Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (1939) will keep you guessing ...
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Season 3
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Episode 79
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1:04:08