Episode
The Biter Bit (1858)
- Podcast
- Lighting the Pipes
- Published
- Aug 14, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4167
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://feeds.captivate.fm/lighting-the-pipes/
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Summary
We return to Wilkie Collins and early detective writing with a study of this comic story, originally published in the Atlantic Monthly back in April of 1858. Mr Yatman, a hard-working SoHo stationer, has been robbed at home and now faces financial ruin. Conditions and suspects in the crime point to a "closed circle" mystery. When the veteran Sergeant Bulmer is taken off the case, a young upstart named Matthew Sharpin takes over the investigation... in a manner of speaking. Sharpin is well-connected but absurdly self-confident and Collins leans into the popular form of epistolary writing to chart this young man's (not-so-tragic) fall. Summary@7:50; PIPES@28:40. For more on Wilkie Collins, check out our episode on "The Moonstone" from March 2022.