Welcome to Mysteries to Die For.
I am TG Wolff and am here with Jack, my piano player and producer. This is a podcast where we combine storytelling with original music to put you in the heart of a mystery. Our stories are structured to challenge you to beat the detective to the solution. These are arrangements, which means instead of word-for-word readings, you get a performance meant to be heard. Jack and I perform these live, front to back, no breaks, no fakes, no retakes.
For Season 6, we are ad-free again. I do this because I love mysteries, Jack does it because he loves me. Jack maybe a starving college student but it’s because… We do ask you support the writers of our show. This week it’s Erica Obey. Check her out on her website and social, buy and read her stories, help other readers find her. Make writing for Mysteries to Die For the best decision she could have made. In your review, tell her Tina and Jack said ‘it’s safer to take the stairs’.
This is Season 6, Things that Go Jack in the Night. This season contains truly imaginative mysteries around one of the most common words in the English language. From the brandy distilled from hard cider known as applejack to that nefarious one-eyed jack, to the animals, vegetables, fruits, tools, weapons, and slang, the way the word “jack” is used in the English language is truly unique, inventive, and too numerous for me to count. And yes, it is also the name of my piano player and producer.
For Episode 5, the playing card the one-eyed jack is the featured jack. This is One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King by Erica Obey.
ABOUT One-Eyed Jacks
Mr. Will Roya posted a history of playing cards back in 2018 on the website Playing Card Decks This was one of the most fascinating trips I've taken down the internet rabbit hole. Here are a few of my favorite fun facts (paraphrased, of course):
• Face cards have long been an element of a deck but who is on the face card varies with deck origin. A king, a knight, a knave. A king, a queen, a prince (later called jack). A king and two knaves. (FYI a knave is a tricky, deceitful fellow according to Merriam-Webster)
• 52 cards is a deck is far from standard. Some decks have 40 cards, others 48. It wasn't so much I didn't know this as I never stopped to think about it.
• Hundreds of years ago, innovative printers with modern techniques who could mass produce cards and bring costs down to an "every man" level became a standard, as they were widely circulated, and had a large influence on deck of card we know today. By sheer volume, they pushed aside older styles of cards that were much more expensive and fewer people owned.
• Two jacks have one-eye – hearts and spades – the others face forward, having two eyes. All the kings have weapons but only one appears to be using it on himself – the king of hearts. It actuality, it likely behind his head, as if he’s going to strike. But that’s not as catchy.
https://playingcarddecks.com/blogs/all-in/history-playing-cards-modern-deck
ABOUT Erica Obey
www.ericaobey.com
Erica Obey is author of The Brooklyn North Murder, the first full-length Watson & Doyle mystery, as well as five other novels set in the Hudson Valley, including the award-winning The Curse of the Braddock Brides. Erica is the Past President of the MWA-NY chapter, and a frequent reviewer and judge. She holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and published academic work on female folklorists before she decided she’d rather be writing the stories herself. Come visit her at www.ericaobey.com where she blogs about life in the Hudson Valley then and now.
The Diamond Mysteries
Back in July, the third and final book in my Diamond Mystery series was released from Down & Out Books. The first chapter was the July 21st Toe Tag. If you haven’t read any of the Diamond books, there is now a box set that puts them together in one convenient place. It is a special treat for mystery readers because the end of one story is the beginning of the next. Look for the box set on Amazon and other on-line retailers. Link is in the show notes.
WRAP UP
That wraps this episode of Mysteries to Die For. Please do support our show by subscribing, telling a mystery lover about us, and giving us a five-star review. Check out our website TGWolff.com/Podcast for links to this season’s authors.
Mysteries to Die For is hosted by TG Wolff and Jack Wolff. One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King was written by Erica Obey. Music and production are by Jack Wolff. Episode art is by TG Wolff. Join us next week for a Toe Tag, the first chapter of a fresh release in the mystery, thriller or crime genres. And be back in 2 weeks for Episode 6 When in Doubt, Blame the Jackass by Kyra Jacobs
