Tea, Tonic & Toxin

Send us a text 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 newspapers in Florida and Colorado. He has written profiles of many mystery writers including Sara Paretsky, Michael Connelly, John Dunning, Robert B. Parker, Donald J. Sobol, Stephen White, and C. W. Grafton. The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope (1943) by C. W. Grafton (the father of Sue Grafton) is a classic in the mystery genre for its clever fusion of humor, small-town charm, and hardboiled crime elements. Featuring Gil Henry, an unassuming and resourceful lawyer, the novel showcases an unconventional hero who unravels a web of corruption and intrigue with sharp wit and determination. Grafton’s skillful storytelling and engaging prose set a high standard for blending humor with suspense. Sue Grafton wrote the famous “alphabet series.” C.W. Grafton’s work also holds historical significance, reflecting a legacy of inventive storytelling in mystery fiction. Get your copy of all of our History of Mystery book selections here! (including even some 2027 selections) Watch clips from our conversations with guests! Access bonus content as a Patreon subscriber as well. The Life and Career of C. W. Grafton, Father of Sue Grafton Grafton led a fascinating double life as a practicing lawyer and novelist. How might his legal training have shaped the voice, pacing, or logic of his fiction—and might writing fiction have helped him think differently about the law?Grafton spent his early years as the child of missionaries in China. Based on what you’ve learned, what elements of that unusual upbringing—cultural displacement, observation, alienation—do you see reflected in his worldview or narrative style?C. W. Grafton seemed torn between creative ambition and professional responsibility. How does that tension surface in his work or in his private correspondence? Did he ever try to reconcile the “lawyer” and the “storyteller” within himself?How would you characterize Grafton’s personality—especially his humor, his self-awareness (or self-deprecation), and his feelings about success and failure?The Writing and Themes The Rat Began to Gnaw the Rope won the Mary Roberts Rinehart Prize in 1943. What set this debut apart from its contemporaries? Was it the humor, the voice, the unusual protagonist, the legal realism, or something else entirely?For modern readers encountering the novel for the first time, what should they expect stylistically? How well does the book’s blend of hard-boiled grit, small-town politics, and sharp wit hold up today?Grafton mixes genuine violence with laugh-out-loud humor—Gil getting “anatomical difficulties” in a new suit, deadpan one-liners, and witty observational asides. How successful was at balancing this humor with the darker elements of the plot?Gil Henry is such an unusual protagonist: pudgy, mild-mannered, YMCA resident, overly thoughtful at all the wrong times, yet also dogged and surprisingly gutsy. What does Gil’s characterization reveal about Grafton’s idea of heroism—or of justice?The nursery-rhyme title signals a larger conceptual game, possibly a series. What evidence do we have about whether Grafton intended additional Gil Henry books—and why did he pivot away? Support the show https://www.instagram.com/teatonicandtoxin/ https://www.facebook.com/teatonicandtoxin https://www.teatonicandtoxin.com Stay mysterious...