The Old Man in the Corner

Teahouse Detective #1

by Emmuska Orczy

A nameless, eccentric old man, sitting in the corner of a cozy London tea shop, uses pure deduction to solve a series of baffling crimes -- from gruesome murders and cases of deadly blackmail, to daring thefts and brilliant deceptions. For devotees of Sherlock Holmes: ingenious, well-crafted stories by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Classics, Short Stories, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Detective

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Full name: Emma ("Emmuska") Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi was a Hungarian-British novelist, best remembered as the author of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1905). Baroness Orczy's sequels to the novel were less successful. She was also an artist, and her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy, London. Her first venture into fiction was with crime stories. Among her most popular characters was The Old Man in the Corner, who was featured in a series of twelve British movies from 1924, starring Rolf Leslie.

Baroness Emmuska Orczy was born in Tarnaörs, Hungary, as the only daughter of Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, and his wife Emma. Her father was a friend of such composers as Wagner, Liszt, and Gounod. Orczy moved with her parents from Budapest to Brussels and then to London, learning to speak English at the age of fifteen. She was educated in convent schools in Brussels and Paris. In London she studied at the West London School of Art. Orczy married in 1894 Montague Barstow, whom she had met while studying at the Heatherby School of Art. Together they started to produce book and magazine illustrations and published an edition of Hungarian folktales.

Orczy's first detective stories appeared in magazines. As a writer she became famous in 1903 with the stage version of the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Reviews

[Francesc · Rating 3 out of 5]

La Baronesa de Orczy plantea casos relatados por la periodista, Polly Burton, a un anciano (al menos, en los ojos de una joven periodista de principios del siglo XX), y éste los resuelve sin moverse del sillón.
Son casos interesantes y entretenidos que se leen muy rápido. El anciano resuelve los casos (en teoría, porque no podemos comprobar que sea cierto) a través del pensamiento deductivo.

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The Baroness of Orczy presents cases told by the journalist, Polly Burton, to an old man (at least, in the eyes of a young journalist in the early 20th century), and he solves them without moving from his armchair.
They are interesting and entertaining cases that read very quickly. The old man solves the cases (in theory, because we can't prove that it's true) through deductive thinking.

[Jacob Sebæk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a word against baronesses … A certain Danish baroness began her tale with the words: “I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills …”

Some baronesses just have better writing skills than others.

Even this collection, one of many, of short stories about The Old Man in the Corner and his deductive skills are amusing, they are not exactly literary art.

But, I actually like the guy, one of the people you see every day but do not notice, grey, uninteresting, almost transparent. When prompted hard, he wakes up and for all his seeming dullness turns out to be quick witted and a vivid observer.
One by one knots are tied on a string, and then untied, highlighting the obvious, exposing how we all are deceived by our own lack of perception – or rather by our firm belief that we can trust our eyes.

All stories in this collection has the turning point of a standard magic trick.
Someone cleverly sets up the mirrors and lights that points at the less obvious, while putting up a smokescreen for the truth.

The examples are quite good, but the lack of variation weights the collection down.
Bearing in mind that the murder mysteries are not exactly recent and meant for a less demanding audience I still grant the baroness 3 somewhat reluctant stars.



By the way … who would have thought The Old Man in the Corner a murderer …

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young journalist Polly Burton gets into the habit of having her lunch at the ABC cafe after her first encounter with a disreputable old man who, all the while obsessively making knots in a grimy piece of string he carries, bends her ear, Ancient Mariner-style, with his tales. In his instance the tales aren't of sea voyages and the supernatural but of unsolved murders. At the end of each of the dozen stories here he explains to Polly his own solution of the case -- one that he hasn't bothered conveying to the cops, because for the old man the whole joy is an intellectual one: he has no particular interest in seeing justice done.

I found this tremendous fun. Of the eleven stories, the only one that I felt fell a bit flat was the final one -- and, even then, I imagine I'd have found it pretty sterling too had I been reading in 1908, the year this book was published. One puzzle that remains is why Polly, a supposedly ambitious young journalist, didn't take the information given her by the old man and use it to mount some investigative exposés.

It's possible that I read The Scarlet Pimpernel in my youth, but otherwise this is my first encounter with Orczy's work. I'm now planning a raid on Project Gutenberg for more . . .

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book for its unique structure - an old man, sitting by himself in the corner of a tea-shop, offering plausible solutions for cases which have baffled the police - when I read it some time ago. But when I read it second time around, I found the mysteries to be rather contrived, the writing flat, and the characters uninteresting. Also, I don't think that the police are as stupid as how the author makes them out to be!

Bringing down my rating by one star.

[Tweety · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars, somewhat good, somewhat dull and somewhat slow.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Emma Orczy was a little gem. I'd read her adventure, The Scarlet Pimpernal, and had enjoyed quite a bit. While I was reading it, my wife mentioned that she remembered a radio series she'd listened too many years ago, which was based on Orczy's book about The Old Man in the Corner. It sounded interesting and so I decided to see if I could find a copy; which I did at The Book Depository (one of their print on demand books).
Basically, the book is a collection of short story mysteries. They remind me somewhat of Isaac Asimov's books about the Black Widowers, in which a group of older men, meet regularly at their club and meet someone who explains their circumstances (normally involving a crime) and then without leaving their club they try to solve it (usually with final words from the waiter). The Old Man in the Corner features a similar situation. Newspaper reporter, Polly, meets regularly with The Old Man at a local cafe (an A.B.C shop as it's called) and the old man details a recent court case; a robbery, a murder etc. Polly basically listens while the old man tells her the story and then solves the case, a case that has continually befuddled the police and courts.
There are a variety of stories in the book and each is interesting as is the Old Man's solutions. I enjoyed each case and the Old Man's quirks (he is impulsive about tying a string in knots as he goes through each case). Once solved he basically disappears until the next meet. The stories are short and grab you right away and the solutions are also interesting. What I particularly enjoyed was the final case and Polly finally getting in the last word. It was a surprising ending that actually had me laughing out loud in amazement. I enjoyed this book very much and recommend highly. (4.5 stars)

[Dfordoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Old Man in the Corner contains twelve of the stories by Baroness Orczy featuring the mysterious man who sits in the corner of the ABC tea shop fiddling with a piece of string whilst working our the solutions to crimes that have baffled the police. Each case is unfolded during the course of a conversation between the man in the corner and a lady journalist, an ingenious method that avoids the necessity of a clumsy tacked-on explanation of the crime. Apparently Baroness Orczy’s husband advised her to create a detective who was as unlike Sherlock Holmes as it was possible for a detective to be. She certainly succeeded. This rather shabby, very eccentric detective is like no other. And he has no interest in helping the police or the courts to bring criminals to justice and in fact never lifts a finger to do so – for him it is purely an intellectual challenge. Which of course means that both the reader and the lady journalist in the tea shop have to accept on faith the old man’s solution to these criminal puzzles.

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Il vero segreto di un delitto impunito è lo studio della natura umana"

"Il vecchio nell'angolo" è una raccolta di racconti pubblicati tra il 1901 e il 1909 dalla Baronessa Emma Orczy.
Membro del Detection Club sin dai primordi, sebbene non presenziasse alle varie riunioni per i suoi continui viaggi in Europa, Emma Orczy era originaria dell'Ungheria, nata da padre barone e madre contessa. Dopo che la proprietà paterna in patria venne incendiata dai suoi lavoratori, contrari alla volontà del barone di introdurre macchinari moderni, la famiglia si trasferì a Budapest, Bruxelles e Parigi prima di giungere a Londra nel 1880.
Qui Emma si trovò a suo agio, considerando l'Inghilterra come la sua patria adottiva. Poco avvenente, la giovane ragazza decise di puntare sulle sue doti intellettive per poter farsi strada nel mondo e cominciò a studiare pittura. Sebbene non si distinse mai nelle arti pittoriche, queste le furono utili per poter visualizzare scene e descriverle poi negli anni a venire nelle sue opere. Successivamente incontrò e sposò un illustratore, con cui sarebbe rimasta per tutta la sua vita. Si dedicò alla scrittura di storie gialle, ma è con la saga della "Primula Rossa", che riscosse un grande successo. Viaggerà poi molto nel continente, fino alla sua morte avvenuta a Londra nel 1947.

Finora di suo non avevo letto nulla. Eppure, "Il vecchio nell'angolo" si presenta come una raccolta innovativa per l'epoca in cui tali racconti furono scritti. Infatti sono contenuti qui "in nuce" alcuni dei cliché che troveranno grande fortuna nella Golden Age del giallo.
La baronessa meriterebbe di essere riscoperta poiché a mio parere occupa una posizione non indifferente all'interno del genere, per quanto poco sia considerata nella storia della narrativa poliziesca.

Ma cosa rende così interessante queste pagine?
Emma Orczy riesce a fondere nelle sue pagine uno stile lineare e accattivante, trame interessanti, ben strutturate e ambientazioni ben tratteggiate.
Il mondo descritto in questi racconti è quello della Londra di fine Ottocento/ inizio Novecento, ancora fortemente legato al lignaggio e al concetto dell'onore.
Con poche eppur icastiche pennellate, descrive personaggi vividi e mai piatti, inseriti in un contesto sociale dominato dai pettegolezzi e dall'indignazione verso tutto ciò che non è "decoroso".

Altro elemento peculiare dei suoi racconti è la figura dell'investigatore: pur affermando di volersi rifare al famoso Sherlock Holmes, la baronessa percorre una strada completamente opposta rispetto a quella intrapresa da Doyle, creando un detective comune, scialbo, di cui non riferisce neanche il nome. "Old man" viene chiamato dalla giornalista con cui discute in queste storie alcuni dei casi che più hanno stravolto la quiete londinese.
Pur presentandosi come un individuo non memorabile, a volte persino arrogante nella sua pretesa di conoscere la verità a dispetto di tutti, il "vecchio nell'angolo" inaugura il filone degli investigatori dilettanti caratterizzati da eccentricità e bizzarrie.
Nella narrativa poliziesca successiva infatti non ci sono mezze vie: o l'investigatore è un damerino, un perfetto galantuomo che si muove tra le macchie della medio-alta borghesia, o persino dell'alta nobiltà, o è un individuo strambo, pieno di strane manie, che adotta metodi anticonvenzionali per arrivare alla verità.
Alla prima casistica appartengono Poirot, Lord Peter Winsey, anche l'Alleyn della Marsh; alla seconda non si può non citare Fell, H.M. e anche il "vecchio nell'angolo".
Cinico, scontroso e dallo sguardo profondamente corrosivo verso l'ottusità dell'opinione comune e soprattutto della polizia, che si lascia facilmente ingannare dai più scaltri furfanti, quest'ultimo è il classico protagonista anti-Vance: dimesso nell'angolo di un locale, vecchio e incartapecorito, col vizio di formare continuamente su una cordicella nodi complicati di ogni tipologia. In un certo senso mi ha ricordato l'Amos Petrie di Brady (aka Turner), con quella mania di giocherellare con qualcosa, mentre risolve il caso (in quest'ultimo caso era un fazzoletto colorato).
Questo "anti-eroe" è rivoluzionario a mio avviso all'interno del genere in quanto incarna, a differenza dei suoi colleghi dello stesso periodo, il supremo disprezzo per le istituzioni, risolvendo il caso più per puro piacere intellettivo che non per consegnare il colpevole alla giustizia, cosa che tra l'altro non fa mai. Non è l'Arsène Lupin che è un criminale, ma un comune cittadino che sbeffeggia l'incapacità della polizia e arriva ad esaltare l'astuzia di molteplici malviventi che sono riusciti a farla franca.
Insomma un personaggio decisamente nuovo sulla scena gialla, considerati i tempi.

Per quanto riguarda la struttura, i racconti di cui il vecchio è protagonista presentano uno schema narrativo fisso, composto da:
1) Vecchio che esordisce menzionando un famoso caso ancora irrisolto, stuzzicando l'interesse della giornalista co-protagonista;
2) esposizione delle premesse del caso;
3) racconto del delitto e dell'inchiesta successiva e relative testimonianze (questi racconti sembrano infatti un mix tra legal e deduttivo, svolgendosi spesso alcune vicende-chiave in tribunale);
4) fine del racconto e giornalista che attende impaziente la soluzione;
5) risoluzione del caso ed elogio per il criminale abile.

Nonostante possano risultare in ultima analisi molto simili tra di loro, i racconti sono estremamente piacevoli e scorrevoli, presentando invece un'estrema varietà di situazioni criminose.
Sebbene agli occhi del lettore moderno le soluzioni possano apparire ovvie, all'epoca non dovevano essere così scontate.
Una volta che li si legge in tale ottica, non si può non apprezzare la trama di alcuni di essi, che mostrano degli elementi che verranno perfezionati e portati in auge da grandi del giallo come la Christie.
A tal proposito una menzione particolare meritano i seguenti racconti:

"Il misterioso decesso nella metropolitana"
Una giovane donna viene rinvenuta priva di vita in uno scompartimento della metropolitana. La causa della morte sembra avvelenamento da cianuro. I sospetti ricadono sul signor Errington, visto da molti testimoni vicino alla vittima prima del suo decesso e suo spasimante. Sarà stato davvero lui?
Racconto molto carino, che utilizza una tecnica particolare che sfrutta anche Carr in un suo romanzo.

"Il misterioso decesso in Percy Street"
La custode di un palazzo, donna morigerata e laboriosa, viene rinvenuta morta per assideramento nella sua stanza. L'opinione iniziale è che si sia trattato di incidente: ha battuto la testa su un braccio della lampada a gas e, rimasta stordita davanti ad una finestra spalancata, è morta a causa della neve che sopra vi si era depositata. Ma emergeranno durante il processo dei particolari che metteranno in dubbio tale ipotesi.
Racconto geniale e pieno di suspence, presenta una soluzione straordinaria per il tempo in cui fu scritto. La cosa che non comprendo è perché sia stato posto in terza posizione nella raccolta, quando si capisce dalla trama che dovrebbe trattarsi dell'ultimo dell'intero libro. Andando a cercare nella versione in lingua originale ho scoperto che avevo ragione. Quindi consiglierei a chiunque volesse leggere la raccolta di affrontarlo per ultimo.

"Il mistero di Lisson Grove"
Un corpo smembrato viene trovato avvolto in dei fagotti in un boschetto vicino ad una stazione. Alcune ricerche ne consentono l'identificazione: si tratta del signor Dyke, un vecchio invalido che abita in un appartamento con sua figlia. I sospetti ricadono immediatamente su quest'ultima e il fidanzato, ma si scopre che entrambi possiedono un alibi. Chi è stato? E perché?
Racconto affascinante, con una meccanica molto ingegnosa, degna di un racconto della Christie.

Tirando le somme, "Il vecchio nell'angolo" è una raccolta originale e piacevole che andrebbe riscoperta dagli amanti del genere.

[Girish · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old man in the corner is for all those armchair detectives who like to solve a murder from the clues in the pages. It is deduction from what the facts tell - though almost all of them are cases where the police have obviously missed something.

The book was a mixed bag since I felt the author held more aces despite the logical breakdown of the "mystery". Structured as a series of short stories set in the cafe where an old man in solving the unsolved crimes by entertaining a newspaper reporter, the book keeps things extremely simple. No sidekicks, no sarcastic comments not even a backstory - just get on with the work.

The friendship with the reported is still not established and the eccentricity of making knots in a string while unraveling a mystery gets repetitive. The last twist did not work since it wasn't logical.

A fairly elementary read in detective fiction.

[Armin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichts für Adrenalinjunkies oder Leute, die sich nur in permanenter Todesnähe gut unterhalten fühlen, das Grauen kommt langsam näher und wird erst zuletzt persönlich. Alle weiteren Gründe für oder gegen die Lektüre von 115 Jahre alten Kriminalfällen, deren Tatortroutine jedem Forensikfreak das Blut in den Adern, oder zumindest die Haare zu Berge stehen lässt, in einer ausführlichen Rezi.

[Carla Botteon Catai · Rating 3 out of 5]

não gostei de acompanhar tantas histórias de uma vez só

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must confess that, until quite recently, the only thing I knew about Baroness Orczy that she gave the world The Scarlet Pimpernel.

But I learned that she gave the world much more than that. She gave the world The Old Man in the Corner, who might just have been the world’s first armchair detective.

Emmushka Orczy was the daughter of Hungarian aristocrats. They took their family abroad, to Brussels, to Paris, and finally to London, to give them the education and the experience to stand them in good stead when they took their places in Hungarian high society.

It was in London that Emmushka was enrolled at art school; and it was at art school that she fell in love with the man who would become her husband. And some time later, when the couple were living in somewhat straightened circumstances, Emmushka noticed that their landlady’s daughter often received cheques in the post, in exchange for stories she sent in the post to magazines and newspapers. And she decided that she could do the same.

She decided to create a detective nothing like Sherlock Holmes. His first case was published in 1901 and it would be the first of many. And his cases would be collected and published in book form. The book I read was not the first to be published, indeed it wasn’t published until 1909, but it collects the earliest stories and so I thought it would probably be the best place to start.

The Old Man in the Corner spent his days in a London coffee-house, studying newspapers and court reports, and solving crimes that had baffled the police using simple logic and reasoning. And he talked over each case with a Lady Journalist.

Those crimes – fraud, theft, blackmail and, of course, murder – are diverse, but there is a common thread running through them all. They are crimes committed for gain – to preserve a reputation, to gain an inheritance, to rise in the world … There were no crimes of passion, no habitual criminals in these pages.

But, given the constraints of the format, the twelve tales were wonderful diverse.

A Russian millionaire drowned in the Thames! A forged will! A woman found dead on a train! An audacious street robbery!

The locations moved from the streets of London, to Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and even over the Irish Sea to Dublin. The characters came from all walks of life: a landlady who worked hard to get by; a young jewellers clerk, newly arrived from Germany; a poor young man taken up by a wealthy widow; one of the first generation of lady doctors.

I was pulled back to the period, I could see the places, I could believe in the characters. And, crucially, I wanted to know what happened!

There was a certain pattern to most of the stories - the criminal was never the most obvious suspect, the most obvious suspect was falsely accused, the criminal had an alibi but it could be broken – but there was enough variety, in the characters, the settings and the plot details to hold the attention.

It helped that the writing was simple and clear. And I always felt that Emmushka was of places she knew, people she might have met.

The conversations between the Lady Journalist and the Old Man, who had buttonholed her first, and who had intrigued her sufficiently to keep her coming to visit her worked well. It was hard to argue with his logic, but sometimes the events he described seemed a little too unlikely.

The Old Man had a low opinion of the police but it would be fair to say that on the whole he couldn’t prove his cases. You could say that way a weakness, or you could say that happens sometimes …

tocs-febAt the end of some stories I thought ‘that was ingenious’ but at the end of others I thought ‘that was unlikely.’

I’m not going to be rushing back for more, but I wouldn’t rule out picking up another volume one day either.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Baroness Orczy is mostly associated with her famous Scarlett Pimpernel and though that’s a seriously entertaining moniker, it isn’t quite my speed. But then again the lady was versatile (and quite popular back in her day, albeit more so commercially than critically) and times being what they were (that is everyone was trying to come up with their own Sherlock), she too dabbled in deduction mysteries. Now that’s more like it, there is a certain undeniable charm to golden age mysteries. I’ve read some, it’s all about coming up with an idiosyncratic detective who boggles the minds of his audience by solving the impossible crimes using pure logic. Orczy’s detective is…well, quite literally the old man who sits in the corner drinking milk, eating cake and tying and untying knots on a length of rope. The author is positively verbally abusive to her protagonist, never a kind word to spare in his description from his insignificant appearance to his laughable tweed suits. But you kind of like the guy…how can you not like anyone who says he doesn’t argue, he just states undeniable facts. His audience is Polly Burton, a young reporter, whom he astonishes with his deductions pertaining to the famously unsolvable and/or difficult cases. Although the final deduction of the book belongs to Polly as she figures out the identity of the nameless man. That was lovely, actually, the clever trick ending absolutely elevated this collection above the average status the mere deductions alone had it at, plus the writing was very nice also. Quick decently entertaining trip to the time where reason reigned and logic ruled.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considering that these short stories were written in the early 1900’s is amazing and they are definitely worth 4 stars. It’s my own fault that I don’t really enjoy reading vintage mystery short stories and that if I was awarding stars based on my personal taste I would only give them 3 stars.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rounded up for 3.5 stars.

A fun set of cozy mysteries, although the solutions often hinge on the exact same plot device.

I absolutely did not see that ending coming, however.

[Kathy Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting reading experience. It is compared to Sherlock Holmes which is why I chose to read it, but I was disappointed. The book is a collection of mysteries that all follow the same pattern. Young reporter Polly Burton meets an elderly man at the teashop where she routinely goes for lunch and he gives her the solution to a number of criminal cases that have made headlines and baffled the police.

My main problem with this is that the nameless man never feels any need to share his conclusions with the police and, in fact, seems to admire those criminals who have managed to get away with their crimes. In addition, he solves all of his cases purely in terms of logical evaluations of the circumstances of the crime with no need to bother with pesky details like evidence or proof.

I also found the book rampant with prejudices that would make them impossible to publish in our more sensitive time. I think feminists would be up in arms to read that the detective believes that only a woman would stab a man in the back since no Englishman would ever do so. These stories had it all from classism to sexism and probably any number of other isms.

People curious about mystery fiction from the early 1900s may enjoy this collection.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came up in The Golden Age of Murder which I am currently reading and although I had read most of the Scarlet Pimpernel books by Orczy I had not tried her mysteries. I also recognized the title character from the Tommy and Tuppence books by Christie, so I thought I would give this a shot. The puzzles are quite good. I found some of them predictable, that is probably a reflection of how clever many devotees and imitators have found them rather than a weakness in the stories themselves. The trouble I found with them was that the old man is really quite annoying and unlikable and his way of delivering the stories was from the first grating and it does not improve on further acquaintance.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a reason why two Old Man in the Corner stories were adapted for TV in the old series "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes." Written specifically in response to Conan Doyle's great detective, he truly is, as Ellery Queen said, the master armchair detective. His need to corner reporter Polly in a cafe to show how clever he is is a little creepy, but the further you get in the book, the more that seems very deliberate. If you've read all of the Holmes canon, give the Old Man a try, because it really will scratch the same itch.

[Les Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can’t understand the praise the author gets. Read 3 books and none have been worth 3*

[Brad McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is part of my foray into the early years of detective fiction. Baroness Orczy's Old Man in the Corner is a response to Sherlock Holmes' physical feats. There is no donning disguises or chasing after the bad guys. No this detective sits in the corner of a cafe, drinking milk, eating cheesecake, and telling a female reporter the solutions to crimes that have baffled the police.

This is a collection of short stories and the first few followed a pattern that quickly became redundant, timing and disguise (the criminals not the detective) mislead everyone but The Man in the Corner. Later stories get away from this and are really quite clever. The tales are essentially just denouements; the crime is explained, then the complications, then finally the resolution. It's an interesting way to present a mystery, though I doubt it would have worked for a full-length novel.

It's so different than most detective stories that if you have any interest in the genre I highly recommend them. If you don't have interest, then I'd actually recommend it as well. The stories are only 15 pages and it might be different enough for you to like it.

[QHuong(BookSpy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tập truyện thú vị ở chỗ là xoay quanh một ông già ngồi ghế bành và tự ông ấy kể chuyện vụ án, tự ông ấy cũng giải quyết vụ án luôn, mà chỉ ngồi một chỗ. Các vụ án thực chất là đều có điểm chung có thể đoán được thủ phạm (số lượng nghi phạm ít ỏi) và động cơ, chỉ có cái khó nhất là cách gây án thế nào do thủ phạm nguỵ tạo được bằng chứng ngoại phạm một cách khéo léo. Ông già ngồi trong góc trong quá trình diễn giải vụ án đồng thời suy luận ra cách thủ phạm vừa gây án vừa tạo ra bằng chứng ngoại phạm thế nào - mặc dù vậy có đôi chỗ mình thấy hơi gượng ép chút, cảm giác khó để thực hiện như vậy. Đọc xong các vụ án mình cảm thấy các cách thức, thủ pháp đều đi cùng một motif chứ không thực sự khác biệt nhau lắm. Có vụ án đầu tiên mình đoán được ngay cách thức giết người của hung thủ.
Tóm lại, tập truyện khá thú vị, người đọc có thể cùng suy luận với ông già ghế bành trong khi ông kể về vụ án. Các vụ án như mình nói đi theo cùng một motif nên về sau đọc sẽ có thể thấy hơi nhàm.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this volume were originally published in book form in 1908. The edition I read was published by Pushkin Vertigo in 2018.

One does not associate Baroness Orczy with crime fiction. To me, like with many others, her name resonates with historical fiction, her being the writer of the class "The Scarlet Pimpernel".

The stories are all well written and the character of the Old Man in the Corner with his compulsive tieing of knots, was both interesting and odd. The female journalist listening to his stories was little more than a device to get the old man's tales out; he could have been talking to the wall. Except in the last story, when the character, Miss Polly Burton really stands out.

All the stories are excellent, but the stand out one for me was the very first story, "The Fenchurch Street Mystery".

A fascinating book. Recommended.

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of short mysteries told by an elderly man who sits by himself at a table in a cafe. He tells his stories (all true!) to the proprietress. I found stories entertaining and if you're a fan old old fashioned Victorian mysteries you will enjoy it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of mystery short-stories written by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. I would say that she is not a master writter of this genre of book, I still prefer the Scarlet Pimpirnel series.

[Paulo Leite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sak vaeias historias(1 po capitulo)onde o narrador nos desafia a deslindar o misterio.Bem escrito gostei

[ShanDizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Armchair detection at its best! I liked the premise of this collection of murder mysteries. These were entertaining stories and not a bad way to spend a few hours.

[Anjana · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are a collection of short stories. The first volume has it being narrated to a woman called Polly Burton.Each short story is told by an old man in the corner who likes to pit his intelligence against crime in the country, by visiting the location, the inquest and so on. He carries around photographs as props to provide ambience to his tales. He fidgets with making knots in a rope to keep his thoughts straight. This is the common factor in all the stories as is the teashop in which the discussion occurs. 
Each tale has interesting characters, some slightly familiar while others were quite unique. My problem with the collection is entirely personal. Each story was an indication of how a crime took place and how the Old man found a solution to it, but this solution only rests with him and the listener! The criminals are never brought to justice and the wronged never find out. In some pettier cases, it seems to be beside the point but for someone like me who likes a complete tale, it seemed more than unfair when it involved murder. I have liked reading classic crime mysteries because usually there is a complete arc whereas here it was only showmanship
I recommend this to people who like reading about small twisted cases set in the time before forensics and should be at ease with the format.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers (of the latest print) and as you can see my review is completely based on my own reading experience

[Saara Sen-Basuchoudhary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

The book was good for a series of cozy little mysteries. I liked the vibes and the rapid fire nature in which the old man both laid out the mystery and cleared it up.

However, I had two main issues. The first was that the mysteries started to get predictable. By the third onwards, I was able to guess the twist in almost all. The final twist I didn’t guess, but only because it was apropos of nothing. My second issue was that there was literally nothing but the mystery. I would’ve liked a bit more background on Polly (why her?) and maybe some development with her - maybe getting interested in detective work or some such. We got no insight into her or the old man, so the book could easily have been a collection of random short mysteries.

That being said, it didn’t pretend to be anything other than it was and I had a nice time reading it.

[Gary Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes stories were popular beyond belief. They spawned a number of imitators and other forms of mysteries. Usually written in serial publications, newsprint. Baroness Orczy was a gifted author who took advantage of this craze. Her mysteries were gathered together and first printed in 1908. And are available again in paperback form through the efforts of London publishers, Pushkin Press. This is the first in the series. These stories are not as good as Doyle's but acceptable, a pleasure to read.

[Mrs Darcy of the House Stark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una serie di misteri irrisolti “risolti” dal vecchio nell’angolo.
Alcuni misteri più belli di altri ma magistralmente scritti dalla Orczy….
Qualche casa editrice che pubblica le altre opere della Orczy tra cui tutta la saga della primula rossa adesso la vogliamo trovare o no?