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Emmuska Orczy
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The Old Man in the Corner Kindle Edition

by Baroness Orczy (Author), Otto Penzler (Introduction) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 249 ratings
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A brilliant study in the art of logical deduction by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel

He sits in the corner of the A.B.C. café, a length of string in his fingers. As the afternoon winds down, he ties and unties intricate knots—in the string and in his mind. No one in the café knows his name, but the old man in the corner is the most brilliant sleuth in London. No matter how baffling the crime, he need only glance at the newspapers to know the culprit.
 
Skeptical of the old man’s powers of ratiocination, journalist Polly Burton tests him. An industrialist blackmailed? A body found rotting in an abandoned barge? A will forged in far-off Dublin? The man in the corner cannot be stumped. As he eagerly informs the mystified Miss Burton, “There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation.”
 
This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
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  1. Book 2 of 3
    Teahouse Detective
  2. Print length
    104 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
  6. Publication date
    August 26, 2014
  7. File size
    1929 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Baroness Orczy (1865–1947) was a member of the Hungarian aristocracy, and her family settled in London when she was a teenager. At Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, she met her future husband, Montague Barstow, and in 1903 the two collaborated on The Scarlet Pimpernel, a play about an English aristocrat’s adventures during the French revolution. The play and its subsequent novelization were great successes, and Orczy went on to write more than a dozen sequels featuring the Pimpernel and many other works of romance and mystery, including The Old Man in the Corner and Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00MF0ZWDI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MysteriousPress.com/Open Road (August 26, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 26, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1929 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 104 pages
  • Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ B0B9QLTH13
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 249 ratings

About the author

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Emmuska Orczy

Emmuska Orczy

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
249 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2023
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Good quality book
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Niche
4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5/5
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2024
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A crime anthology told through serial vignettes of a woman meeting an old man in a shop. The old man then recounts various tales of crimes (mostly murder) that stumped police and courts but he "solved" or at least gives an explanation. Due to the period, there's little in terms of forensic clues so most cases involve tricks like disguises or faking times of death. Decent enough and short, lending to reading cases during free intervals.
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Robert L. Withers
3.0 out of 5 stars Quirky and Pleasant
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2019
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This is a collection of short mystery stories that draw the reader into solving each mystery-puzzle. While this isn't high mystery drama, which is why I gave it a three-star rating, it is a pleasant way to pass the time. How many can you solve? WARNING - do not read the last story until the end, it does have an amusing twist but only if you read it where it was meant to be read - at the END.
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C. Bayne
5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun by the Scarlet Pimpernell author
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2013
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This is a collection of stories about a journalist who goes to lunch and is accosted by an old man in the corner who knots and un-knots a piece of string as he tells her about how various murders happened. He's very Sherlock-ish in his understanding of how crimes were committed because he notices the little things. These are fun stories, though sometimes it's not that hard to figure out how certain crimes were done - once you read a few of them, it's easier to understand how the author's mind works. This is fun, and for free, it's great!
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2022
Verified Purchase
Another will written mystery adventure thriller novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. About a journalist who meets an old gentleman who tells her about murder and mysteries stories over a period of time. I would recommend this novel to readers of short stories novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening to Alexa. 2022 👒😤😡
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Brad H
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining!
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2022
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A series of clever detective stories with a surprise ending. By the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel. I preferred this by far to The Scarlet Pimpernel.
One person found this helpful
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Eugeanie
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2012
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This book,is an old book, but it doesn't show it's age. The Man in the Corner has drawn a young female reporter into listening to his "facts" of mysterious crimes from the past. These stories explain why some person was murdered or why someone avoided being accused for these crimes. He doesn't just draw the reporter into the stories, he draws the reader also. The book is captivating and hard to put down without going to the next chapter. You'll enjoy this.
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Don Kidwell
4.0 out of 5 stars "I never for a moment ventured to suggest that there were no mysteries to the police...
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2015
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...I merely remarked that there were none where intelligence was brought to bear upon the investigation of crime." Fine collection of mini mysteries that was well-formatted and had an active table of contents to all 36 chapters. For a follow-up might I suggest the "60+ MYSTERIES IN 5 SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS" story volume by Business and Leadership Publishing which would add even more reading pleasure. Very good book!
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Perceptive Reader
2.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended
Reviewed in India on March 22, 2020
Verified Purchase
More than a century ago, when these tales had got published for the first time, they might have been interesting. They all belonged to that category of mystries which draws armchair detectives in, like exposed food attracts flies.
impossible crime!
Another thing in their favour, at least at that time: they were written by a Baroness from exotic lands!
But today, when post-modern readers like us read these stories, those novelties wear off pretty fast. Only the clunky and quirky prose remains, duly accompanied by plots that are completely contrived and artificial to the point of being farcical.
These stories, if at all readable, are so because of the ridiculously artificial plots narrated with wit and sympathy that comes naturally to an emigre. If you are interested in reading about such stuff, without any pretention about reality etc. this book might interest you.
As far as mystery or detection are concerned, there are far superior alternatives.
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A. Spijkerman
2.0 out of 5 stars Disapponting edition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 2012
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Beware of this edition by "House of Stratus". It should contain the following 12 crime stories: The Fenchurch Street Mystery, The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace, The York Mystery, The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway, The Liverpool Mystery, The Edinburgh Mystery, The Theft at the English Provident Bank, The Dublin Mystery, An Unparalleled Outrage (The Brighton Mystery), The Regent's Park Murder, The De Genneville Peerage (The Birmingham Mystery), and The Mysterious Death in Percy Street. Only 4 of these are included herein (The Fenchurch Street Mystery, The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway, The Mysterious Death in Percy Street, The Dublin Mystery). The other 8 are stories from  The Case of Miss Elliott  (The Glasgow Mystery, The Liverpool Mystery, The Case of Miss Elliott, The Lisson Grove Mystery, The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace, The Tremarn Case, The Murder of Miss Pebmarsh, The Affair of the Novelty Theatre).
9 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars The Baroness
Reviewed in Australia on September 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
Sorry I really found it hard to be interested...I loved the Scarlet Pimpernel stories as a young person and was hoping it would be more like them...if her SP stories are available I would like to revisit them!
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hij
5.0 out of 5 stars There's more to the Old Man than meets the eye
Reviewed in Japan on April 8, 2009
Verified Purchase
In the corner of the ABC shop, a thin, quiet old man takes a seat opposite
to the one Reporter Polly Burton, a regular at the bakery branch, usually
occupies. He begins talking to her about a mysterious case that is the talk
of the town, mechanically tying and untying a string in his hands.

Nothing is known about the old man’s name and background, but he has
tremendous powers of reasoning and is always able to name someone as
the real culprit in any bizarre case that remains unsolved. He seems to
hold the police in contempt and will never squeal to the police on the
person who has committed the crime. As a result, the clever and shrewd
criminal is always able to avoid the clutches of the law. The reader has no
choice but to find satisfaction in learning who the real criminal is. The
reason why the old man avoids the police is revealed in the final story.

Unlike Sherlock Holmes, the trailblazing private detective, the old man in
the corner does not investigate the crime scene first-hand, but collects
necessary information from testimonies provided at the coroner’s inquest,
and logically identifies the true culprit. Baroness Orczy, best known for her
novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel, uses a lot of clever tricks based on
subtleties of human nature, which makes this book a wonderful read.
5 people found this helpful
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Chris Bird
4.0 out of 5 stars Good is erratic old detective fiction
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2015
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Good is erratic old detective fiction
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