Reviews

The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy, Baroness Orczy

whimsicalmeerkat's review

3.0

This was highly enjoyable and the ending is delightful! Not the most brilliant of mysteries by far, in some ways merely average, but fun.

purpleberryblue's review

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

bookishlybeauty's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

4.0

judyward's review

3.0

Unfortunately, I'm still stuck in the classic mystery genre. I was trying to free myself from this addiction when I chanced upon this book of short stories first published in 1909. Ellery Queen called The Old Man in the Corner the "first and greatest armchair detectives" and upon reading that I was hooked. In this series of stories, an odd old man in a tea shop talks to Polly Burton, a young reporter, about cold case crimes while methodically tying and untying intricate knots in a piece of string. Relying on logic to unravel unsolved crimes, the old man always seems to be on the side of the criminal. And the cause for that becomes clear in the last story. A fun read.

beth306's review

1.0

I shelved this one 3 stories in, it's so dull and slow! The plots are already a bit repetitive and you can't get to know the characters so you cannot empathise with them.

exurbanis's review

5.0

Agatha Christie’s 1929 Partners in Crime is a series of short stories in which Tommy & Tuppence Beresford imitate the detecting styles of the popular detectives of the day. Orczy’s Old Man in the Corner has his place in their playacting.

Published in 1909, this collection of short stories, initially serialized, feature the nameless man in the corner who reveals to intrepid reporter Polly Burton his solution to several unsolved crimes in London and other cities such as Dublin, Liverpool etc. Many of the crimes are elementary but still clever, and given that this genre was still cutting its teeth, Orczy shines. In addition to thinking of unsolved crimes, she must always have ones in which the fact that they are unsolved , or wrongly solved, didn’t mean the false conviction of an innocent person.

Thanks to Jane at Fleur Fisher for her review that prompted me to get the library to dig this out of storage for me.

Read this if: you’re fairly new to mystery stories and want an introduction to the genre; you’re a young teen keen to solve conundrums; or you’re a keen admirer of mysteries and want to explore a classic of the genre. 4½ stars

divinebruyere's review

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

vesper1931's review against another edition

4.0

While lunching at the A.B.C. Shop, an old man sitting in the corner strikes up a conversation with reporter Polly Burton. Over time he narrates twelve mysteries which have confounded the police and offers his solutions.
An enjoyable, varied selection of short stories, each one easily read in fifteen minutes which were first published in 1908.
A NetGalley Book

peanotsilent's review against another edition

3.0

Fairly amusing.

whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition

3.0

This was highly enjoyable and the ending is delightful! Not the most brilliant of mysteries by far, in some ways merely average, but fun.