The Old Man In The Corner

The Old Man in the Corner is an unnamed armchair detective who appears in a series of short stories written by Baroness Orczy. He examines and solves crimes while sitting in the corner of a genteel London tea-room in conversation with a female journalist. He was one of the first of this character-type created in the wake of the huge popularity of the Sherlock Holmes stories. The character's moniker is used as the title of the collection of the earliest stories featuring the character.

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 to cases of deadly blackmail.

Polly Burton, a journalist, sits at the same table as an old man over tea. He has an interest in the sensational local crimes that have left the police baffled. Over the course her visit, the old man explains his crime-solving methods, which are based primarily on reading newspaper accounts, crime scene visits, courtroom observation, and logical deduction. He frequently takes the side of the criminals and declines to report his findings to police, leading the reader to speculate about his past. The novel was published in the U.S. as The Man in the Corner, and is based on short stories previously serialized in magazines. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

The man in the corner pushed aside his glass, and leant across the table. "Mysteries!" he commented. "There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation." Very much astonished Polly Burton looked over the top of her newspaper, and fixed a pair of very severe, coldly inquiring brown eyes upon him. She had disapproved of the man from the instant when he shuffled across the shop and sat down opposite to her, at the same marble-topped table which already held her large coffee (3d.), her roll and butter (2d.), and plate of tongue (6d.). Now this particular corner, this very same table, that special view of the magnificent marble hall—known as the Norfolk Street branch of the Aërated Bread Company's depôts—were Polly's own corner, table, and view. Here she had partaken of eleven pennyworth of luncheon and one pennyworth of daily information ever since that glorious never-to-be-forgotten day when she was enrolled on the staff of the Evening Observer (we'll call it that, if you please), and became a member of that illustrious and world-famed organization known as the British Press. She was a personality, was Miss Burton of the Evening Observer. Her cards were printed thus...

The man in the corner pushed aside his glass, and leant across the table. "Mysteries!" he commented. "There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation." Very much astonished Polly Burton looked over the top of her newspaper, and fixed a pair of very severe, coldly inquiring brown eyes upon him. She had disapproved of the man from the instant when he shuffled across the shop and sat down opposite to her, at the same marble-topped table which already held her large coffee (3d.), her roll and butter (2d.), and plate of tongue (6d.).

In 'The Old Man in the Corner' by Baroness Orczy, readers are transported to the Victorian era of mystery and intrigue. Through a series of conversations between a young journalist and the enigmatic 'Old Man in the Corner,' Orczy weaves together complex whodunits with brilliant deductions reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. The book is a collection of short stories that showcase Orczy's masterful storytelling and intricate plot twists, setting it apart as a classic in the detective fiction genre. Written in a captivating and engaging style, 'The Old Man in the Corner' is a must-read for fans of mystery and suspense literature. Baroness Orczy's attention to detail and clever character development make this book a standout in the realm of crime fiction. Her ability to craft compelling narratives and present puzzling mysteries will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. For those seeking a captivating read full of twists and turns, 'The Old Man in the Corner' comes highly recommended.

A classic collection of cozy Golden Age mysteries from the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel—for fans of Sherlock Holmes and British crime fiction Mysteries! There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation . . . So says a rather down-at-heel elderly gentleman to young Polly Burton of the Evening Observer, in the corner of the ABC teashop on Norfolk Street one afternoon. Once she has forgiven him for distracting her from her newspaper and luncheon, Miss Burton discovers that her interlocutor is as brilliantly gifted as he is eccentric—able to solve mysteries that have made headlines and baffled the finest minds of the police without once leaving his seat in the teahouse. As the weeks go by, she listens to him unravelling the trickiest of puzzles and solving the most notorious of crimes, but still one final mystery remains: the mystery of the old man in the corner himself. The Old Man in the Corner is a classic collection of mysteries, featuring the Teahouse Detective—a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes, with a brilliant mind and waspish temperament to match that of Conan Doyle’s creation.

Baroness Emma Orczy, best known for her Scarlet Pimpernel stories, also wrote popular detective stories. This volume includes her two books, The Old Man in the Corner and The Case of Miss Elliott, both of which relate the logical theorizing of the anonymous Old Man as he discusses (and solves) mysterious crimes with a "lady journalist." Orczy initially wrote 13 short stories featuring this unusual detective, but only included 12 of the stories when they finally were bound in a single volume (with minor story modifications). The missing 13th story, The Glasgow Mystery, is here included separately as it first appeared in the Royal Magazine in 1901.