The Old Man in the Corner

De: Baroness Orczy

Narrado por: Martyn Swain

An old man sits in the corner of a London tea house. In comes a young lady reporter, and a conversation ensues.

'Mysteries!' he comments. 'There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation.' At first, the reporter wants to terminate the exchange, swiftly. But she cannot walk away when a notorious unsolved murder becomes the topic of their conversation and this slightly disreputable yet decided character declares that the solution, of course, is obvious! Miss Polly Burton may be dismissive, but she finds herself drawn into the story he presents. And the scene is set.

Though best known for The Scarlet Pimpernel, the Hungarian novelist Baroness Orczy was a prolific and versatile writer who could turn her pen to other genres. So, in the social and literary context of the huge success of Sherlock Holmes, she developed a memorable but nameless character with remarkable powers of detection. The first stories appeared in The Royal Magazine in 1901, and other series followed. The first collection appeared in book form in 1905. Entitled The Old Man in the Corner, it contained a dozen entertaining stories, opening with 'The Fenchurch Street Mystery' and continuing with 'The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace', 'The York Mystery' and 'The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway'. Classic diverting crime of its time. Read with a light touch by Martyn Swain.

Public Domain (P)2020 Ukemi Productions Ltd

The slithering snake is a villain!

I’m not a good enough book critic to articulate why “The Old Man” bothered me so much, only to say boy, he did! I love the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Sherlock, though full of his own faults feels like a man of character. He aids the law, and is a respectable man though eccentric. Also Orczy’s “Scarlet Pimpernel” is a courageous, chivalrous, noble character. The Old Man feels like a slithering snake. He sits back and winks at real villains going free… and then you find out he’s one of the worst villains himself! Oh, so cringy. I enjoyed listening to the twist and turns of the mysteries overall, but didn’t like that the bad guys seemingly “get away with it” and also I felt like there were too many names to keep track of in the stories. It felt tedious to listen to in ways that never seemed a stain with Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Though decent, I can see why these tales are not as popular as other mystery series.