The Old Man in the Corner.

Baroness Orczy [Emmuska Orczy]

The Old Man in the Corner.

London:

Greening & Co., Ltd.

1909

Best known for the creation of “The Scarlet Pimpernel,” Baroness Orczy was a Hungarian of noble birth who moved to England to study art. The Old Man in the Corner is one of the earliest examples of the “armchair sleuth,” who stays in the same place and has the clues come to him. John Carter described it as “an early and persuasive example of the intuitive school of detectives.” In the last story in the book, the “old man” himself may be the murderer. The “old man” first appeared in Orczy’s 1905 novel The Case of Miss Elliot. The Old Man in the Corner is Queen’s Quorum no. 41 and a Haycraft-Queen selection.

From the Collection of Jeffrey Johnson