Baroness Emma Orczy

The Old Man in the Corner illustrated Baroness Emma Orczy

The Old Man in the Corner is an unnamed armchair detective who appears in a series of short stories written by Baroness Orczy. The Old Man relies mostly upon sensationalistic newspaper accounts, with the occasional courtroom visit, and relates all this while tying complicated knots in a piece of string. The plots themselves are typical of Edwardian crime fiction, resting on a foundation of unhappy marriages and the inequitable division of family property. Other period details include a murder in the London Underground, the murder of a female doctor, and two cases involving artists living in "bohemian" lodgings.