An avid reader, Stephen's knowledge of Crime Fiction is fairly extensive, with The Golden Age is his greatest interest.
Emma Baroness Orczy was one of the greats of early Golden Age Literature. The Baroness was born in Hungary but lived much of her life in Britain and was an author and playwright. She wrote the Scarlet Pimpernel series of novels and her detective fiction is often recommended in many of the lists of selected crime fiction.
This collection of stories from The Old Man in the Corner was first published in 1908 and is set in London. The eponymous Old Man in the Corner is a pale, thin elderly man who sits at the corner table in the Norfolk Street branch of the ABC cafe with his glass of milk. He solves major crimes of the day from his armchair and he then expounds his theories for his audience in the cafe. His audience being solely Miss Polly Burton a reporter on the Evening Observer newspaper.
An eccentric and by Polly’s own view a rather grotesque looking individual the Old Man would almost always be nervously twisting and pulling at a piece of string as an aid to thought. However, he shows considerable insight and intelligence as he collates the facts and known information gleaned from the newspapers and court appearances often surprising Polly with his solutions.
While he seems a homespun expert in the psychology and motives of crime he does not reveal any of his theories to the hard workers [and generally mocked] members of the Police Force. Often taking the side of the criminal against the Law, when he believes the Police have missed obvious clues or misinterpreted their meaning. He has Polly wracking her brains to find an alternative solution, or a fault in his deductions.
It is a book of its time, written not very long after Conan Doyle had completed The Return of Sherlock Holmes; The Old Man in the Corner was one of the many characters to try to take his place in the crime fiction lover’s affections.
The writing is detailed and descriptive with a steady comforting narrative. Whilst it could not be called action-packed or thrilling in today's world, the Baroness’s work has earned its rightful place in the evolution of the detective fiction novel.
