The Teahouse Detective: The Old Man in the Corner

The Teahouse Detective: The Old Man in the Corner  is the first of two anthologies of short stories featuring the Teahouse Detective by Baroness Orczy, the author of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Originally published in 1908, this reformatting and re-release from Pushkin is due out 11th June 2019, and is 288 pages. There are 36 short vignettes included in this collection. They're presented as intellectual exercises, pas de deux between the eccentric old man and reporter Polly Burton, the denouements are not presented to the police.

These are cleverly constructed mysteries. Some of them are somewhat transparent, but I really think that's because so many of the literary devices she employed have been copied and reused since then that modern readers are familiar with the twists.

This would make a superlative commute read. The vignettes are all under 15 pages in length and could be read during free moments here and there. They're all well written and a lot of fun to read.

Four stars. I'm very happy that Pushkin is preserving and presenting these gems to new generations of readers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.