Sadly I just couldn't get into the story or this seri3s at all and I tried more then once .So this is going to be one of those series I won't be going on with

These were fascinating stories - a collection of them discussed between two people
one an average narrator, the other quirky but clever who painstakingly shows in each case
who the murderer was,and how he got off. So all the stories are unusually of unsolved
crimes though the reader is shown explicitly who killed whom, how and why.

I did not realise that the person listening to the stories, bringing up each case was a
journalist and a female. All I knew was that the two characters did not like each other. There
was a condescending air to one, and a disparaging air to the other.

The mystery/murders are all vintage and very clearly outlined. An unusual way of
looking at murder.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
A classic collection of tales that rivaled the intrepid Sherlock. Delightful and insightful crime stories by a classic writer who deserves to be better known. Fun summer reading.

"Another classic collection of mysteries from the Golden Age of British crime writing, by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

It has been twenty years since Polly Burton last saw the Teahouse Detective, but one foggy afternoon she stumbles into a Fleet Street café and chances upon the cantankerous sleuth again. The years have not softened his manner, nor dulled his appetite for unravelling the most tortuous of conspiracies, shedding light on mysteries that have confounded the finest minds of the police.

How did Prince Orsoff disappear from his railway carriage in-between stations? How could the Ingres masterpiece be seen in two places at once? And what is the truth behind the story of the blood-stained tunic that exonerated its owner?

From the comfort of his seat by the fire, the Teahouse Detective sets his brilliant mind to work once more."

Because Baroness Orczy was about way more than The Scarlet Pimpernel!

This is my first acquaintance with Baroness Orczy’s Teahouse Detective, and I found it a bit of a mixed experience.

The format of these short stories is the same in each case: the first-person narrator, a journalist, comes across her old acquaintance, ‘The Old Man in the Corner’ at a café, where he plays incessantly with a piece of knotted string and casually solves big murder cases, apparently using only information gleaned from newspaper reports and similar.

There is quite a bit of the casual racism and classism you might expect for the time period in which these stories were written – lots of “those sorts of people” commentary and stereotypes. This is likely to be offensive to many in this day and age, however, I don’t feel it fair to try to hold older books to modern standards of morality.

The armchair detective himself is described in unappealing terms – physically and in his boastful, gloating mannerisms. His method of solving cases also lacked some of the excitement of other similar detective stories (such as the cases of Sherlock Holmes), as he merely recites the facts of the case that are known to him from popular accounts (and some which I couldn’t see how he could possibly have known just from the papers!), then provides his inquisitive chronicler with the solution to the mystery. By just telling the story from his chair, with none of the customary interviewing of suspects or assessing of clues, makes the stories feel rather passive for the reader.

On the other hand, if you treat the narrator and the detective as simply a framing device, not necessary to the story itself, then this is a really fun collection of short Agatha Christie / Conan Doyle style murder puzzles. For each story we get the scene set, then are presented with a murder or robbery victim and 3-5 suspects from which to choose. We can then try to spot the significant clues amongst the many red herrings to try to beat the reveal as to how-, why- and who-dunnit.

I quite enjoyed this foray into classic detective fiction, and whilst The Old Man in the Corner is never going to replace Poirot or Holmes in my heart, this collection certainly holds some knotty little puzzles for your little grey cells!



“You were thinking of the disappearance of the Australian millionaire?” he asked blandly.
“I don’t know that I was,” I retorted.
“But of course you were. How could any journalist worthy of the name fail to be interested in that intricate case?”
“I suppose you have your theory—as usual?”
“It is not a theory,” the creature replied, with that fatuous smile of his which always irritated me; “it is a Certainty.”
Then, as he became silent, absorbed in the contemplation of a wonderfully complicated knot in his beloved bit of string, I said with gracious condescension:
“You may talk about it, if you like.”
He did like, fortunately for me, because, frankly, I could not see daylight in that maze of intrigue, adventure and possibly crime, which was described by the Press as “The Mystery of the White Carnation.”

– Baroness Orczy, Unravelled Knots: The Teahouse Detective

Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

DNF at 35%.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of my favourite novels so when I saw a book by Baroness Orczy available on NetGalley for request I immediately clicked the button.

This is very different to The Scarlet Pimpernel, set in the post World War One era this is a series of short stories featuring 'The Man in the Corner' who sits fidgeting with a piece of string in a teashop in Fleet Street, London and expounds his theories on various unsolvable mysteries of the day including thefts of a valuable painting, locked-room murders, stolen jewels and murdered Russian Princes. In the strain of Hercules Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, the teahouse detective can solve mysteries that baffle the Police.

I read the first five short stories (of 13) but I found the teahouse detective's solutions to be no more plausible than others, particularly in The Mystery of the Russian Prince, and the casual racism of the era was distasteful to read, eg referring to a Jewish woman having 'the mistrust of her race for everything that is frivolous and thriftless'.

Overall, I wasn't engaged by the character, the plots or the writing, I much prefer Dorothy L Sayers or even Georgette Heyer for 1920s/1930s detective mysteries, and I gave up after five short stories.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Baroness Orczy may not best be described as an overlooked author, but her sterling work with the Teahouse Detective does not always garner the attention it deserves.

A unique voice in detective fiction, ‘The Old Man in the Corner’ enjoys telling his tales, and working through them in front of his journalist audience- he is about as self deprecating as Poirot but no less entertaining. These are ingenious, intricate mysteries, perfectly drawn and well fleshed out. Pleasing to all Golden Age fans, ‘The Teahouse Detective’ shows Orczy at her best.

An reasonably enjoyable and easy read, but just doesn't compare with my beloved Agatha Christie novels. Given the option, I don't know if I'd seek out more of these.

I was very excited to read this book. I have previously heard BBC dramatizations of some of the stories and had always enjoyed them. The book did not disappoint. The Man in the Corner is indeed an original character with a brilliantly analytical mind, especially when it come to crime. The stories he told were very complex for short stories and kept me guessing each time. I enjoyed the short story format as it made a larger number of mysteries accessible and the length was perfect for when I only had an hour or so available. The only thing I missed in these stories was some background about the Man in the Corner and his companion. In every other way, a great collection of classic detective fiction.

I suppose there are a few collectors of crime fiction who will take to these pages, but this third and final volume still didn't really float my boat. For every distinctive crime and for every instinctive solution to it, there is the inherent problem that the Baroness – aka the woman journalist in the tea rooms – aka the "funny" peculiar old codger yacking for hours on end about crime for want of anything better to do – cannot write. And Holmes found Watson's output a chore – at least he brought us into the drama, and didn't just sit there all his days giving us reportage-after-the-fact… These overly-verbose-and-then-some stories gave me an initial feel of deja vu – not as much as the second book, though, which had everyone just dress up and get away with it. For the specialist it's interesting to see how the Great War impacted on proceedings – from shell-shocked minor characters to wonder fuels being patented or not, but the general browser, in the corner of Subway or the bus to work or their conservatory, will not find much excitement here amongst the verbosity. The jury's verdict is – stick with Conan Doyle. One and a half stars.

I love Baroness Orczy's mysteries and these were excellent.
I was happy to read it and I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Revisiting the adventures of Polly Burton and The Old Man in the Corner, is like devouring a meal of your favourite comfort food. This edition includes 13 (lucky) short stories. They are filled with the usual sharp observations of the The Old Man in the Corner and Polly's attempts to solve the riddle.

It is also great to revisit old friends and my favourites are The Mystery of the Dog's Tooth Cliff and The Mystery Of The Montmartre Hat.

Enjoy with a cup of tea :)

For readers who love the original super hero novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy is a well-loved name. She changed the game for adventure novels, and also tried her hand at mystery novels. In the reprinted book series, The Teahouse Detective. He is a grumpy detective, full of terrible manners and a foul nature. However, he is extremely good at what he does and can unravel some of the most complicated crimes that the police are unable to solve. Much like Watson in Sherlock Holmes, Polly Burton tells the story of bizarre mysteries, such as a missing prince, and shows how our Teahouse detective solves the crime, before retiring to a Fleet Street cafe to complain. 

Baroness Orczy tells a fun story, but like Sherlock Holmes, the Teahouse Detective can occasionally be a bit much. Still, the stories are fun to read and a great peak at British life and crime mystery.

Unraveled Knots: The Tea House Detective is available now from Pushkin Press.

These short stories, written by the authoress of The Scarlet Pimpernel, have some serious flaws as mysteries. Written after World War I and serialized the stories are imitative of Sherlock Holmes but not in good ways.

Like the Conan Dolyle stories, these are told by a narrator. UnlikeDoctor Watson, the nameless narrator has nothing to do with solving the crimes but is only the recipient of the detective's monologues about the crimes.

Like Holmes, the Teahouse Detective is quirky. Unlike Holmes, he never does anything to solve the crimes. We only see him in teahouses after the fact. There he dispenses his solution to the crime in a monologue.

This set-up exposes the basic flaws here. A monologue just isn't very interesting. it's one-sided and often we feel as if we didn't get enough clues to solve the case ourselves. These combine to rid the stories of the happy feeling of justice done that makes mysteries so popular.

Because the narrator has no part in solving the crimes we find ourselves passive as well, instead of engaging in the story.

These stories are better left not reprinted, except perhaps in anthologies with stories by others. One or two might be OK but overall they are pretty weak.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Pushkin Press and the author, Baroness Orczy, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Unraveled Knots: The Teahouse Detective in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such a wonderful, easy read. Perfect for those rainy days snuggled under a warm rug.
Worth a read.

these were great stories and I've been enjoying the The Teahouse Detective series and I really enjoyed reading this.

This mystery is a series of short stories by a writer who lived during the turn of the century (1900s) and its awesome. Spent time looking up the author and her other books after I read this because I was so intrigued and enjoyed the book so much. Baroness Orczy lived in Britain and was a great writer during the 'golden age' of crime writers. The Teahouse Detective is full of great stories based on observation and is a wonderful way to learn more about that period of time. The writing is concise and entertaining but also supports the stories, in terms of tone. 'Witty' is the word - the character is reinforced by the writing. Its a great book and so are the authors other novels and characters. Love to read women authors and Baroness Orczy is fantastic. Highly recommend this book.

Unravelled Knots by Baroness Orczy, originally published in 1925, is the third and final book in The Teahouse Detective series.
There are an ominous 13 mysteries in the book. The narrator is Polly Burton, a journalist, but the stories she relates are as told to her by The Old Man, the teahouse detective himself. But Polly isn’t obsolete – she adds depth to the story. Undeniably astute and intelligent, the detective lacks warmth and is something of a remote, cold figure. Having Polly between us and him makes him less stand-offish, and we can fully and better appreciate just how clever he is.
The mysteries are varied and fascinating, and include murder, robbery and disappearance, and in each case the police are baffled or have got things completely wrong. The teahouse detective’s analytical mind, however, gets through to the truth.
These stories are a delight to read. They challenge you intellectually as well as entertain you. Very enjoyable.

This was my first introduction to the Teahouse Detective, and going into it I had no idea what it was about and had never heard of this character or author before. It was definitely light, simple reading, nothing too deep or complicated. I enjoyed it, but the cases weren't gripping or passionate. The characters sat at a table and discussed 13 different cases, and while they were different and had unexpected endings, I found this lacked the excitement you would find in Sherlock Holmes. It was a good way to pass the time, but I'm not sure I would seek out other books in this series.

I had not read the first two book and I think it would have helped if I had but I still enjoyed this book and plan to read the first two.