annieb123's Review of Unravelled Knots

by Baroness Orczy

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.

Baroness Orczy (1865-1947) was a Hungarian-born British author, best known for her Scarlet Pimpernel novels. Her Teahouse Detective, who features in Unravelled Knots, was one of the first fictional sleuths created in response to the Sherlock Holmes stories' huge success. Initially serialised in magazines, the stories in this collection were first published in book form in 1908 and have since been adapted for radio, television and film. Two other collections of Teahouse Detective mysteries are available from Pushkin Vertigo.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Unravelled Knots is the third (and final) collection of Teahouse Detective short stories by Baroness Orczy. Originally published in 1926, this edition is due out 2nd June 2020 from Steerforth on their Pushkin Press imprint. It's 320 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats (other editions available in other formats).

The format is much the same as the other collections. They're presented as intellectual exercises, pas de deux between an eccentric old man and reporter Polly Burton, set as conversations in the ABC Teashop, where the old man in the corner sits for the most part alone. His engagement with the crimes is strictly intellectual, he's not out to hand the criminals over to justice. He reminds me a bit of Poirot, with a touch of Mycroft Holmes and a healthy foreshadowing of Nero Wolfe.

These are cleverly constructed mysteries. Some of them are somewhat transparent by modern tastes, 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 and turns.

This would make a superlative commute read. The 13 stories are short 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.

Unravelled Knots

by Baroness Orczy

Reviewed by annieb123 on Mar 7, 2020

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