Unravelled Knots: The Teahouse Detective by Baroness Orczy

Unravelled Knots: The Teahouse Detective by Baroness Orczy ISBN-13: 9781782275886 Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo Released: October 24th 2019 (first published 1926)

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
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.


My Review:
Unravelled Knots: The Teahouse Detective is a collection of short story mysteries that was originally published in the early 1900s. Those short stories are framed around the amateur detective telling a reporter about his solution to various mysteries (not only murders) which baffle the police. He investigates the details and attends the trials, but he doesn't give the solutions to the police because he admires the cleverness of these criminals. He wants to brag to someone, though, so he tells the reporter in the teashop the details of the case, the clues, and his solution. Occasionally, one of the short stories is told primarily by her and gives the details that she picked up in reporting about the case.

These were clue-based puzzle mysteries. There were enough clues that the reader can guess his solution, especially since the clues were obvious due to the shorter format. I didn't find the solutions very difficult to guess. They were interesting scenarios, though. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this collection to fans of puzzle mysteries.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.