The Fenchurch Street Mystery | Emma Orczy | A Bitesized Audiobook

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Journalist Polly Burton is initially annoyed to have her lunch disturbed by a strange man who sits at her corner table. But her interest is piqued when he begins to talk to her about a baffling murder case which has confounded the police and the public for more than a year...

A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.

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Emma (Emmushka) Orczy (1865–1947) was born Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci, to an aristocratic family in Hungary. Her father was the composer Baron Félix Orczy de Orci, her mother Countess Emma Wass de Szentegyed et Cege, and her grandparents on both sides included senior politicians and royal councillors. The family fled their country estate in in Tarnaörs when Emma was two years old, following a local peasant uprising, and her childhood was spent travelling through Europe, including periods in Budapest, Paris and Brussels, before eventually settling in London when she was 14. Emma's early ambition was to be a painter and she attended art school, where she met her future husband Henry George Montagu MacLean Barstow. They married in 1894 and had one child, John, born in 1899.

t was after John's birth that she took up writing and her first success was a series of detective stories submitted to the Royal Magazine in 1901, featuring the character of the Old Man in the Corner. The old man is an "armchair detective" who sits in the corner of a tea room and – while tying and untying knots in a piece of string – unravels unsolved mysteries which have baffled the police, for the benefit of his regular listener, Miss Polly Burton, a "lady journalist". He is not a conventional detective as he doesn't work with the police, and very often sympathises with the criminals, so that even after he has explained the mystery he doesn't alert the authorities. The stories are also notable for their indirect style of narration: while they are told in the third person, the majority of the words are actually narrated by the Old Man talking to Polly. After his 1901 debut the Old Man went on to feature in regular magazine stories through the early 1900s, and his adventures were collected in book form in three volumes: The Case of Miss Elliot (1905), The Old Man in the Corner (1909, but chronologically the first stories) and Unravelled Knots (1925).

In 1903 Baroness Orczy created her most famous character, for which she is best remembered today: Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel. This character established the idea of a dashing and daring figure who hides behind a meek disguise, so Orczy was in effect the originator of an enduring trope which was later followed by the creators of Superman, Batman and many others. She was very proud of her Pimpernel stories, to the exclusion of most of her other work: her memoirs, published just weeks before her death in 1947, are dominated by the character, whereas she barely mentions the Old Man in the Corner at all.

'The Fenchurch Street Mystery' was the first Old Man in the Corner story, featuring in the Royal Magazine on 31 May 1901. It later appeared in book form as the first story in the 1908 collection 'The Old Man in the Corner' (although, rather strangely, several of the later Old Man stories from magazine serialisation actually appeared in book form first, in her 1905 volume 'The Case of Miss Elliot', so the stories were reprinted out of chronological order).

Recording © Bitesized Audio 2021.
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This is one of favourite channels. There is such a lot of trash on TV these days that I often find myself relying on audio books for entertainment in the evening. These old classic stories are now overlooked and so what a treat it is to have channel dedicated to them. And then the icing on the cake is the perfect narration. Thank you for channel. Bless you.

snowysnowyriver
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Thank you for rescuing these tales from nearly-forgotten authors, for us. Much appreciated. Your library of these audios shows how much we can enjoy neglected works.

footfault
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I am settling down for the night . I have your story ready Simon. Although I am far from being a child . Your voice and the quality of story soothes me enough that I can feel content with my mind listening to the story. I am going through bereavment which I wouldn't wish on anyone and your channel helps get me through many a dark 24 hrs.
Do keep us up to date Simon.
By the way many of your listeners do know authentic and that is why we follow and are willing to listen to new content from ypu . You have high standards and we the listeners are never let down. Youtube are doing themselves a disfavour by not going to your channel and other channels .by comparing it to others of a lesser standard they should be in the professional level of knowing you bring a high calibre of audiobooks and narratives to youtube.. all the best Simon .

moniclare
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You are truly among the finest readers on the planet. And I also appreciate the high level of the the recording and production, I am not clear as to who you are.... But you are so talented. Along with Greg Wagland and Jonathan Cecil. THANK YOU!!

griffini
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The more I listen to this channel, the more I love it. What a treasure you are, my friend. Thank you

Nicky-np
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Oh thank you so much for the new upload. Perfect timing.

cynthiaholland
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Its a delight to listened to your clear, beautiful english, Simon. I love these stories, too! So soothing and interesting. What a gift!, it brings so much joy to ohers..
And i much prefer a real human voice, then the AI voices on the other channels 🎉🎉🎉

selenerainey
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Excellent mystery, I do love a tale that exercizeses my “leetle grey cells”! Didnt solve this one completely which makes it all the more fun! Thank you for another superb performance.

NannyOggins
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Another tale I was not previously familiar with which is always a treat. You're a bit of a detective yourself, cher Simon! A delight as always. ❤

SpuktasticAudio
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You know, I just got done listening to the entire collection of the old man in the corner stories by Emma Orczy by a Librivox narrator. The narration was truly dreadful but I stuck it out because the stories really were clever. I don't know how I made it 55 years of reading mysteries without hearing about her. I would love to hear you narrate these. The one you've done here is wonderful.

wmnoffaith
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Bravo! Another great story. Thank you and do have a Merry Christmas. Awaiting the next stellar tale!

garry
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So glad to have a new one to listen to this evening. Thank You so very much. You have made my day, as an elderly woman with a disability it such a joy .

bonniebarbee
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Delightfully rendered- I'd lost sight of the Baroness- thank you for reminding me!

Lemma
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This was such a treat, Simon, as I knew it would be - thank you so much! Having read the book many years ago I was aware of the destination, as it were, but had forgotten some of the wonderfully meandering journey!

YvonneWilson
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Good story! I must admit I have not read anything by Baroness Orczy other than The Scarlet Pimpernel. Didn’t realise she wrote detective stories.

GradKat
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Sir Simon! I always look forward to your impeccable diction in your narratives. This newest one brings back long buried memories ...the pronunciation of currency/ coins used way back. My dad was involved in the administration of British colonies and I now recall his use of tuppence, half penny etc. As usual your choice of a tale with twists and turns live up to your admirable standard.

gohboy
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What a twist! Wonderful! Thank you and Happy Holidays!

ginabeena
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Excellent, Simon, as always! Thank you.

rosiemcnaughton
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Entertainingly interesting! A style of storytelling whose voice is, at once, old-world yet new and refreshing... wonderful, compelling -- brilliant!

loreuniversechannel
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What a story! I wasn’t impressed at first and felt it was a slow start, but what a finish! Thank you Simon not only for your wonderful narration but also your impeccable selections 👍

synesthete