December was another light reading month for me. What with the holidays and Zelda Skyward Sword I just didn’t make much time for reading. Still, I had a pretty good year, reading more than the 45 books that was my goal. This year my goal is 50 books, and halfway through January I’m already on track.

The Old Man in the Corner
Baroness Emma Orczy

Orczy is an author most famous the Scarlet Pimpernel, which I’ve never read. I had no real idea what this was when I downloaded it to my phone, but I was looking for mysteries and this was there. The Old Man in the Corner was pretty much perfect for reading in down moments at work. It is not one mystery, but a collection of several short ones. It is pretty standard detective stuff, with only one really notable thing, that this “detective” only solves the cases for himself. No criminals are brought to justice, no cops are involved in the solving. It is just a woman talking with an old man over tea. The Old Man is generally much more sympathetic with the criminals rather than the police or even the victims.