A trail-blazing writer of great repute in her day, but now unjustly neglected, Baroness Emmuska Orczy's name was synonymous with the mystery genre in the early twentieth century, particularly for her Scarlet Pimpernel books, set during the French Revolution. But perhaps the most revolutionary of her works is the lesser-known Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, a short-story collection revolving around Molly Robertson-Kirk, a fictional London detective – indeed, published in 1910, Molly was one of the first fictional female detectives, and served as a prototype for many that followed. Beautifully presented and with helpful explanatory notes, this edition celebrates Orczy's heroine and aims to reintroduce her for a new generation of readers.

'Orczy had a rare gift: that of the storyteller. Her Pimpernel books are compulsively readable.' * Guardian *
'Anyone who feels that their outward manner is but a travesty of their inner self can hardly fail to respond to The Scarlet Pimpernel.' * Independent *

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865–1947) was a novelist and playwright, best known for her Scarlet Pimpernel novels, which paint Sir Percy Blakeney as an escape artist that saves French aristocrats from the guillotine during the French Revolution. Her short-story collection Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, first published in 1910, is one of the earliest examples of detective fiction with a female protagonist solving crimes.