Best known as the creator of the Scarlet Pimpernel, The Baroness Orczy also created two immortal turn-of-the century detectives, the old man in the corner and Molly Robertson-Kirk otherwise known as Lady Molly of Scotland Yard.
First published in 1910 Orczy’s female detective was precursor of the lay sleuth who relies on brains rather than brawn, the book soon became very popular, with three editions appearing in the first year. Interestingly, as well as being one of the first novels to feature a female detective as the main character, Orczy’s outstandingly successful police officer preceded her real life female counterparts by a decade.
Lady Molly, like her fictional contemporaries, most often succeeded because she recognised domestic clues foreign to male experience. Her shocking entry into the male domain of the police is forgivable when it is discovered that her motive is to save her fiancé from a false accusation. Once her superior intuition has triumphed, Lady Molly very properly marries and leaves the force.
— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
