The Best of Father Brown

Father Brown

by G.K. Chesterton, H.R.F. Keating (editor)

The father of modern detectives

As punctilious as Poirot, as Miss Marple and as sharp as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown ranks higher than all of them in the pantheon of literary sleuths. For the confessional, this humble, innocent little priest has gained a deep intuitive knowledge of the paradoxes of human nature. So when murder, mayhem, and mystery stalk smart society, only father Brown can be counted upon to discover the startling truth.

The most comprehensive paperback edition available, with introduction and chronology of Chesterton's life and times.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Fiction, Short Stories, School, Crime, British Literature

269 pages, Paperback

Published December 15, 1993

About the author

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English writer, philosopher, lay theologian, and literary and art critic.

He was educated at St. Paul’s, and went to art school at University College London. In 1900, he was asked to contribute a few magazine articles on art criticism, and went on to become one of the most prolific writers of all time. He wrote a hundred books, contributions to 200 more, hundreds of poems, including the epic Ballad of the White Horse, five plays, five novels, and some two hundred short stories, including a popular series featuring the priest-detective, Father Brown. In spite of his literary accomplishments, he considered himself primarily a journalist. He wrote over 4000 newspaper essays, including 30 years worth of weekly columns for the Illustrated London News, and 13 years of weekly columns for the Daily News. He also edited his own newspaper, G.K.’s Weekly.

Chesterton was equally at ease with literary and social criticism, history, politics, economics, philosophy, and theology.

Reviews

[Emily ✞ || [fallon's vrs] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ✨ | classic mysteries | 13/14+

I’m not using my usual reviewing format for this because I did not take notes, and this is a collection of short stories :)

꒰4★’s꒱ The Secret of Father Brown
So this was basically an introduction on who Father Brown is and how he solves the mysteries, which, to be frank, was extremely helpful going into this. It gave me a lot of information that I needed to know before reading all these mysteries, and it’s told in a way that isn’t like an author’s note or preface, but like an even shorter story!

꒰4★’s꒱ The Secret Garden
This one gave me clue deja vu! A group of people at a party and someone is killed! We’re even given a lady who freaks out all the time, not unlike Mrs. Peacock! This was so intriguing and I loved all the descriptions that were so unique but gave me a perfect picture of the scenery. Safe to say it made me want to watch Clue.


꒰4.5★’s꒱ The Queer Feet
This one almost drove me mad! I was killing my brain just to figure this one out! Father Brown probably spent four pages thinking about the way someone was walking outside the room, and I was trying to figure it out before he did. Haha, I couldn’t no surprise, because Father Brown knows everything 😛

꒰3★’s꒱ The Invisible Man
I honestly don’t remember much from this one, but it was quite interesting. I liked the premise a lot. I just think I zoned out a lot while reading this. But I do remember that it was good!

꒰4★’s꒱ The Wrong Shape
This one made my brain explode. I did not expect who the killer was, and I gasped aloud when it was revealed. Though it did make me question the importance of one other character other than the point of just being a distraction

꒰2.5★’s꒱ The Hammer of God
Not gonna lie, I don’t remember much from this as well. That’s all I have to say about it

꒰5★’s꒱ The Absence of Mr Glass
MY FAVORITE STORY OUT OF THE ENTIRE COLLECTION! I was so invested in this that I didn’t want it to end! It was SOOO GOOD! I don’t want to give anything away, but it was just amazing. If you want to start with a Father Brown story, start with this one! It certainly had some big, unexpected twists that made me so giddy.


꒰4★’s꒱ The Man in the Passage
I can’t give anything away without spoiling this, about my thoughts of the book. But the ending, involving the passage, was just…wow. It revealed a lot about humanity.

꒰2★’s꒱ The Mistake of the Machine
Eh, I didn’t really care for this one.

꒰3★’s꒱ The Purple Wig
This was a good one too! So thought-provoking!

꒰3.5★’s꒱ The Arrow of Heaven
It took me a bit to get into this one, but it still was very mind boggling. Father Brown is so darn smart!

꒰4★’s꒱ The Oracle of the Dog
One of my favorites, because it had a lot to do with dogs. But I loved what Father Brown pointed out about how people view animals when it comes to religion, and I totally agree with him. It just tickled me how Father Brown just kept dropping the mic in this one, like Isn’t it obvious?”

꒰4.5★’s꒱ The Doom of Darnaways

The writing in this was just stupendous. It gave me chills! The horror vibes were so spooky. Everything was so dark and creepy but described so well. You know when you’re driving in a neighborhood with very little lights, and it’s night, and mist just clings to the pavement? That’s the kind of vibe this book gave me. And THE ENDING!!!
SPOILER!

I MEAN CREATING A WHOLE LEGEND ABOUT A FAMILY JUST TO GET A GIRL?! WOW TALK ABOUT DEDICATION! BUT MAN SORT OUT YOUR PRIORITIES! GEEZ!



END SPOILER

꒰3.5★’s꒱ The Mirror of the Magistrate
This was okay. My experience was especially tainted by the narrator on Libravox 😂 He sounded like that hippie character in Zootopia that was at the front desk at The Mystic Spring Oasis. He’s all I saw walking around in the book as I read along. I half expected the characters to spout of lines like “I wish I had the memory of an elephant” or “We’re a naturalists group” 🤦🏻‍♀️

꒰3★’s꒱ The Song of the Flying Fish
Great! The ending was great! I could just imagine how stupid one of the characters felt when everything was revealed.

꒰4★’s꒱ THe Vampire of the Village
A little sad that there wasn’t more of the vampire lore, but this was still good. Again, it reminded me of Clue a little bit. Goodness, a lot of these are giving me Clue deja vu!


Anyway, thank you for reading my review! I hope you have a lovely day!

[Melody Schwarting · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mysteries, short stories, and I have a tenuous relationship. I care little for plot, so mysteries must have a lot more going for them for me to enjoy them. Short stories can be really good, but often they don't draw me into the story quickly enough. Unfortunately, the Father Brown stories didn't work for me. The characters felt flat, and the varied settings didn't give me enough time to settle in and enjoy the space. While nothing was egregious, various forms of racism and anti-Catholicism (ironic) cluttered the stories, making these stories feel antiquated rather than classic. It was hard to tell where characterization ended, and Chesterton's opinions began.

Regarding the adaptation, there's little resemblance. Father Brown is a similar character overall, though it's impossible to compare Mark Williams's avuncular portrayal of the character to the speaks-when-spoken-to book version. The TV show gives the stories a home in a fictional village, while the short stories are set all over the place. The side characters, of course, are totally different (Flambeau is a non-kleptomaniac friend of Father Brown here; obviously Mrs. McCarthy is not a Chestertonian invention). Consistency between the adaptation and the originals lies in plots. I recognized many of the plots right off the bat, which didn't affect my enjoyment (or lack thereof) of the stories.

Sadly a "meh" read for me, but at least it's one book I can cross off my list!

[Abigail Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took over two years, but I finally finished every story in the book (there are 16 chapters: each representing a short story).

Don’t think that it took me so long because it was an awful book, I immensely enjoyed the Father Brown mysteries. I found, though, that I really couldn’t understand a story unless I read it in one sitting, sometimes re-reading sections in order to comprehend all the details.

All in all, I would highly recommend this to any mystery lover who’s willing to wade through some beautiful, but advanced vocabulary. I found the plots to be stimulating and thrilling, the characters amusing, and Father Brown witty and engaging. A fantastic classic!

[Mariella Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mysteries aren't usually my genre choice, but I really enjoyed these. I had already seen parts of the PBS TV show prior to reading these stories and didn't realize that the show was based off of them. So when a friend suggested that I give them a read, I was intrigued and decided to do so.

I can see why Chesterton is viewed as a classic author. His writing style is gorgeous, and I really love his sense of description. Whether it is describing a person, place, thing, or occasion, Chesterton's style is deeply defined. It is not rigid and unyielding like Hemingway. Rather, he has learned how to say much with little. The style may seem plain at first, and the pace may seem easy and meandering. Yet, Chesterton never presents a detail that is not necessary to our understanding of the tale. His writing is dignified and compact, yet simple and approachable in a way that I don't find many classic authors to be.

I was also very intrigued by his presentation of Father Brown. Father Brown is humorous but thoughtful. Intelligent and certain about where he stands on issues, but also not forcefully interjecting himself into the paths of others in a way that demeans their autonomy through the writing of the story in the way that I often see detective figures behaving in mysteries. I appreciate also that though he is curious and jovial, there is a weight and a wisdom to what he says.

I also found it striking how comfortable and familiar people are able to be with Father Brown. One of my favorite lines is from my favorite story in the collection, "The Invisible Man," and essentially just says "Father Brown walked those snow-covered hills under the stars for many hours with a murderer, and what they said to each other will never be known." To me, that says a lot not only concerning the character itself but also the character of the man Father Brown is. Many of the detectives I read in mysteries are aloof at best and arrogant and condescending at worst. Father Brown is not portrayed this way. He is portrayed as a simple, kind man with a keen sense of observation and intellect who uses his skills not for the sake of solving a crime or harm to others, but rather because it is, I suppose, in his eyes, the moral and kind thing to do. He keeps himself open and approachable to all people, from aristocrats to servants to blue collar workers. He is the All-Man's detective in a way. The kind of many not everyone notices but whom everyone appreciates.

[Amy de Raaf · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh what an awful and boring read! My son and I read it together—Father Brown is a priest detective and what should have been suspenseful and mysterious was nothing but a snooze fest! We gave it one star because we can tell the writing was fine—however we just didn’t care about any of the characters or the glacially slow plot line, with seriously no element of surprise. It has to be the most uninteresting murder mystery book of all time. Not a fan!

[mairiachi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bleh. I called half of them. ig I'm too used to Agatha Christies where there's actually an element of surprise at the end. These were all really predictable and I didn't like them at all. Boring.

* rtc maybe *

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give up again. I know the Father Brown stories are classics, I know I’ve read and enjoyed many of them—maybe all of the ones in this book—in anthologies. But I still seem incapable of reading the whole of one Brown-only collection. It’s the side notes—not so much the Catholicism as the anti-Socialistic, anti-Progressive, anti-Semitic digressions. They get in the way of a brilliant story,even in the better, earlier ones. One at a time, in anthologies only, please.

[Anh Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a part of my son's homeschool curriculum, and I read it with him. It also counts as a 20th century classic in my book challenge.

I want to also note that while the copy of the book I have is titled, _The Best of Father Brown_, it is not the same edition as the book with the same title on Goodreads. I tried to find my exact edition but it is not listed here. The stories in the book I read are: The Secret of Father Brown, The Secret Garden, The Queer Feet, The Invisible Man, The Wrong Shape, The Hammer of God, The Absence of Mr. Glass, The Man in the Passage, The Mistake of the Machine, The Purple Wig, The Arrow of Heaven, The Oracle of the Dog, The Doom of the Darnaways, The Mirror of the Magistrate, The Song of the Flying Fish, and the Vampire of the Village.

These stories were originally published in the early 1900s, and as Chesterton was an Englishman, he used language that was common around that time in England. Therefore, be warned that people are described as "Oriental", "Red Indian", and even one description using the N word. Apparently, in England, this word doesn't carry the weight that it does here in the US. However, I do want to warn any potential readers that these words are unapologetically used.

Outside of that--these are fun little detective stories. I think they are very different from Sherlock Holmes in that I am not sure Chesterton intended for his readers to sit there and work out clues and actually try to solve the mystery. There were too many stories where information was omitted and only revealed at the end, information that would have, of course, cracked the case. A lot of the stories seemed "easy" to solve, but I believe this is only because by now, 2021, we have had numerous books, movies and TV crime dramas, all using many of the same plot lines and plot twists. But back in the early 1900s, at least some of these plot lines were fresh and new.

Chesterton's style is a bit rambling, as he spends a lot of time depicting unimportant chatter between characters. I know that he was a philosopher and lay theologian, and I believe he used the dialog to air some of his views on life and people. The dialog could be witty and amusing at times, but I can see how readers might get impatient with it.

I enjoyed this book overall, though it was not my favorite and I won't be seeking out any more Father Brown stories. I am not a huge fan of mysteries, at least not in book form. I enjoy watching them though. Also, I listened to the majority of the stories via Librivox and other free Youtube recordings of the Father Brown books and I think that really enhanced my enjoyment. I did some art journaling and other mindless work while listening to the stories with my book out, so I could stop the recording and read the text if I felt like I missed anything.

I would recommend listening to the audio version of these stories to people who have to read this book for school and found the stories "boring" to read. The audio versions may be better for those folks.

3.5/5 stars. When I have a half star rating, I have to choose between the higher or lower number and Father Brown is amiable enough that I'll push him along to the higher.

[Steven Scribner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I happen to have seen the TV show before reading its origins, I couldn’t help visualizing the actors and setting from the show while reading. In some ways that’s a plus (Mark Williams played the eponymous character exactly as described) but in other ways, not so much. The TV version has more characters and a lot of added sub-plots, even when it’s obvious exactly which story an episode is based on. The stories are much simpler and more direct: a crime is committed, several people give their conclusions about who did it and why, and then Father Brown comes forward and figures out what actually happened by imagining himself to be the criminal. For those who like detective stories to try to figure out the puzzle on their own before the big reveal: you might want to stop part way through and make your own deductions before finishing. For those who like to see how the answer is derived: read strait through and the payoff is usually surprising. Chesterton’s introduction of theological discussion into the stories (as predicated by Father Brown himself) makes interesting counterpart to the plotlines. Altogether entertaining, even if I still do picture the TV show…

--Steven E. Scribner, author of the "Tond" series (fantasy) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[David Vitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those rare moments where I acknowledge that the TV show may be better than the book! Not that there was anything wrong with the book, but I learned I'm not a huge fan of old English language, or of short stories for that matter. I appreciate Chesterton's writing style, his description of characters and settings, and the ability to resolve complex mysteries in short order. However, much of the time I was left wishing for more details, greater character development, etc. For short stories they're quite good - I just prefer longer, more-developed stories.

[Abby Pye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short lil’ detective stories, that are comical and unpredictable, but didn’t always hold my attention. Each story did more to tell the reader about who Father Brown is—an unassuming, witty, sarcastic and open-minded priest who’s rather shabby but very bright—than to actually create tales that are mysterious and engaging. A few are interesting, but most are written too succinctly from a disembodied narrator to keep me intrigued.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

At some point I had to make Father Brown's acquaintance, and we may nod at each other across a railway car, but I feel no need to make a complete study of his exploits.

For sheer reading enjoyment, I would take any of Chesterton's nonfiction--Orthodoxy, The Everlasting Man, Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assissi, The Well and the Shallows, etc.--any day.

[Karlin Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under Chesterton's capable pen Father Brown appears delightfully simple and scintillating at once. The heritage of British mystery stories is enriched by the flashes of illumination that come to the priest Father Brown and break the monotony of the scientific private detective and his simple-minded friend and chronicler.
Also, this collection is wonderful.

[Salli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frankly dull. I do come from the TV series to the book but the stories are all rather far fetched and Father Brown appears as all knowing even to his friends. You also have to work with the rather Victorian/Edwardian prose.

[S.G. Willoughby · Rating 2 out of 5]

If i didnt't have to read it for school I might have made it halfway partly enjoying before I gave up. I don't know, It just wasn't my thing.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mysteries make you think.

[Christen Nichole Williford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched the show first when I discovered they were based off of stories from G.K Chesterton and definitely very good and worth a read.

[Audrey Ateca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Some stories were better than others . I am glad I read as I have always wanted to read the original stories

[Kotai Gyuri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Litera International 2003
Secretul parintelui Brown

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the current BBC series, but still good mysteries on their own.

[Rob Callus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Fr. Brown! Such funny, clever, ironic stories.

[Emma Stafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

an English priest solving murders in a quaint town? PUT THE KETTLE ON I REPEAT PUT THE KETTLE ON💁‍♀️

[Jim Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book good sampler

[Lily Martello · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

It was very well written, just not my kind of book. This was a book I had to read for school.

[Amrita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chesterton remarked that the "detective story differs from every story in this: that the reader is only happy if he feels a fool".

Chesterton's detective is a clumsy, amiable little Roman Catholic priest with “a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling”. His appearance in the stories is so unobtrusive that spotting him in the story is almost like a game of hide and seek with the readers. He seems to be lurking in the shadows somewhere. But don't get taken in by his humble exterior. He had been observing all this while from that vantage point and proceeds to display startling flashes of brilliant understanding. He has such a deep understanding of the psychology of the criminal mind which he gained while listening to confessions in his capacity as a Roman Catholic priest that now he has gained the ability to think like the criminal. In "The Secret Of Father Brown" G K Chesterton revealed the process through which Father Brown arrives at the clear insight and solves the seemingly insoluble paradox

"I had thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done,and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was......

I try to get inside the murderer. . . . Indeed it's
much more than that, don't you see? I am inside a man. I am always
inside a man, moving his arms and legs; but I wait till I know I am
inside a murderer, thinking his thoughts, wrestling with his passions;
till I have bent myself into the posture of his hunched and peering
hatred; till I see the world with his bloodshot and squinting eyes,
looking between the blinkers of his half-witted concentration; looking
up the short and sharp perspective of a straight road to a pool of
blood. Till I am really a murderer."

Chesterton created Father Brown as a contrast to Sherlock Holmes. That, in my opinion,is quite a burden to carry. This is what Father Brown has to say regarding the "Science of Detection"

Science is a grand thing when you can get it; in its real sense one of the grandest words in the world. But what do these men mean, nine times out often, when they use it nowadays? When they say detection is a science? When they say criminology is a science? They mean getting outside a man and studying him as if he were a gigantic insect: in what they would call a dry impartial light, in what I should call a dead and dehumanized light. They mean getting a long way off him, as if he were a distant prehistoric monster; staring at the shape of his 'criminal skull' as if it were a sort of eerie growth, like the horn on a rhinoceros's nose. When the scientist talks about a type, he never means himself, but always his neighbor; probably his poorer neighbor. I don't deny the dry light may sometimes do good; though in one sense it's the very reverse of science. So far from being knowledge, it's actually suppression of what we know. It's treating a friend as a stranger, and pretending that something familiar is really remote and mysterious"

Father Brown, though an admirable character, is weighed down by the burden of Chesterton's rhetoric and theological message. Unlike the brilliant logician created by Doyle in Sherlock Holmes whose sole aim is solving the mystery, father Brown as a subtle evangelist of the Catholic faith has to not only solve the crime and catch the criminal but also hopes to redeem the criminal.

But unfortunately, Chesterton not only totally fails to extend this honorable and charitable attitude towards non-Christians but reveals himself as a downright bigot in "The Wrong Shape" where just the presence of a Hindu Yogi is enough to infuse the environment with "evil". This, unfortunately, did not go down well with me.

Besides the didactic and theological aspect so overshadows the narrative that the mysteries get flimsier and the reader gets impatient thereby making it more and more difficult to get into the stories.

So, if this was the collection of the "best" stories by G K Chesterton, then you are not going to find me reading the rest of the stories.

[Kaelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of mystery stories! Father Brown is such an interesting character to read about, and I loved seeing how he was going to show up in every story.

This book is a collection of mysteries, each featuring the titular character Father Brown. Each mystery was thoroughly thought out and kept me guessing until the end.

The stories never got repetitive or dull. They were each unique and exciting. I would love to read even more stories featuring Father Brown!

Although I loved the large and full-of-variety cast of characters, it was difficult to remember who was who at times, especially if I started a story and didn't get back to it for a few days. This is a minor critique, though, in comparison to the whole book.

I would HIGHLY recommend this to any reader who loves exciting, intriguing books and mysteries.

[Theresa]

I read this primarily because when a student found out that I was teaching a class on detective fiction a few years ago, she wanted to know if I was teaching Father Brown and I had no idea who he was. The intro to the book sets up Father Brown as a contrast to Sherlock Holmes in two ways:
1) his character
2) his means of detection
In terms of his character, I think Chesterton is partially successful. Father Brown is usually almost invisible until he pops up part way through the story to assist in the investigation. He is physically and personally very different from Holmes. However, since he is so in the background, the stories usually begin from the perspectives of non-recurring characters who are not very interesting, and there's no unity as a result.
In terms of his means of detection, he is supposed to make judgments based on psychology, while Holmes is interested in empirical evidence. This is nominally a function of his status as a priest with specially access to human motivation. However, it's not clear that this is a valid distinction, since Holmes does make psychological assessments (as when he assumes in "A Scandal in Bohemia" that because Irene Adler is a woman, she will go to the spot where the photograph is hidden when she fears it is in danger--sexist!).
I do think that Father Brown actually thinks about the problem of evil, and the moral aspects of crime, which is something that Holmes does not care about. This is refreshing.

[Jilly Gagnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm liking these stories as fun pre-bed mystery fluff, but i do find it annoying that each tale is dependent on some detail that you're not given or incapable of noticing, since it's completely glossed over without any further explanation. It's like three-minute mysteries, where the answer is 'it was an early-spring freeze, and she grabbed an icicle, stabbed him with that, then put it in a glass by the bed, where the weapon melted, destroying fingerprint evidence, as well as her husband!' or 'these two characters weren't people, they were goldfish!' Yes, you could eventually arrive at these conclusions yourself with 3 million guesses and twice as many years worth of uninterrupted time, but you're not going to. I don't want to know an answer to a mystery from the first page, but it would be nice to have a CHANCE. Also, Chesterton's a bit of a bigot.

[Amy]

We're in the process of downsizing in anticipation of a move back downtown. One of the necessities is to decrease our home library, and my TBR pile. (Home library is still being counted, but already is over 2,000 volumes, and not yet half done.) I am going to release this copy of this book into the wild so that it can travel, and will place it on my list of books to read in the future. It's a tough thing to do, but even readers have to make some sacrifices, sometime.

The above was written in 2012 o4 2013. Carried this book to our cabin, which we sold April 2018, and then brought it home to read. Which I finally did. Hard for me to reconcile the actor who plays Father Brown with the description of him in the stories in this book. Fun to read though, and very old school British.

[Vivek Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was introduced to this series of stories by my mother who had read them as a young girl. I found Father Brown a rather refreshing take on the amateur detective genre. I mean think about it, a priest who goes about resolving mysteries about him? The idea might seem unusual at first but Father Brown's quiet confidence reassures you of his abilities. The crimes are not too complex and Father Brown generally determines a solution with comfort. I think that is the chief characteristic of Father Brown, he isn't a overenthusiastic detective or someone who struggles, the solutions seem to occur to him almost by sheer chance.