Chesterton's Mysteries 1: The Club of Queer Trades / The Man Who Was Thursday

by G.K. Chesterton

Volume one of a six volume collection Gilbert Keith Chesterton was one of the most influential English writers of the twentieth century. He put his mind and pen to a broad spectrum of subjects including theology, poetry, biography, journalism and philosophy. Great writers have no influence over those parts of their work which posterity decides is most significant or will be best remembered, in Chesterton's case-in the minds of many-he will forever be remembered as the creator of the little Roman Catholic priest-detective, Father Brown. The vitality of that character has endured, evergreen, never losing its charm. Chesterton, was a lover of detective and mystery fiction and his own contribution to the genre extends far beyond the Father Brown stories. Leonaur has collected Chesterton's fabulous, intriguing and entertaining mysteries-in order of original book publication-into six substantial volumes to enable his many aficionados to own and read them in either softcover or hardback with dust jacket for collectors. This collection is the ideal way to possess these essential books of crime, mystery and detection and no enthusiast's library will be complete without them. Volume one includes an introduction by Chesterton himself on the subject of detective fiction followed by 'The Club of Queer Trades'-a linked collection of tales where each principal character has a peculiar occupation-and 'The Man Who Was Thursday' where, in a strange London, a poet is recruited by Scotland Yard to seek out a group of anarchists.

Genres: Mystery

316 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2009

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

[Korin: A Crone Running Amok · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old fashioned mysteries. Unfortunately way too boring.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man Who Was Thursday reminds me slightly of American Gods. Enough said to avoid spoilers.

It took me a while to get used to the writing style so I could focus on the content instead of the style. But, it's worth plowing through at the beginning for the sly humor.

[Michelle]

Rec. in Honey