Father Brown Selected Stories

by G.K. Chesterton

A new selection of the much-loved Father Brown stories, now part of the Penguin English Library

'No man's really any good till he knows how bad he is, or might be'

With his round, unassuming face, his pipe and umbrella, the bumbling priest Father Brown makes for an improbable detective. Yet his innocent air hides a piercing understanding of the criminal mind, and a boundless knowledge of human nature. This selection brings together some of the best of G. K. Chesterton’s beloved stories, in which we see the clerical sleuth foiling a jewel thief in London, solving a macabre mystery in a Scottish castle and unravelling dark deeds in a sleepy English suburb.

With a beautiful new cover design by award-winning designer Coralie Bickford-Smith and presented in the delightful Penguin English Library series, this new selection brings together the very best of the Father Brown stories, inviting new readers to discover one of the most unforgettable characters in literature.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 4, 2024

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

[Philipp Sorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great lil detective stories

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

So totally lapidary. They aren't perfect stories, but the complete beauty and lucidity of anthropological observation on display really does give the impression throughout that the reader is holding a case of gems. I also admire an aspect of these stories that I think frustrates quite a proportion of the readership, namely that it is almost impossible to work out for oneself how the crimes have been committed, and by whom—as Father Brown is a clerical man I appreciate that his situations require that the reader surrender a little bit to Mystery. Very fun reading overall. Giving me a lot to think about.

[Isla Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

4. The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen.

73. Father Brown ran as fast as he could, his little legs going like a wheel.

257. ...there are two types of men who can laugh when they are alone. One might almost say that the man who does it is either very good or very bad. You see, he is either confiding the joke to God or confiding it to the Devil. But anyhow he has an inner life.

[Lucia M · Rating 4 out of 5]

incredibly atmospheric and cosy - like a puzzle book and a road trip, with a main character whose narrator insists on constantly insulting him and calling him dumpy 😂 Also many little hints of philosophy and thoughtful thematic elements - I had good fun trying to guess the outcomes (even if I wasn’t fully convinced by all of them). Fully recommend, especially for this time of year 😊

[Shayzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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