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The Amazing Adventures of Father Brown {10 Tales}
Good aged copy with some discoloring. Name and stamp on inside front page. Some edge wear, back has a crease along spine edge and across top corner. Spine has some very slight wear. Ships quickly and packaged carefully!
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1958
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76 people want to read
About the author
G.K. Chesterton
4,681 books5,818 followersGilbert 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 20, 2024
2.5 stars rounded up because it’s Chesterton and it felt wrong to give 2 stars to one of the mystery giants of the past. I don’t know why, but I did not enjoy this book.
April 1, 2013
I've heard of the Father Brown mysteries forever, but had never read any. I found this copy (1961 printing) second or probably fifth hand and picked it up recently. I wasn't sure at first how much I'd like the stories--then I caught on that the reader really is part of the story. You just have to read very carefully (more than I usually do at least) for clues. Fr. Brown may be the the most observant detective in history--even more so than Sherlock Holmes. That said, most of the time figured out the solution, but not for the right reasons.
February 15, 2023
A collection of ten short mysteries written in the 19-teens to 1920s, featuring a detective who is also a Catholic priest. For the most part, these are fun little puzzles, a bit dated in their British historical references, typically involving a murder with lots of quirky details, some of them red herrings and others critical keys to the solution.
What’s a little annoying about some of the stories is that Chesterton’s ardent Catholicism leads him to make Father Brown not just brilliant at catching criminals, but also undefeated in conquering every non-Catholic religion. The story “The Dagger with Wings” is the most egregious example of this –- where a character’s “orientalism” (i.e., Buddhism) is actually what causes Father Brown to suspect him, since, he says, followers of Eastern philosophies tend to be “scoundrels.”
The religious bias is usually more subtle than this, but it creeps up in many stories –- the New Age-type cult leader turns out to be a fraud whose only concern is money; the teetotaling evangelist is a crazed fanatic; the materialist who doesn’t believe in any religion is “simple-minded.” And in general, characters scheme and kill for money or sex or petty ambition (in one case, a man commits murder because he thinks his friend isn’t sufficiently jealous of his accomplishments ... huh?), while the holy priest stands aloof from all vulgar human concerns, and finds the essential clue everyone else missed.
As an advertisement for Catholicism, this is pretty weak stuff. Taken strictly as mysteries, though, they’re pretty fun. The puzzles are weird and complicated ... you’ll get all the clues you need to solve them, but you probably won’t.
What’s a little annoying about some of the stories is that Chesterton’s ardent Catholicism leads him to make Father Brown not just brilliant at catching criminals, but also undefeated in conquering every non-Catholic religion. The story “The Dagger with Wings” is the most egregious example of this –- where a character’s “orientalism” (i.e., Buddhism) is actually what causes Father Brown to suspect him, since, he says, followers of Eastern philosophies tend to be “scoundrels.”
The religious bias is usually more subtle than this, but it creeps up in many stories –- the New Age-type cult leader turns out to be a fraud whose only concern is money; the teetotaling evangelist is a crazed fanatic; the materialist who doesn’t believe in any religion is “simple-minded.” And in general, characters scheme and kill for money or sex or petty ambition (in one case, a man commits murder because he thinks his friend isn’t sufficiently jealous of his accomplishments ... huh?), while the holy priest stands aloof from all vulgar human concerns, and finds the essential clue everyone else missed.
As an advertisement for Catholicism, this is pretty weak stuff. Taken strictly as mysteries, though, they’re pretty fun. The puzzles are weird and complicated ... you’ll get all the clues you need to solve them, but you probably won’t.
September 16, 2025
imma break this book down into three parts:
1. characters
2. plot
3. overall summary
so, to start off with the characters, we have the beloved father brown, who is the foundation of the whole book. father brown is extremely disturbing, looking like a sweet and innocent priest but then having a grotesque and horrific way of solving his murder cases. i thought all of the characters were mid; none of the characters -other than father brown- stuck around for more than maybe two stories, which was probably favorable in their case cuz i know that i personally would hate to be involved in more than one murder case as an innocent bystander. (jinx anyone?)
there wasn't a very concise plot, the book being built upon multiple short stories. the short stories were very good though, and by the end of the book, i was suspicious of everyone, father brown always pointing out the motive and killer to be the literally least expected person. i never did solve one of the murders for myself. father brown had to do that whole process for me. once he DID solve the case, though, I was like "ohhhhhhh, that makes sense" (totally didn't do that for like ten stories.....). but yeah, the overall plot[s] were good.
to summarize the book, i am only giving it three stars because i found it hard to read and pay attention to. it was interesting, but very, very slow. this book is a prime example of how being TOO descriptive can be too much... much too much. the characters were okay, other than father brown (luv yah buddyyyyyy), and the plots were well-thought out. it was just the slowness of it all that lowered my rating.
1. characters
2. plot
3. overall summary
so, to start off with the characters, we have the beloved father brown, who is the foundation of the whole book. father brown is extremely disturbing, looking like a sweet and innocent priest but then having a grotesque and horrific way of solving his murder cases. i thought all of the characters were mid; none of the characters -other than father brown- stuck around for more than maybe two stories, which was probably favorable in their case cuz i know that i personally would hate to be involved in more than one murder case as an innocent bystander. (jinx anyone?)
there wasn't a very concise plot, the book being built upon multiple short stories. the short stories were very good though, and by the end of the book, i was suspicious of everyone, father brown always pointing out the motive and killer to be the literally least expected person. i never did solve one of the murders for myself. father brown had to do that whole process for me. once he DID solve the case, though, I was like "ohhhhhhh, that makes sense" (totally didn't do that for like ten stories.....). but yeah, the overall plot[s] were good.
to summarize the book, i am only giving it three stars because i found it hard to read and pay attention to. it was interesting, but very, very slow. this book is a prime example of how being TOO descriptive can be too much... much too much. the characters were okay, other than father brown (luv yah buddyyyyyy), and the plots were well-thought out. it was just the slowness of it all that lowered my rating.
February 27, 2024
Another collection of ten Father Browns mysteries, written in the early 1900s, taking place in England.
The unimpressive priest, who can seem to blend into the background, is not as innocuous as he appears. He has accumulated an extensive criminal knowledge from hearing confessions, which add to his observance of peoples’s behaviour and gives him his ability to piece together the puzzle pieces to the mysteries he comes across.
In “The Blue Cross” (1910), world renowned criminal and master of disguise, Flambeau, is travelling to London to attend an international conference of clergymen. Closely following Flambeau is Aristide Valentin, head of Paris Police.
On the train, Valentin hears Father Brown talking with a lady and making reference to be carrying a very valuable cross that is encrusted with valuable gems. Valentine warns Father Brown of the danger of talking about the cross.
Valentin is trying to track down Flambeau, but keeps losing him or just missing him, yet finds he is able to still track his movements from the trail of clues Father Brown seems to be leaving, unbeknownst to Valentin.
This is the first story and the introduction to Father Brown.
The unimpressive priest, who can seem to blend into the background, is not as innocuous as he appears. He has accumulated an extensive criminal knowledge from hearing confessions, which add to his observance of peoples’s behaviour and gives him his ability to piece together the puzzle pieces to the mysteries he comes across.
In “The Blue Cross” (1910), world renowned criminal and master of disguise, Flambeau, is travelling to London to attend an international conference of clergymen. Closely following Flambeau is Aristide Valentin, head of Paris Police.
On the train, Valentin hears Father Brown talking with a lady and making reference to be carrying a very valuable cross that is encrusted with valuable gems. Valentine warns Father Brown of the danger of talking about the cross.
Valentin is trying to track down Flambeau, but keeps losing him or just missing him, yet finds he is able to still track his movements from the trail of clues Father Brown seems to be leaving, unbeknownst to Valentin.
This is the first story and the introduction to Father Brown.
September 21, 2024
I no longer remember where I heard about this character. This book was my mom's, and I think I did try to read it at least once in the past (long ago past) but am not sure I finished it. I did watch a TV series about this character, and thought I'd give it another go.
It is a series of short stories (1 per chapter) of "cases" where Father Brown contributes his observations to help solve the mysteries. Other than the main character, there seems little that links the stories to each other. (In the TV series, they fleshed out Father Brown's vocation and added other recurring characters.)
As is the case with me when I read most mysteries of this era, I don't always tend to follow the logic of the "detective". That may not be your experience with the stories. I do plan to pass this on to a friend (AC) who does like mysteries and usually figures out whodunit. It will be interesting (to me) to see if that holds true here.
It is a series of short stories (1 per chapter) of "cases" where Father Brown contributes his observations to help solve the mysteries. Other than the main character, there seems little that links the stories to each other. (In the TV series, they fleshed out Father Brown's vocation and added other recurring characters.)
As is the case with me when I read most mysteries of this era, I don't always tend to follow the logic of the "detective". That may not be your experience with the stories. I do plan to pass this on to a friend (AC) who does like mysteries and usually figures out whodunit. It will be interesting (to me) to see if that holds true here.
March 29, 2020
Unfortunately rather dated, writing and cultural sensitivity wise. (There's some *very* unfortunate stereotypes in here.) It was interesting as a curiosity piece to see the roots of the current BBC series, which I do enjoy, but...my advice is to just stick with the show. It takes quite a lot of liberties, and moves the setting forward about 50 years, but IMHO it's better off for it.
December 30, 2025
A collection of 18 mystery short stories about the priest-detective Father Brown. Father Brown manages to solve mysteries through his deep knowledge of human nature. A classic collection of traditional cozy detective stories.
August 1, 2018
Not my cup of tea. I skimmed through most of the stories, but really only liked 2 of the 10.
September 26, 2025
Goodreads reviews almost convinced me not to read this book, but so glad I did. I love Father Brown! The themes of good vs evil were engaging. Great read!
November 12, 2013
These are generally very gentle stories ranging in period from 1910 to 1935. We've had this book around for years and the story that always stays in my mind is the religion that encouraged you to stare at the sun and the woman who died falling down an elevator shaft. That story and the one about the actress whose mirrors (mirrors!) slid out into a passageway. I can believe that Chesterton based Father Brown on a priest friend of his because Father Brown is someone who looks at what is really there, not what we think or assume is there. It's the sort of thing we allow to distort our views of the people and events around us and a reminder to look more carefully at what is there.
There are comments in the book about Jewish people, about working people, about women, that we would not appreciate today, but which were commonplace at that time. It is a reminder that Chesterton & possibly his "Father Brown" did not see people and events as clearly as they might have wished. There is a Fall of the House of Ussher type story which rather shows a lack of appreciation of Scottish people and uses some bizarrely cliched idioms.
There are comments in the book about Jewish people, about working people, about women, that we would not appreciate today, but which were commonplace at that time. It is a reminder that Chesterton & possibly his "Father Brown" did not see people and events as clearly as they might have wished. There is a Fall of the House of Ussher type story which rather shows a lack of appreciation of Scottish people and uses some bizarrely cliched idioms.
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February 11, 2009The Amazing Adventures Of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
August 8, 2009
Picked up an old paperback from Givens for 95 cents.
Read
November 15, 2010The Amazing Adventures Of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
June 9, 2012
The only possible thing to complain of in this anthology is that there’s no table of contents!
November 13, 2012
Interesting, unexpected twists. All very short stories - nice if you want to finish & just have a little time, but doesn't give the reader much time to figure it out. I prefer Sherlock Holmes.
July 9, 2016
In 1910 when this was written it would have probably gotten a 4 or 5 star.
Read
June 15, 2009The Amazing Adventures Of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
January 3, 2019
A fun read
Somewhat dated language and definitely nothing like the series
A lesson in logic
And I love the Catholic priest saying he isn’t superstitious.
Somewhat dated language and definitely nothing like the series
A lesson in logic
And I love the Catholic priest saying he isn’t superstitious.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews