Reviews for Father Brown stories

The average rating for Father Brown stories based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-07-20 00:00:00 Siobhan Duny I'm pretty sure that this wasn't the edition of Father Brown stories that I read. Anyhow I came to them after reading Sherlock Holmes. The Father Brown stories are rather similar in that the character of the detective is hugely important and each story is a free standing puzzle that the hero-detective resolves. The problem is that as far as I can remember the Sherlock Holmes puzzles are simply better thought through. For example in one Father Brown story an Anglican priest murders the adulterous village blacksmith (or similar) by throwing a heavy object off the Church tower on to his head. Well, I suppose that would be fatal, provided that the victim was walking close enough to the tower and the Priest had plenty of time to practise and if he could lug said heavy object up the bell tower without being noticed. Perhaps he lay in wait for many a year with his trusty cannonball waiting for the blacksmith to one day ramble past within his shot put range. How unfortunate for the vengeful Vicar that the self same day Father Brown happened by to solve the crime with almost indecent haste. In another story Father Brown foils a crime because he recognises a bunch of criminals at a pub that he stops at when his car breaks down - because naturally once a criminal always a criminal and a group of criminals in the same place must inevitably constitute a conspiracy apparently. These are good stories if you like the lead character to be a Catholic Priest who is able to hide his shrewdness and who has a thorough understanding of criminals gained through a lifetime of listening to confessions. To me they all came across as implausible, but with occasional interesting moments. Best appreciated on a rainy day, after the consumption of alcohol, or read aloud to the credulous using a variety of funny voices.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-11-29 00:00:00 David Berges If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review. Cooks and Boxrooms: "Father Brown Stories" by G. K. Chesterton (Original Review, 1981-01-05) When I was 9 or 10 I loved reading about Sherlock, Father Brown, Pop Larkin, Billy Bunter, Bertie and Jeeves, Just William, etc., etc. Also E. Nesbit. At the same time there was a range of Puffin books that gave me Erik the detective, the dalmatians, One End Street and others. And there was the Children's Book Club -- a monthly hardback volume -- those titles seem to have disappeared, but I half remember them and would be fascinating to revisit them.