I Read Books: The Innocence of Father Brown
Father Brown, a priest with a lot of knowledge of crime because he listens to confessions, solves a number of weird crimes. Occasionally it gets theologically political. More often he’s more interested in saving someone’s soul than solving the crime. But he has to solve the crime to save the soul.
One of his early successes is Valentin, a tall, thin, master thief and master of disguise, who later becomes a private detective. This provides slightly more reasonable grounds for Father Brown to become involved rather than just wandering in as a mystery is uncovered.
G K Chesterton, the author, has a point to make with these stories, sometimes very obvious, sometimes obscure, often a religious one. Yet they are entertaining and interesting even when we simply stay on the surface.
Read This: For some good old fashioned very weird detective stories, that sometimes blindside you not only with the mystery but also with a larger point
Don’t Read This: If a priest solving crimes seems too odd
Previously On This Blog: I reviewed The Detective, a film based on some of the stories starring Alec Guinness as Father Brown
In Addition: As this is out of copyright, you can read it for free online.
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