The Innocence of Father Brown Paperback – 14 July 2013

Given that you can obtain this book for no cost from Kindle, it is excellent value! There is something of the 1920s about these stories so that the TV adaptation, which puts them into the 1950s, has to be pushed out of your mind. The stories are of uneven value and after a while you begin to guess how the endings turn out but the best of them still surprise and entertain. It has been said that Father Brown is a Catholic detective unlike Sherlock Holmes who is Protestant; Father Brown works by intuition based on his knowledge of the human heart while Holmes makes deductions from the evidence. There is some truth in this but it is not the whole truth. I like the insights into the world after 1918. That is part of the pleasure the stories give.

"The Innocence of Father Brown" was certainly a book I was waiting to read with anticipation; I have recently become interested in reading novels that illustrate the beginnings of crime fiction as we know it today.And whilst part of my anticipation was merited due to the inventive and ingenious premises that Chesterton employs, I found that the quality of prose was somewhat lacking. It felt as though it were rambling in places and the genius of Father Brown was lost amidst tiresome descriptions of scenes or characters.Flambeau and Father Brown were both incredibly interesting protagonists with a considerable amount of depth to their personalities; I only wish that Chesterton had not hid neither his characters nor his considerably inventive and clever storylines in plodding prose.I would recommend this for a read if you are interested in early crime fiction but I probably won't choose to read any more of Chesterton's work.

These stories are charming period pieces and Father Brown is a shrewd and delightful character. Have always intended to read the stories since seeing Lady Marchain read from a Father Brown story in Brideshead Revisited and am delighted to have acheived this goal. The stories are fairly short so make ideal bedtime reading. Don't expect the gritty reallity of modern thrillers but do prepare to be amused and charmed.

Each chapter is a different story. If you are expecting it to be the same as the TV series you might be disappointed as they added extra characters and changed a lot of the stories when adapting for TV. Have to say that on the whole it was a good read

Detective Father Brown busses his skills sparingly to unravel murders when others have tried and usually failed to come to the right conclusion s using the clues affirmed to the reader, so suspense, drama and winsome puzzles make this a 4 star rating.

Rather more clumsy than expected having watched the serialisation on TV. The language is more flowery and descriptions of things unnecessary filled too much space. Father Brown was almost a minor character in the stories, barely appearing at all until the 'big reveal'. Thankfully, as this is presented in short story form, it is easier to manage than a lot of the classics.

The TV presentations of this series have necessarily not been as descriptive and perhaps more action biased - the tales are slow burners but worth perseverance

Having just watched the recent mid afternoon TV series of Father Brown I decided to read the stories again. Fun light hearted read in the style of Miss Marple. Good for bedtime reading a short story is just the right length. Good old fashioned who done it and well written.