The Wisdom of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton

This is the story featuring Patrick Butler, later used as a sleuth by John Dickson Carr. Sayers‘ favourite of the Father Brown tales, this story of murder in a theatre committed virtually before the reader’s eyes, with the conclusion given during a dramatic court scene, is technically perfect, with first-class misdirection. And if he’s a German spy he didn’t write it, well - because it doesn’t give information to Germany.” The solution is bizarre and utterly memorable, and is an ingenious variation on “The Secret Garden” and “The Absence of Mr. “If he’s a French patron he didn’t write it, because it gives information to Germany. HirschĮasily the best story in the collection, this sombre story, with its Parisian setting, concerns, like “The Sins of Prince Saradine” and “The Chief Mourner of Marne”, a crooked duel, with espionage behind-but with complications. There is no real “mystery” per se rather the need to explain what certain events, including Father Brown’s cryptic utterances (‘Be ready to rescue her from the rescue’), mean. The Paradise of ThievesĪ picturesque situation - capture of Englishmen abroad by banditti - in a highly romanticised and Impressionist Italy. The multiple solutions, parodying “The Blue Carbuncle”, are ingenious, and Brown’s solution is completely unexpected. This is the famous story in which Father Brown vies with a Holmesian detective to solve the mystery concerning a lodger. First published: UK: Cassell, 1914 USA: John Lane, 1915.

The Wisdom of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton