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G.K. CHESTERTON

This is a unique collection of Chesterton's famous Father Brown stories which puts special emphasis on the role that Brown's Catholic faith played in helping him solve the murder mysteries. The ten stories in this volume are somewhat lesser known Father Brown detective mysteries which underscore the Roman Catholic beliefs of Chesterton and his detective priest. As Dorothy Sayers once wrote, Chesterton was "the first man of our time to introduce the great name of God into a detective story. .. to enlarge the boundaries of the detective story by making it deal with death and real wickedness and real, that is to say, divine judgment". This edition of Father Brown mysteries includes helpful footnotes (not available in other editions) which clarify the literary and historical allusions made by Father Brown. It is based on the texts of the original editions by Chesterton for assurance of complete authenticity, and has been set in easily readable type.

These are very good stories, excellent short detective yarns in the classic British tradition of Sherlock Holmes-puzzling concoctions of mysterious crimes, dubious suspects and ambiguous clues. They are among the very best of the Father Brown stories.

"There have been many collections of Father Brown stories, but none like this one. John Peterson had the happy thought of selecting ten tales that most strongly reflect the Roman Catholic beliefs of Chesterton and his little priest. You don't, however, have to be a Catholic to relish these ingenious mysteries, and Peterson has added valuable notes that illuminate the text. It is a superb collection. Peterson is right in leading off with one of the finest but least familiar, least anthologized, of Father Brown's solutions to a fiendish crime."

-Martin Gardner

Editor, The Annotated Innocence of Father Brown