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The Innocence of Father Brown Audiobook
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(3.01) - 3,937 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Detective fans of all races and creeds, of all tastes and fancies will delight in the exploits of this wise and whimsical padre. Father Brown’s powers of detection allow him to sit beside the immortal Holmes, but he is also “in all senses a most pleasantly fascinating human being,” according to American crime novelist Rufus King. You will be enchanted by the scandalously innocent man of the cloth, with his handy umbrella, who exhibits such uncanny insight into ingeniously tricky human problems.
This collection of twelve mysteries solved by Father Brown includes: “The Blue Cross,” “The Secret Garden,” “The Queer Feet,” “The Flying Stars,” “The Invisible Man,” “The Honour of Israel Gow,” “The Wrong Shape,” “The Sins of Prince Saradine,” “The Hammer of God,” “The Eye of Apollo,” “The Sign of the Broken Sword,” and “The Three Tools of Death.”
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"Just about a 4. I quite liked this. OK it is a collection of short stories and some of them are better than others. It is also a little bit dated. And also, being short stories, they are quite simplistic and don't go into much detail. Having said this i really liked the father Brown character, very low key and subtle. The flamboyant sidekick was also good. I thought the class and aspect themes to a lot of the stories were also good. I would recommend this book although i think some people would find them annoying."
— Andy (4 out of 5 stars)
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“G. K. Chesterton’s tales [are] of the unassuming Catholic priest who claims that his work at the confessional (where he has to do ‘next to nothing but hear men’s real sins’) puts him in an excellent position to solve the bizarre crimes that come his way in pre–First World War England…The unassuming cleric, whose humble conviction that his God will eventually triumph over the souls of even the most evil of criminals, is the quiet but insistent heartbeat of these unusual exercises in detective fiction.”
— Sunday Times (London) -
“[Father Brown], the little, quiet, grey eyed priest, with his air of guileless simplicity, outrivals the feats of Old Sleuth and Sherlock Holmes, for he is a true expert in criminology.”
— Independent
The Innocence of Father Brown Listener Reviews
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" Lost interest for no apparent reason beyond that I simply couldn't seem to really LIKE Father Brown the way you instinctively like Sherlock Holmes and like Hercule Poirot. Maybe FB needed a sidekick like Watson or Hastings to humanize him or at least tell the reader what to think about him, just to save us the trouble of trying to figure it out! "
— Kayla, 2/11/2014 -
" As always Chesterton delivers. The story follows the titular character, a seemingly innocent priest as he solves crimes using only his uncanny understanding of human nature. Not as great as some of his others works (definitely missing his signature sunrises and sunsets) but funny, insightful, and surprising nonetheless. If only all conversations about religion and philosophy could be more like this. "
— Cdollowi, 2/6/2014 -
" A Sherlock Holmes set of mini stories. Okay, but probably wouldn't read again. Tended to get pretty verbose at times. "
— Dave, 1/27/2014 -
" More like 3.5 stars. I liked the collection of shorts and the development of his friendship with Flambeau, but felt like I was kind of reading the same story again and again with a slightly different theme. "
— Katie, 1/22/2014 -
" This was very fun to read! I read it right on the heels of finishing the other volume, The Wisdom of Father Brown, so I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had put a little more time between them. "
— Sarah, 1/13/2014 -
" Don't read them for the mysteries; you'll get too much of the "All Shakespeare did was write down a bunch of famous quotations" effect if you do. Just read them for their place in the history of the mystery story and for Chesterton's wonderful ability to turn a phrase. "
— Boyd, 1/10/2014 -
" Enjoyable, well constructed mysteries in the classic short story form. "
— Greg, 12/27/2013 -
" Very enjoyable reading. Father Brown is an unassuming little priest who can spot the clues in a mystery that everyone else missed; sort of like Monk, but without the major quirkiness. I love the subtle faith aspects that come into play in the priest's thought processes and explanations. "
— Julia, 12/21/2013 -
" Meh. The stories are almost too short to get any joy out of the plotting, but yet there are still holes. I don't tend to like mysteries that are very "atmospheric" anyway--there's too much mysticism about good and evil and walks in dark forests, etc, for me. Lots of period racism in these as well. The one thing I did like was the way he (invariably, which gets a bit tiresome) gets the culprit to confess. A clever sort of play on him being a Catholic priest. "
— Kristy, 12/2/2013 -
" it's a good one .. "
— Moufida, 12/2/2013 -
" #1 in the series of Father Brown short story collections. Father Brown is widely acclaimed as being one of the world's first true detectives. This 1911 collection contains 12 stories originally published in U.S. and British magazines in 1910 and 1911. This collection is listed in Barzun and Taylor's Classics of Crime Fiction 1900-1950. I waded through the collection but doubt very much if I shall ever read another word written by G.K. Chesterton. The mysteries are ridiculous, the characters implausible, and the deductive reasoning is impossible. Add to this the fact that Chesterton, if you can credit his written word, is a bigot, religiously intolerant, and a racist. Celebrated author Martin Gardner admires the Father Brown stories but says in the afterword to The Wrong Shape: "In my judgement this is the most unsatisfactory tale in the book. It is not just that the events are wildly implausible - all Father Brown stories are implausible - but that Dr James Harris is totally implausible." Further, about The Hammer of God: "No matter. We are in Chesterton's world of bizarre semi-fantasy where improbable events are as commonplace as improbable characters". Gardner continues about The Wrong Shape with the reason I managed to finish the book - "For me its greatest merit is in the cadences of its descriptions: the wind ' creeping up the dim garden path and shuffling the fallen leaves', and the white lightning that 'opened its enormous eye in one wink' before 'the sky shut up again'. Father Brown series - The 12 stories is the first Brown collection, which introduces not only Father Brown himself but Flambeau, the daring thief. Father Brown worked on Flambeau during their early confrontations, and eventually persuaded him to give up his life of crime. He became Father Brown's friend and sometime sidekick, and appears in three-quarters of the stories herein, in one capacity or another. Father Brown series - The 12 stories is the first Brown collection, which introduces not only Father Brown himself but Flambeau, the daring thief. Father Brown worked on Flambeau during their early confrontations, and eventually persuaded him to give up his life of crime. He became Father Brown's friend and sometime sidekick, and appears in three-quarters of the stories herein, in one capacity or another. "
— Mysterious, 11/8/2013
About G. K. Chesterton
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) published numerous works which include compilations of his voluminous journalism, novels, biographies, histories, criticism, Christian apologetics, poetry, and plays. Many of his novels have the genuine marks of genius. His books on Dickens (for whom he had a considerable affinity) and Saint Thomas Aquinas are considered classics in their fields.
About Frederick Davidson
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.