The Innocence of Father Brown

Introduction to Father Brown

Quirky, affable, Father Brown made his first appearance in the short story "The Blue Cross" in 1910. The Innocence of Father Brown (1911) collects this story and eleven others in what is the first of five Father Brown volumes. Chesterton describes his unlikely crack detective as a short, stumpy Roman Catholic priest, with shapeless clothes, a large umbrella, and an uncanny insight into the criminal mind. Characteristically humble and usually rather quiet, except to say something profound, Father Brown relies more on intuition than deduction to solve mysteries, often assisted by the reformed criminal M. Hercule Flambeau. Chesterton's wildly popular Father Brown stories— which he continued to write until his death in 1936— are among the most beloved of the detective fiction genre.