Review: Father Brown: The Complete Collection by G.K. Chesterton

The good

• Amazing what you can fit into short stories that are ~15 pages each!

• Many clever plot twists and reveals. I can only imagine this is a treasure trove of ideas for mystery writers.

• Father Brown himself is a delightful character. Surprising, contrarian, comical, and deeply observant. Remarkably, not too preachy, given his role.

The not so good

• Because all the stories are short stories, there are rarely any links between them, and no real character growth over time.

• Because all the stories are disconnected, they are not as memorable as they should be.

• As is often the case with most non-official detectives (e.g., Mrs. Marple), the ways in which the non-detective gets involved in murders get increasingly more contrived.

Rating: 4 stars