A delightful read from Chesterton's Father Brown stories. Here we have 12 stories selected in this book. Each story has its own twists & turns to uncover plots, untangle mysteries, & unveil the real culprits. The reader will find these stories entertaining as they attempt to guess who did it. ( )

A grind, but the better stories are quite good:

"You always forget," observed his companion, "**that the reliable machine always has to be worked by an unreliable machine."**

"Why, what do you mean?" asked the detective.

"I mean Man," said Father Brown, "the most unreliable machine I know of. I don't want to be rude; and I don't think you will consider Man to be an offensive or inaccurate description of yourself. You say you observed his manner; but how do you know you observed it right? You say the words have to come in a natural way; but how do you know that you did it naturally? How do you know, if you come to that, that he did not observe your manner? Who is to prove that you were not tremendously agitated? There was no machine tied on to your pulse." ( )

1996 Books on Tape edition, cassette, different isbn #
This book is the second collection of Father Brown short stories by G.K. Chesterton. There are 12 detective stories in all. Father Brown is a inquisitive, short stout priest whose gift of astute observational skills and unassuming demeanor allow him to solve the mysteries at the heart of each story and identify the criminal responsible in each case. He often goes over the details with his friend, the police inspector; thereby allowing him to solve the crime.

The stories are very well written. The vivid description of the settings help build the aura of mystery. Oftentimes the settings are of a Gothic, haunting nature. While I try to judge a book by the standards of the time in which it was written, some of Chesterton's stories did overreach even those bounds, I believe. A few of them were loaded with racial slurs, and were generally quite racist and offensive in that regard. ( )

2.5*

Read in my Kindle edition of [b:Father Brown (Complete Collection)|43590645|Father Brown (Complete Collection) 53 Murder Mysteries The Scandal of Father Brown, The Donnington Affair & The Mask of Midas…|G.K. Chesterton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1547648487l/43590645._SY75_.jpg|3314640] (though I do also own [b:The Complete Father Brown|60113833|The Complete Father Brown|G.K. Chesterton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1642037821l/60113833._SX50_.jpg|3314640] in hardcover).

I want to like these stories more than I actually do. The plots are often ingenious but there is usually information held back from the reader until Father Brown explains at the end. ( )

Enjoyable stories involving a likable character. Definitely of their time with occasional unfortunate racism and stereotypes but I hesitate to judge too much as we are all influenced by our current situation. Great, readable stories. ( )