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The Secret of Father Brown  By  cover art

The Secret of Father Brown

By: G. K. Chesterton
Narrated by: Geoffrey Matthews
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Publisher's summary

Flying fish, a man with two beards and the Worst Crime in the World these are just some of the problems for Father Brown to solve. In his inimitable way, this gentle, eccentric, extraordinary cleric-cum-detective sets about unravelling the threads of a colourful skein of mysteries. In the course of his investigations Father Brown travels, in thought if not deed, all over the world and through all walks of life.
©1974 The Executors of the Estate of Miss D.E. Collins (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about The Secret of Father Brown

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Father Brown visits friends in Spain...

Father Brown, after not seeing his friend Flambeau for many years, makes a journey to Spain. Flambeau, now married with many children, inhabits a castle there. In a framing device for the stories, Flambeau's neighbor, Grandison Chase, draws out Father Brown in a particularly inquisitive, forthrightly American way, encouraging him to tell him how he solves his cases.

The cases themselves are of the best:
The Mirror of the Magistrate
The Man with Two Beards
The Song of the Flying Fish
The Actor and the Alibi
The Vanishing of Vaudrey
The Worst Crime in the World
The Red Moon of Maru
The Chief Mourner of Marne.

A few of these cases were included in the old Kenneth More series. I find the new "adaptations" of the stories to be quite disappointing, as are so many of Agatha Christie's put to the same "treatment." But the originals, while very much of their time and not exactly "politically correct," are excellent stories and always worth a second look. Highly recommended classic.

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7 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting

The thesis for this collection is Father Brown's method for solving murder mysteries. I thought the mysteries themselves were a bit below the previous collections. Father Brown says he becomes the murderer. Once he does that, and sees under what psychological circumstances the murder could have been committed, he sees who the murderer must be. The insight is very interesting. The narration is good.

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3 people found this helpful

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Hope

No wonder C.S. Lewis considered Chesterton as a writer of hope and one who eventually led him to Christ. So much to learn from his writings!

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Great book but poor audio production

I love the ending of this fourth Father Brown book. Chesterton weaves observations about human nature and the nature of good and evil throughout. As with his other books, Chesterton flips the narrative to examine the mistaken assumptions upon which our conclusions are often based. I enjoyed listening to the writing throughout but found the narrator difficult to understand. There are extraneous noises such as swallows and tongue clicks which distracted attention. At times, characters are indistinguishable from one another as the reader does not change his voice well or consistently. His voice is smooth and pleasant, however, which makes his performance not altogether unbearable. I hope Audible produces a better version of this book because it gives the listener much to think about.

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Badly Read

What did you love best about The Secret of Father Brown?

I lived in England for two years, but found this narrator are very hard to understand. He mumbles and, when he tries to do voices for individual characters, he is almost impossible to understand. He needs to slow down and speak more distinctly.

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Great Rendition

Geoffrey Matthews gives a masterful performance narrating this The Secret of Father Brown. One surprise for me, at least, is how understated his voice characterizations are. It took me a few times to get into it because I was used to another narrator. I love this recordings. At the time of this review, I've listened to it three times and plan to listen to it many more.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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difficult accent to follow.

narrator's voice characterizations are distracting at best and annoying at worst. as with almost all Brits their American accents are awful. very few Brits can pull off No. American accent (Idris Elba is one who can) This narrator can't really pull off region UK accents. Too bad, the material is good. YMMV.

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