The Innocence of Father Brown

By: G. K. Chesterton

Narrated by: Alastair Cameron

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Father Brown was a character created by G.K. Chesterton and draws inspiration from Arthur Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. While Sherlock Holmes' detective career relies on his logic and deduction, Father Brown relies on sympathy and intuition to solve mysteries and crime. The Innocence of Father Brown is a collection of 12 stories that have Father Brown doing what he does best; being a detective. From tracking down thieves in Paris, to robbers and murderers, this is a book that detective story lovers will truly enjoy.

Public Domain (P)2016 A.R.N. Publications

A Wonderful Narration

Father Brown is a short, stumpy Catholic priest that has a unique insight into human evil. With his baggy clothes and trusty umbrella, he solves mysteries as an amateur detective. This is a collection of his stories, and fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories and of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle will also be fans of Father Brown, as there are many similarities between the two Holmes and Brown: both are extremely intelligent, have a knack for noticing small details that others don’t, and are adept at solving intellectual puzzles.

While those who are great fans of mystery and detective stories will love following Father Brown’s adventures, at times, the stories can become quite repetitive. Chesterton emphasizes many of the same Christian themes in his stories, and many of the plotlines are the same. Chesterton does a lot in his stories to emphasize the practicality of Christianity in his stories, which fits for the period that they were written in.

The complex crimes and equally complex solutions will have readers continuing to return to Father Browns’ universe; and even though you may expect that a twist is coming, Chesterton is somehow always able to manage to surprise his readers, in one way or another. And last but not least the wonderful voice of Alastair Cameron was a perfect fit to this novel. His perfectly modulated voice makes a good novel a great listen!

Good mystery

I enjoyed the short mystery stories in the book.
I took some breaks and was happy to return.

Story and TV presentation

The stories provide an excellent opportunity to understand Father Brown’s intuition, but the character comes to life in the TV series more easily.

I don't enjoy this narrator's style.

I love father brown but this narrator's is a barrier to my enjoying the stories. He's just not to my style.

horrible reading monotone tonality

this gentlemen's reading form and tone are as shrieking as nails against a chalkboard!. unbearable!

Nasally narrative voice ruins good stories

I love the Father Brown BBC show so wanted to listed to the audio books before bed. Unfortunately this narrator has a whiny, nasal tone which I found unbearable. Recommend purchasing a version with a different narrator or checking the sound clip first to make sure you aren't bothered.

annoying narration

I listened to the singsong narration for about 15 minutes before giving up and returning this book for a different recording. Personally I couldn't imagine listening to this voice for 8 and a half hours.

Ugh

The story is good. But the narrator is horrible. Please redo a good story like this deserves a good narrator.

critique

narrator just ruins it. Can't bear to listen to him even though the story is so good