Jim Rion reviewed The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
Review of 'The Innocence of Father Brown' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I turned to this collection out of a search for comforting cozy mysteries. The BBC series was so pleasant (mostly) that I thought I'd give the side stories a try.
I am, on the whole, glad I did. The tales recognizable from the tv series have been substantially changed, especially the characters of Valentine and Flambeau, but Father Brown is still as sweet and clever.
However, since points have not aged well at all. There is, frankly, a strand of bigotry that runs through some of these stories that stains Father Brown most deeply. It's all well and good to consider the cultural milieu of a story's writing, but there is an overt nastiness here that seems particularly strong. Read with care, I think.