First published in 1911, The Innocence of Father Brown contains a large collection of stories involving the legendary mystery-solving priest.

From London to Cornwall, then to Italy and France, a short, shabby priest takes on bandits, traitors and killers. Why is he so successful? The reason is that after years spent in the priesthood, Father Brown knows human nature and is not afraid of its dark side. Thus he understands criminal motivation and how to deal with it. Includes: The Actor and the Alibi, The Worst Crime in the World, The Insoluble Problem, and The Eye of Apollo.

Twelve short stories which include THE PARADISE OF THIEVES, where in Tuscany, a banker and his daughter seem to be in great danger as they plan to travel mountain roads where brigands are rumoured to attack. Going the same way is an armed, flamboyant poet called Muscari, and Father Brown, who is there when trouble does, indeed, occur. Then, Father Brown is involved in the theatrical world in THE MAN IN THE PASSAGE. A beautiful actress has rival admirers, but when she is stabbed to death, he solves the mystery of who murdered her and how the deed was done.

From London to Cornwall, then to Italy and France, a short, shabby priest takes on bandits, traitors and killers. Why is he so successful? The reason is that after years spent in the priesthood, Father Brown knows human nature and is not afraid of its dark side. Thus he understands criminal motivation and how to deal with it.

G.K. Chesterton was a master essayist. But reading his essays is not just an exercise in studying a literary form at its finest, it is an encounter with timeless truths that jump off the page as fresh and powerful as the day they were written. Three of the world's leading authorities on Chesterton have joined together to select the "best" Chesterton essays to compile this volume.