In the books written by G.K. Chesterton, Father Brown is a priest who has a penchant for solving mysteries based on his knowledge of evil that he hears in confessional...
These stories were published around 1911...anyone else think that Father Dowling is just Father Brown...after all, how many detective priests are there???
"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"
The Father Brown mysteries by GK Chesterton.
The Father Dowling novels by Ralph McInerny (which have been in publication since 1977).
The Father "Blackie" Ryan novels by Andrew Greeley (published since the mind 1980s).
I hadn't realized that detective priests were as common as that in literature!!! I'm currently reading "Father Brown" by G.K. Chesterton, and am in love with his style of writing!!!
"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"
bump
Why don't the evil just get regular jobs like the rest of us?-Veronica Mars
There is also Father John O'Malley, novels set on a Plains Indian reservation, written by Margaret Coel.
shareAlso the Masterful Monk series by Owen Francis Dudley. I liked that series because the masterful monk is also an amateur boxer!
"Success is all luck. Just ask any failure."
I've read a lot of the Father Brown mysteries. I found Chesterton's writing style a bit plodding, but his stories are quite interesting. I especially love the story The Eye of Apollo. Terrific story with an unusual ending.
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💕 JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen 👍
The episode "The Legacy Mystery" in season 2 is pretty much a rip-off of the plot of the 1954 movie, Father Brown a.k.a The Detective (a movie based on the Chesterton character) starring Alec Guiness (a.k.a Obi-Wan Kenobi).
shareThis website actually has a fairly comprehensive list of clerical and religious detectives, sorted by category:
http://www.detecs.org/contents2.html
Apparently there's an entire sub-genre of sleuthing vicar's wives.
Nice list there!
I was going to add a few more here [two of which are on that list]:
Name of the Rose - Franciscan friar, William of Baskerville
Grantchester - Anglican priest, Sidney Chambers
Cadfael - Brother Cadfael [listed]
The Reluctant Detective - Rev. Faith Morgan [listed]
...
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