My gawd, this is even more sleep inducing than Lady Chatterley's Lover....

Horne Fisher knows too much because of his connection to politicians coupled with his keen observation skills (on par with any of the great fictional detectives). This series of independent short stories was thoroughly engaging. The stories beg you to pay attention and guess the ending.

I was confused for a large portion of each story. Which is not typical of me + Chesterton. So I gave up. Maybe I'll revisit it.

Boy was I fooled by the charming snarky first mystery, because the adventures of Horne Fisher only get weirder and just a little bit more and more depressing as you go along. Horne Fisher is cynical, snarky, a genius, and adamantly patriotic. It's no spoiler to say that every mystery ends with Fisher deducing the improbable series of events...and then just lets the darn murderer go for some greater good. And that schtick is both fascinating and really, really frustrating after a while.

I liked "The Vanishing Prince" a lot, which had a clever solution to the mystery of how the heck one guy absolutely wrecked a group of policemen when he was surrounded on all sides. When Chesterton hits his stride, his writing is delightfully witty and unravels in surprising ways. At worst, the setups get so convoluted with red herrings you shrug and say, "What? What was that all about?" The last story, "The Vengeance of the Statue," is --for better or for worse-- a logical end to Horne Fisher's adventures...cranked up to eleven at the last moments.

Now, I listened to Harold Wiederman's audiobook narration. I'm a big fan of audiobooks, but I think this doesn't work for audiobook at all. So much of Chesterton's witty prose and Horne Fisher's clever reveals are "blink and you miss it;" it doesn't help that Wiederman's voices (as comfortingly British as his voice is) sound kinda the same and monotone. Save yourself a lot of confusion and just read it yourself at your own pace.

I read this book over a period of time as a collection of short stories. Very Sherlock Holmesian in the way Horne Fisher solves mysteries.

But, there is an underlying pessimism, and although murders are explained, they are rarely punished throughout the book.

I enjoyed the style of writing, and each vignette as a separate story. Some things were a bit too unfamiliar, such as various politicians and events that I don't know well in history. However, the stories still read well, and the way war is waged and Fisher is both heroic and foolhardy makes for a surprising end.

Really enjoyable.

Solid fun - short mysteries with Horne Fisher starring as the politically connected Sherlock.

The finest mysteries complicate the distinction between right and wrong. G K Chesterton does this admirably. Where he differs from someone like Agatha Christie who was also expert at moral gray areas (remember Murder on the Orient Express) is in the central place given to his brutally pragmatic view of politics. These episodes in the life of Horne Fisher and Harold March are clever puzzles but also scathing and worldly observations on the many and varied ways in which elites grab power and try to hang onto it. Completely without melodrama, coolly unfolding plot and quirky characters, this is a great read, and free to download too.

Another entry in the classic Holmes-ish genius solves mysteries that no one else can, complete with too-vague hints at the solution, and badgering by audience stand-ins demanding a straightforward answer.

The good: actually pretty incisive and cynical take on power and wealth. The solution often involves letting the rich murderer go since it would be impractical to bring them up on charges. The knowledge that this is how the world works is the titular "too much."

The bad: definitely dated. Has casual antisemitism as well as racist remarks about brown people. Also features the type of misogyny that just never bothers to mention women in any meaningful way.