A collection of political mysteries with a flavour that is slightly different from conventional mystery stories. Infact the sleuth is related to the PM, the FM and several other in the higher rungs which gives him ample chance to study the intricacies of regional along with private politics. So it is not surprising that each story unveils the crimes in private circles but the actual perpetrators are sometimes to be excused from bringing to justice just to avoid a greater political chaos. So Horne Fisher, the investigator with the self proclaimed omniscient knowledge of almost everything finds it hard to bear the burden of information that he is cursed with. His analytical mind gets easily to the truth but diplomacy prevents unmasking the villains publicly quite a few times. Fisher vents his solutions to Harold March, a political journalist who gets attached to Fisher in a case that is supposed to be the first for the duo. Besides this case and the final one, the others are not chronologically arranged. The stories are unique in the sense that philosophy plays a greater part than concrete evidence in unveiling the truth but the finale remains convincing always. The final case is a bit predictive that has seemed to influence Christie in one of her masterpieces where the master falls after preventing the calamity in the way that is tragic yet supremely heroic satisfying justice. The signature style of Chesterton can be felt in the subtle cues, the serenity of the ambience that makes the stories gripping yet calm. Written from the third person perspective, the contents are as follows
- The Face in the Target
- The Vanishing Prince
- The Soul of the Schoolboy
- The Bottomless Well
- The Fad of the Fisherman
- The Hole in the Wall
- The Temple of Silence
- The Vengeance of the Statue
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