SOURCE: “Father Brown and the ‘Performance’ of Crime,” in The Chesterton Review, Vol. 19, No. 1, February, 1993, pp. 39–45.

In the following review, Raubicheck discusses Chesterton's approach to allegory in his writings.

G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy Sayers share the unusual distinction of being among this century's most distinguished authors of detective fiction as well as being among its most important Christian apologists. In Chesterton's case, it is much easier to discern the relationship between his detective stories and his theology than it is in the case of Sayers. In her case, the two can be assessed quite separately. At the emotional and intellectual core of every Father Brown story is some basic tenet of Christian philosophy, especially as articulated by St. Thomas Aquinas. And yet Chesterton's wit, his sense of paradox, and his striking imagery enable him to convey his orthodoxy through an orthodox aesthetic: to delight as he instructs...