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Catholic priest Father Brown attends Anglican vicar Wilfred Bohum's garden party to celebrate his new church clock,which is interrupted by Wilfred's odious brother Norman. Young blacksmith Simeon Barnes attacks Norman,having evidence Norman slept with Simeon's wife Elizabeth,though she was a reluctant party as Norman had blackmailed her into paying her husband's gambling debt to him in kind. Norman is killed with a hammer from Simeon's forge and Elizabeth owns to the murder though Father Brown believes she is only protecting Simeon. Norman had also argued with his cleaner,Polish immigrant Susie,who had discovered he had had sex with a man and wanted to screw money from him to help her relatives in an internment camp. Against the advice of Inspector Valentine Father Brown does some sleuthing of his own and discovers that the church clock holds the answer to the true killer's identity.
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After Colonel Reginald Adams and his actress wife Anne-Marie have forbidden their young daughter Ruby from marrying American communist John Van Ert Anne-Marie is found drowned. Inspector Valentine believed she fells in the lake whilst drunk but Father Brown proves it was murder. Learning that the couple argued Valentine arrests Reginald just as Anne-Marie's long-lost brother Jack Trewlove arrives from Kenya. Anne-Marie's will leaves Jack nothing with the chief beneficiary being the church whilst Ruby is bequeathed the Flying Stars,a valuable necklace. During a performance of a play at the Adams' house the necklace is stolen. Father Brown manages to unmask both thief and Anner-Marie's killer.
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Poet Leonard Quinton invites Father Brown to the house where he lives with his long suffering wife Martha and young mistress Violet as his spiritual adviser Umesh has told him he will soon die and he wants the priest to look after Martha. Shortly after Violet has threatened him for not leaving Martha for her Leonard is found hanged and Umesh,as his sole heir,is arrested. Martha tells Father Brown that she and Leonard had once had a baby,born disfigured,who died and whom they buried in the garden,the event which she believes drove them apart. Martha's admirer Harris then admits to killing Leonard Quinton - though Father Brown knows better.
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Father Brown welcomes visiting German priest Father Frank but returning from the station they encounter an injured man,stripped to his underwear who has been thrown from a train. Suspicion falls on prostitute Annie Mace,who was travelling on the train though she is given an alibi by scrap dealer Christie Nolan. Then Lady Felicia's chauffeur Sid comes into the frame when it turns out that he stole the victim's wallet. In solving the crime and determining who is telling the truth the father also has to combat anti-German prejudice among his flock.
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The Church of Apollo comes to the village, led by Kalon,who claims that the path of happiness lies in the power of the sun. Polish domestic Susie is impressed when he says he can commune with her dead parents and wants to join his cult but Father Brown sees him as a charlatan. On the day the priest goes to dissuade Susie from leaving with the sect Kalon's wife Dominique is killed and cynical young group member Adam Watkins is arrested. Father Brown believes Kalon killed Dominique as he is really a lecherous philanderer who wanted to supplant her with Susie. However,as Kalon was with him when Dominique was killed,he has his work cut out for him in trying to prove Kalon's guilt.
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Father Brown is visiting St Agnes convent where he is chaplain when novice Sister Mary Magdalene is poisoned,leading to the father speaking to the convent's vintner Sister Boniface,a fan of detective stories who is keen to help him solve the murder. Then newly-arrived Sister Paul,an austere,dominating nun,is also poisoned and it would seem that she was a secret drinker who ate pear drops to mask the smell of alcohol and was killed by poisoned wine. She had also been the strict warden at a home for unmarried mothers some years earlier. Father Brown and Sister Boniface independently find a link between one of the mothers and a current inhabitant of the convent,but is this the killer? And do the convent's philandering young gardener and his cowed wife know more than they claim?
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Fourteen year old Ruth Bennett is alleged to have contracted radiation sickness after visiting the atomic power station where her father Geoffrey works and the villagers call a meeting,demanding she leave the area before she contaminates them. Next day she has vanished. Father Brown discovers a love letter from Ruth to Michael Evans,the family doctor,who has just resigned from treating her and a diary in Ruth's bedroom suggests an affair between them,which Michael denies. Valentine suspects he killed her to prevent her disclosing the relationship. Father Brown believes the doctor and reckons that Douglas,a friend of the family,knows more than he is admitting and that he can locate Ruth alive - and well.
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When Clarence Clifton is murdered at a charity treasure hunt its organizer Professor Galloway believes he was the intended victim as they wore identical fancy dress. Daniel Walsh,whose father had recently been killed by a car driven by the professor's wife,Lady Margaret,is the chief suspect and disappears. Then Lady Margaret is killed,after sacking servant Thomas Dilcott,secret lover of her daughter Lucia. The villagers suspect Daniel but Father Brown looks closer to home for the solution.
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At a fete to raise funds for a Polish school unpleasant mayor William Knight is electrocuted by a microphone. Valentine arrests his long suffering wife Eleanor after a screwdriver is found in her handbag but there are plenty of other suspects,including his young daughter and the secretary he sacked after their affair was discovered, whilst he was also accused of bribery and corruption. As Father Brown solves the mystery a magician at the fete turns out to be the husband,presumed dead,of his housekeeper Mrs McCarthy,who walked out on her decades earlier. Now dying he wants to return to her but she refuses him.
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When the notorious thief Flambeau declares his intention to steal a valuable blue cross from the church Father Brown,against the advice of Valentine,decides to take it to safety to Newbury abbey by train. He meets a trio of fellow passengers,one of which he is sure is the thief but his efforts to flush him out lead to the theft of the cross. Facing dismissal for his rash action the father agrees to meet with Flambeau and do a deal to return the artefact.
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Charlotte McKinley asks Father Brown to exorcise her house, which she believes is haunted by the ghost of her sister Elspeth, who disappeared nine years earlier. The priest believes somebody is fabricating a ghost but then Charlotte disappears from a locked room. Inspector Valentine suspects Charlotte's husband Victor, a former doctor struck off for irresponsible prescription and previously believed to have killed Elspeth. A skeleton is unearthed but it is not Elspeth's and a coded message in a book leads Father Brown to discover the fates of both sisters along with the legend of the family's hidden treasure.
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Wearing only a hospital gown Felix Underwood returns to the village and says 'Murder' before collapsing, apparently dead. At his funeral however the 'corpse' comes back to life but with a loss of memory. He was a patient at Danvers Retreat, a psychiatric hospital for service personnel, which Father Brown visits, along with new Inspector Sullivan, discovering a body hidden in a well. Father Brown gets himself admitted to Danvers Retreat in order to get close to a young woman who supplies clues in biblical texts and to solve both the murder and the mystery surrounding young patient Jeremy.
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Impoverished aristocrat Sir St John Pryde plans to sell estate land, which antagonizes his tenants led by left-wing Alan Archer. On the day Pryde castle is opened to the public tour guide Audrey Diggle is murdered after claiming that she has evidence to state that the Prydes are not the lawful heirs to the title though St John's nephew Jago believes his uncle was the intended victim and St John's daughter Bunty is secretly in love with Archer. After an attempt to kill Jago Father Brown unmasks the murderer, in the process demonstrating that a supposed family curse has a basis in truth.
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Violet Fernsley is due to hang for killing her violent husband Ivan but Father Brown believes in her innocence. The Fernsley family close ranks but the priest is puzzled by the fact that Polish farm-hand Piotr Symanski disappeared around the time of the murder and also seems to have been slain. Ivan's brothers' squabbling over possession of his farm seems to incriminate one or both whilst Sullivan is suspicious of the fact that prison warder Charlie Denham is Violet's lover. Father Brown naturally deduces that the real murderer is the least likely suspect.
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Professor Ambrose is abducted after sending his friend Father Brown an ancient prayer book which supposedly can locate the long disappeared Lannington rosary, said to hold healing powers. Aided by Lady Felicia's chauffeur Sid the priest uses the book to find clues which will lead him to the rosary. There is a deadline as a ransom note arrives, informing the father that the rosary must be delivered to save his friend's life whilst the quest is complicated by the arrival of supposedly reformed criminal Flambeau, who claims he is working as a mercenary for the Papacy to find the relic. And then there is a third party, the actual kidnapper, whom Father Brown must expose.
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The father is laid up with a broken leg, strait-laced young Father Roland standing in for him. When unpopular village gossip Mrs Bunyon is killed after a row at a cake baking contest Mrs McCarthy and Lady Felicia gather evidence for Father Brown to unmask the murderer - who has also killed MRs Bunyon's baking rival Vera Thimble. Many years earlier both women gave evidence which led to the hanging of a man accused of murdering a young child. Father Brown draws the connection and tries to save a third witness from becoming the next victim.
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Alice Armstrong is receiving electric shock treatment for memory loss after her accidental shooting her mother. Six weeks after her mother's death her father Sir Aaron is also found dead from a blow to the head, his hands tied. Suspicion falls on Jim Magnus, the chauffeur and a former petty crook and on Peter Royce, the secretary, who loves Alice and was sacked after telling Sir Aaron not to send her back to hospital. But a conversation with debt collector Eddie Monk informs Father Brown that the dead man owed huge sums of money and another confession suggests that Sir Aaron tied his own hands. With the death solved Alice then recollects that she was not responsible for her mother's slaying.
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Ex-colonel Gerard is poisoned after arguing with his nephew Edward. Edward is a former POW from Korea and the colonel claims he has been brain-washed but Edward sticks to his story that Gerard killed his father in order to marry his widow Ada. None of the household - including Ada's brother Rupert and his adopted daughter Jia-Li - seem upset at the colonel's death and each had a motive for murder. Then Father Brown is poisoned - hopefully he can recover in time to unmask the killer.
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Farmer John Tatton and his son Alfred do not get on, John accusing the boy of being a useless drunk like his late mother. Alfred confronts the family doctor Adam Crawford, taunting him for having a much younger wife Oona, who has just confided in Mrs McCarthy that she is pregnant. Alfred is found dead, mangled in farm machinery and soon afterwards anonymous letters appear, accusing Dr Crawford of the crime as Oona was supposedly having an affair with the dead man - something she denies. Dr Crawford confesses to the murder of Alfred but Father Brown knows better and seeks out the truth.
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Audrey McMurray, a rally driver and property owner, may appear to be a philanthropist but her ruthless treatment of her tenants has caused Harriet Welsby's husband to kill himself whilst she openly cheats on her husband Walter with young mechanic Gary Bakewell. Audrey is killed in a hill climb after somebody tampers with her car's brakes and Harriet is arrested after threatening her. Then Gary confesses but Father Brown is convinced that Walter and his wife's secretary Phyllis, who are lovers, are the culprits though he has difficulty in persuading Sullivan to let him ensure that justice is done.
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Lady Felicia's chauffeur Sid sees a man disposing of a body but the police claim that the dead man, Archie Waterson, drowned himself and warn Sid to say nothing. Archie was working as an art restorer for eccentric Lord Masters but when Father Brown and Lady Felicia visit it is apparent that the supposed restoration is a front for an MI5 operation, headed by Daniel Whittaker, whom Lady Felicia knew in the war. Whittaker tries to blackmail Felicia into finding out what Father Brown knows about the dead man since the priest has found a message from Archie which will lead to the identity of his killer and their motive.
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Father Brown and Lady Felicia are visiting a museum owned by her Egyptologist friend Sir Raleigh Beresford, who has just married the much younger Caterina. Caterina insists on opening a sarcophagus, an action which allegedly carries a curse and some time later she is found dying in a locked room. Sir Ralph's son Leo was having an affair with Caterina, making him a prime suspect, but then Raleigh's adoring secretary Valerie admits to the murder. Father Brown does not believe her and discredits her account before unmasking the real killer.
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When the circus comes to the village newly wealthy clown Reggie Smythe reminds waitress Laura Hope, engaged to young Nicholas, that she once promised to marry either him or circus hypnotist Arthur Welkin, whichever made their fortune first. Laura is quick to point out that she was only joking but then Reggie is found stabbed to death after being threatened by Arthur Welkin though Welkin has an alibi. Laura amazes everybody by agreeing to marry the hypnotist so Father Brown announces that he will conduct the ceremony - and so uncover the truth.
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Father Brown and Lady Felicia visit the local barracks for the unveiling of the Dunkirk war memorial for which they have helped raise funds. The hero of Dunkirk was Colonel St Clare, who allegedly killed several Nazis with his broken sword but at dinner drunken Major Rawlings accuses St Clare of cowardice and is later found slain with the sword. St Clare is the obvious suspect but Father Brown, believing him to be innocent, discovers another person who remembers what happened at Dunkirk and has waited fifteen years before taking action.
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As the village cricket team prepares for its annual match against rivals Hambleston Indian doctor Chandraty steps in as its captain to the annoyance of bigoted club secretary Peter Wallander, who also suspects that loutish Vince Lennon, the team's star bowler and adopted son of academic Jane Milton is having an affair with his young wife . Lennon is murdered and turns out to have been blackmailing several of the villagers whilst an ancient law states that the team's defeat could lead to the new squire of Hambleston, parvenu Max Scullion, acquiring the cricket ground for sale to property developers. For Father Brown and Lady Felicia there is a double task - to solve the murder and save the cricket pitch.
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Whilst Father Brown is visiting the Upcott seminary for trainee priests young student Thomas Potts confesses to him that the recent drowning of his friend Douglas Hitchens was no accident before he plunges to his death from the bell tower. Father Brown suspects foul play but is blocked by the sinister Father Lewis and so, with the connivance of the elderly rector Father Palfreyman, sends Sid in undercover to pose as a trainee. He soon learns of the Secret Fraternity, an elite group of students, and believes that they are covering something up - but which of them is a murderer?
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When the travellers come to the village the overbearing Jeremiah Moxley objects and accuses them of robbing the church. Whilst Jeremiah's daughter, successful novelist Hannah - of whom he is wholly over-protective - is at a reading Jeremiah is killed in the style of a murder in Hannah's latest book. The prime suspect is young gypsy Alfons but Father Brown is convinced of his innocence and in proving it exposes a family secret that Jeremiah was desperate should not be made public.
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Marooned in the country Father Brown, Lady Felicia and Mrs McCarthy come across the Hotel Cuba where the exotic Madame Chania is organizing a weekend of hedonism for three wealthy playboys. Two prostitutes are expected but one is found dead and soon the guests are being murdered. Madame Chania would seem to be responsible but Father Brown uncovers a case of hidden identity and exposes a murderer who kills purely for the pleasure of it.
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Father Brown attends an open day at the vineyard Colonel Forbes-Leith runs with French viticulturist Gregoire Bisset but the wine is contaminated by a dead dog in the vat. Suspicion falls on sinister handy-man Henry Gibbs, who is blackmailing the colonel, whom he knew in the war, and when Gibbs is shot dead the colonel is arrested. Father Brown visits him in prison and discovers that he is not who he seems to be and that he is covering for the person he believes to be the real murderer.
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The local art gallery has the priceless painting 'The Judgement of Man' on loan from the Vatican and curator Binkie Cadwallader is flattered to be interviewed by the glamorous reporter Rebecca Himmelbaum. Father Brown is convinced that Flambeau is out to steal it and is proved right when Lady Felicia's gallant new American friend Chip Corner turns out to be the thief in disguise. But there is another miscreant out to steal the painting and Rebecca has her own agenda, to punish Binkie for a wartime betrayal.As a result Father Brown and Flambeau enter into a bizarre alliance and Flambeau proves to be more principled than the priest thought.
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Father Brown visits student Jacob Francis at the family home as Lady Felicia is worried about him. Jacob's father died a year earlier, a presumed suicide, but Jacob is sure that he was murdered and has built a time machine in which he claims he can travel back to prove the case. His other relatives are cynical though his vision of the near future seems to be accurate. But when Jacob also dies Father Brown suspects that his theory was correct and tries out the time machine for himself.
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In a village stricken with polio barmaid Sylvia Swann is stabbed to death at the Standing Stones and her friend Ginnie Godden, the last person to see her alive, is arrested. Father Brown finds evidence to link local herbalist Malcolm to the murder site but Malcolm believes that Sylvia was ritually sacrificed to heal the polio victims and asks Father Brown to help him stop any further deaths.
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Whilst Father Brown and Mrs McCarthy are in the bank there is an armed hold-up but the robbers flee after the vault is opened to reveal the corpse of Billy Flanders, shady son-in-law of bank manager Samuel Harrogate. A note in the dead man's pocket incriminates Harrogate and Sullivan arrests him. Father Brown however realizes that the two bank clerks stand to gain by the manager's removal and later recognizes one of the robbers who tells the priest who planned the robbery. Father Brown comes to wonder why it was so important that he witnessed the failed heist before coming to discover the murderer's identity.
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A mysterious visitor to the confession box informs Father Brown that choleric Bishop Talbot will be murdered so Father Brown joins Talbot at a shooting party where a shot is indeed fired though the victim is the seemingly innocent Albert Davies. The bishop had argued with actor Peter Redhill over his divorce and there is certainly intrigue among Redhill and his fellow players whilst the bishop seems to inexplicably own a large collection of banned plays. In his investigation the father finds that the play's the thing and also uncovers a bizarre pact.
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Sullivan falls out with rival inspector Trueman when journalist Norman Finlay is found dead after threatening an expose and Sullivan is the only person to suspect foul play. Sullivan believes arrogant magistrate Geoffrey Greensleeves is involved as Finlay's corpse was found in his grounds but when there is another murder Sullivan is framed and goes on the run. For once he has reason to be grateful to Father Brown for his intervention as thy uncover an international conspiracy in which nobody is who they appear to be.
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A film crew making horror movie 'The Demon Brides' comes to the village, starring Lady Felicia's friend Rex Bishop and two warring leading ladies, Paulette Swain and Bebe Fontaine, the latter being the wife of unpopular director Vivian Wolsey, who is murdered. Wolsey was holding his reluctant cast and crew to ransom with their contracts whilst blackmailing closet homosexual Rex. He was also a voyeur, which gives Father Brown a clue as to who killed him.
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Sid wakes up in bed with a hangover and brewery heiress Grace Fitzgerald but soon discovers that the brewery has burned down and her father Gabriel Kane killed. Unlike her step-sister Rose Grace believes it was arson with sacked employee Owen Brunt the chief suspect. However when a witness claims to have seen Grace enter the brewery and she is charged with murder Sid cannot give her an alibi as he learns that she is married. Another murder follows before Father Brown solves the crimes.
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Retired hangman Henry Lee is poisoned the day after Iris Lightman, mother of his last victim, claims her son was innocent and had told Henry the name of the real murderer, who apparently killed himself afterwards. Iris is arrested but Father Brown works out not only the real poisoner but evidence of corruption in high places.
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Ventriloquist Uncle Mirth invites his brothers George and Mortimer, Father Brown and others to a party but they find themselves in a derelict building with no apparent exit. George and Mortimer are killed and it would appear that Uncle Mirth wants revenge on those who had him committed to an insane asylum two years earlier. The survivors escape but Father Brown suspects that one of their number may be in league with, or manipulating, Uncle Mirth for their own ends.
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When Father Brown and his friends are invited to view a jewel-encrusted cross, a gift from the Pope to the newly-crowned queen Elizabeth, on display at Gloucester, the priest is convinced that Flambeau will try and steal it - and he is right. Flambeau's estranged daughter Marianne has been kidnapped by crooked Nero Hound and threatens to kill her unless Flambeau brings him the jewel. However, the cross disappears with security head Cardinal Papillon suspected of his theft. Aware of the true fate of the cross Father Brown must retrieve it as well as helping Flambeau to free Marianne
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Lady Felicia's driving lands her and Mrs McCarthy in the cottage hospital, where elderly Mrs Garrity dies during a routine operation carried out by Sir Malcolm Braithwaite and womanizing Dr Tony Fairfax. A nurse who voiced her suspicions of foul play is murdered and incompetent Inspector Mallory believes she was killed by Fairfax, who once worked with her. Father Brown however links a seemingly random comment made by Mrs Garrity to a secret one of the staff is keeping but he must act fast as Mrs McCarthy's sleuthing has put her in danger.
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Airman Ned LeBroc returns after eight years away, allegedly as a spy, only to discover his wife Meg, assuming he was dead, is marrying his brother Geoffrey. Daughter Millie is pleased to see him, unlike his wing commander father, who regards him as a deserter and coward. When Ned is shot dead Mallory arrests Meg but a card found in Ned's possession leads Father Brown to an unusual club which reveals Ned's secret life and the circumstances of his death.
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After young baker Alexander Moore dies in an accident his corpse is stolen from the graveyard and discovered on the premises of undertaker Peter Blackstone, father of Alexander's secret girlfriend Catherine, who is in a feud with his mother Ruth. though he denies taking it. Father Brown realizes that Alexander had faked his own death but that something went wrong. In establishing how and why he uncovers a family secret dating back many years.
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Aircraft tycoon Robert Twyman is in receipt of notes stating that if he does not 'confess' his spoilt son Calvin will be killed and indeed the boy is strangled. Twyman 's butler's Wallace's strange behaviour makes him suspect but Robert believes the culprit is journalist Rosie Everton, seeking a meaty story. When Rosie is also murdered Mallory arrests Robert but Father Brown believes that visiting psychologist Mordaunt Jackson holds the key to solving the murders.
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Father Brown hosts a multi-racial jazz quartet whose car has broken down but they are interrupted by Emmanuel Jammite, who claims that cocky musician Joseph Sinclair stole his girlfriend, the band's singer Yveline from him back in Haiti. Emmanuel is a voodoo priest and curses Sinclair, whose corpse is later found floating in a swimming pool. Emmanuel swears his innocence but dies trying to flee from the law. Father Brown believes one of the band members is the true murderer and in trying to confront them almost loses his own life.
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Lady Felicia is hosting John Langton, the Earl of Frome and the bishop is demanding that Father Brown organizes a service which will impress the peer. At a party for the earl an unwelcome guest is his profligate cousin Basil Urquhart and when the earl's baby son is kidnapped, Basil is a prime suspect, along with the earl's valet Parkin, who kept his marriage a secret. The child is returned unharmed but when Parkin's wife turns up Father Brown deduces that she has been the victim of a crime herself years earlier, which helps solve the mystery of the kidnapping. Come Christmas day Michael, a tramp who has been sleeping in the church, comes to the aid of the service, making it a success.
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Lady Felicia's niece Bunty comes to stay, to the delight of Bobby, son of imperious Davina Malmont, though Davina wants to marry him to Joan, the studious daughter of vulgar millionaire Norman Vanderlande.. Bunty empathizes with housemaid Ruby but is the key suspect when Ruby is slain. When Father Brown investigates he discovers not only a maze beneath the house but a well-kept family secret, which is exploited by Ruby's killer. The case closed Lady Felicia departs to join her husband in Africa, entrusting Bunty to the care of Father Brown.
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There are objections from local clergy when Eugene Bone and his coven of pagans arrive in the village and Father Brown is sent to mediate, inviting Eugene and his partner Selina to dinner. Then one of the group is murdered, increasing hostilities against them. However Father Brown discovers a link between the victim and one of the coven's most vocal critics, once more beating the choleric Mallory to solving the case.
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Shady bar owner Dennis Nelson sets up young boxer Jeb Cornish to win the South Area belt at Cheltenham. The boy is favourite but sparring partner, the washed-up Roy, is hitting the bottle and is found dead next day. Mallory suspects Jeb, who has blood on his clothes but the fight goes ahead with the youngster triumphant. Meanwhile Father Brown uncovers a spot of blackmail and comes to the conclusion that Jeb's trainer Teddy holds the clue to who killed Roy.
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Bitchy writer Lucia Morell, author of the racy 'Lucia and Lulu' is murdered after threatening to expose philanthropist Lady Ursula Lansford as her ex-lover and the Lulu of the book. Soon afterwards Mildred, one of the girls in Lady Ursula's care, is also killed. The bungling Mallory arrests Friar Novak, Ursula's adoring game-keeper, but Father Brown suspects that a reading of the book will give a clue to the murderer's identity.
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Father Brown is summoned by prisoner Katherine Corven, convicted of killing her husband, who admits that she is planning to murder her lover Raymond Worrall. However he is unable to tell anybody because of the seal of the confession. Thus, when Raymond is found shot dead after a visit from Father Brown the priest is arrested by a gleeful Mallory. Mrs McCarthy and Bunty turn sleuth and, helped by kindly local copper Sergeant Goodfellow, take part in a subtle jail break to establish who was trying to frame Father Brown.
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Father Brown attends an exhibition of Agnes Lesser's dioramas of murder scenes, which have helped the police solve crimes. She is also seeking his, and other guest's, help to ascertain how exactly her mother died ten years earlier and has constructed a model to depict it, believing her fall downstairs was no accident. Chief inspector Webb, who investigated the death, is murdered after taking something from the diorama and his arch enemy Mallory is arrested. However Father Brown believes that the discovery of the stolen item will lead to discovering both motive and a double killer.
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Mrs McCarthy is shocked to find her god-daughter Joselyn working as a burlesque dancer in a seedy club the Crimson Feather but when Father Brown goes to the club he finds another dancer, the unpopular Verity, has been murdered with adoring doorman Jarek bending over her body . Bunty and Mrs McCarthy go undercover as a dancer and cleaner to help the father prove Janek's innocence and discover not only that Verity was pregnant but was also a blackmailer. Pianist Sam and Maurice, the club owner who is also running a call-girl racket are prime suspects and with help from his insiders Father Brown once more shows Mallory that he has arrested the wrong man.
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Mobile librarian Margaret Cartwright's photographer husband Graham attacks and kills an intruder, who turns out to be his young assistant Lewis Ward. Lewis was apparently taking pornographic pictures of young women and furthermore he had been poisoned and his body dumped at the Cartwrights before Graham hit him. Father Brown discovers that the illicit photos were being distributed through the library's most popular lend, The Lepidopterist's Companion, leading to the unmasking of the actual photographer as Lewis's killer.
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On the day that Father Brown is visiting Gloucester University to see his old friend Professor Hilary Ambrose, a man suffering from memory loss, a medal from the university's trophy cabinet is stolen and student Timothy Hargreaves found dead. The boy had been in possession of a mysterious key which turns up in the professor's office, leading to his arrest by Mallory. Ambrose is convinced he is being haunted by a three hundred year old alchemist, owner of an ancient diary. On recovering the medal Father Brown establishes its place in locating the alchemist's treasure, unlocking the secret of the diary and the box and exposing the killer.
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Radio quiz 'Up to You' comes to the village and Bunty and Mrs McCarthy take part as contestants. When Mrs Rudge, the rude landlady at the guest house where the team is staying, is found dead Father Brown believes one of them is guilty. Camp presenter Richie Queenan with his kiss-and-tell diary, washed-up comic Barney Butterfield and meek pianist Joyce Merriman are all in the frame, along with the young producer Jeremy Mayhew-Bowman. The field is narrowed down when another of them is killed and as usual Father Brown beats Mallory to exposing the culprit, but this time on air.
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Former colonial postal worker Aldous Kemp is murdered, having received a note telling him to protect himself. Suspicion falls firstly on daughter Grace who has argued with her father and then on gunsmith's son John Hammond, a former work colleague of the victim whose revolver is found at the murder scene. However the clue to the murder lies with a fake postage stamp and an even dodgier antiques dealer.
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William Bayley claims his daughter Charlotte was abducted by aliens and next day she reappears, confused and pregnant with no memory. Whilst Charlotte recovers in hospital William dies, apparently of fright but Father Brown detects that he has been poisoned, making Charlotte's lover, young gardener Sean, recently sacked by William, the prime suspect though the villagers are more concerned by an apparent UFO visitation. A small boy's penchant for sci-fi comics and a knowledge of poisonous plants guides the father to solving both mysteries.
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Father Brown visits Wynchurch prison at the request of Flambeau, jailed for killing partner in crime Flynn Hardwick and protesting his innocence, so that the father is puzzled when Flambeau pleads guilty in court. Bunty and Mrs McCarthy are convinced that Hardwick is still alive and that his wife Peggy, the key prosecution witness, lied in court. This leads the father to deduce just why Flambeau wanted to go to prison but with the execution fixed for the next morning and Peggy holding Mrs McCarthy and Bunty at gunpoint the father must work fast to expose the truth.
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Seven years after her disappearance the remains of Scarlett Dreyfuss are found in woods. Simple Benny Clough was charged with her murder but new evidence acquits him. During pantomime rehearsals Father Brown learns that Scarlett made enemies among the local amateur dramatics group, one of whom is also attacked. Father Brown is charged with finding the culprit so that the pantomime can go ahead successfully.
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Katherine Corven, whom Father Brown helped trap for her husband's murder, is released from jail when another woman owns to the crime and joins a convent. Eager reporter Eddie Hamsley is taken in by her supposed piety and sets out to discredit Father Brown. There is another death, the supposed suicide of a woman Katherine detested, but Katherine has an alibi given by the convent. With Bunty now in danger Father Brown must work out how Katherine achieved a seemingly impossible crime.
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The prospective closure of the local railway station leads to a fund raising event to save it, at which the station master Ben Webb is found murdered. Chief suspect is Deepak Chatterjee, the man in charge of rail closure, but he reveals a secret about Ben which allows Father Brown to unmask the real killer, in addition to acting as an impromptu midwife.
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Mrs McCarthy's friend Freda Knight dies in her sleep at the hospital where Bunty's old nanny Ellen is also a patient but Father Brown feels her death was not natural, especially when the sole heir to Freda's will is also found dead. The father believes that a misguided person may be practicing euthanasia on terminally ill people and hurries to stop them before Ellen becomes the next victim.
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Lady Felicia returns from Africa, having split from her lover Benedict Northam and is told by MI5 agent Daniel Whittaker that he is a Soviet spy, blackmailing her into preventing Northam from handing over vital documents to the Russians at an arts fund raiser. Father Brown notices her unease and follows her, coming to her aid when she is accused of murder.
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Forced to reapply for his job Mallory is attending a local bowls tournament when Scotland Yard Commander Alec Frobisher, a former Nazi hunter is garroted. Replaced by the arrogant DI Ironside Mallory, for once, is grateful to Father Brown for helping him solve what proves to be a double murder.
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Lucy Dawes is murdered at a ballroom dancing contest and her necklace stolen. Her boyfriend Oliver DeWitt is arrested but her blind dance partner Alexander believes their hostess Lady Rose is responsible and is guarding a guilty secret. Oliver holds another secret. Father Brown must work out who is telling the truth to solve the murder.
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The grandson of an authoritarian private school's headmaster is implicated in a murderous attempt on a girl's life. Suspicion then falls on the school's enigmatic and handicapped gardener. A further death changes everything. Subtle clues noticed only by Father Brown, and his compassionate intuition, allow him to sort the wheat from the chaff. An inter-school romance and a rivalry between Mrs McCarthy and Bunty provide counterpoints to the main plot of this period drama set in the bucolic fifties.
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Locals led by Hermione Harvey protest when brash American Raylan Reeve opens a golf club in the village and he receives death threats. During a golf tournament he is murdered but there is another corpse, that of a man Reeve's daughter Tamara clearly recognizes. Father Brown uncovers a shocking secret in the Reeve family to link the two murders.
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Father Brown reads that Flambeau has been killed in Italy before setting off to Gloucester where the Iron Crown of Lombardy, made from a nail from the Crucifixion, is housed. He is approached by a woman claiming to be Flambeau's widow but a key Flambeau sent him has been stolen and Father Brown believes it is connected to the intended theft of the Iron Crown. A chance meeting on a train proves him right and he must stop the theft - at the risk of his life.
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When Father Brown and Mallory go missing, it is up to the gang to save them from a man hellbent on revenge.
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A troupe of radical Anarchists come to Kebleford to do a outdoor play in the park and start getting murdered off one by one.
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A bird watching group cross over land off their map, and the Lord shoots at them. Later, the Lord ends up dead at the locked in hostel the group is staying at.
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Lady Felicia's diamond is stolen by a Russian who wanted to buy it, but she refused. Father Brown calls in Hercule Flambeau to steal it back from him. Flambeau also empties out the Russians safe and double crosses them.
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