The Man Who Knew Too Much
by G.K. Chesterton
read: 2013
The Man Who Knew Too Much is a collection of short mystery stories fitting the typical pattern: a crime is uncovered, numerous suspects appear, and a genius - title character Horne Fisher, in this case - pieces things together at the end. The stories in this collection have two twists on the normal formula, however. First, while Fisher is an expert in many fields, it's usually his understanding of human psychology that leads him to the criminal's identity, not his ability to spot evidence. In one story, he determines that a peasant superstition about a place is true and the modern skepticism false, noting "Modern intelligence won't accept anything on authority. But it will accept anything without authority." In another story, he determines that a famously bad shot fired the fatal bullet, as his shooting follies so absurd that Fisher concluded they could only have been done by a great shot pretending to be terrible.
The second difference that sets The Man Who Knew Too Much apart is that the wrong-doers are rarely brought to justice. Fisher walks in the circles of British high society, and frequently the killer is someone untouchable, someone where accusing him of a crime would damage England. This provides an interesting dimension to the stories and gives Fisher a world-weariness and cynicism that makes the character memorable.
