# Flambeau — The Secret of Father Brown character guide

> Flambeau in The Secret of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Father Brown Flambeau

**First appearance:** 0001-the-secret-of-father-brown

## Snapshot

Once the most famous criminal in France and later a very private detective in England, he now tends a Spanish vineyard, married and retired from both professions.

## Who they are

Flambeau has traded romantic escapes for domesticity, outrunning his own children down the mountain slope to meet Father Brown's distant black dot. His retirement is genuine — he has the Latin energy to become a small peasant — but his old life is not entirely behind him. The visitor he welcomes so eagerly will soon draw him back into the world of crime and detection he thought he had left.

## In the story

### [The Secret of Father Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se/chapters/the-secret-of-father-brown)

Present during Father Brown's confession, having retired from crime.

### [The Secret of Father Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se/chapters/the-secret-of-father-brown)

Now retired in Spain under his real name Duroc; hosts Father Brown and introduces him to Mr. Grandison Chace.

### [The Secret of Flambeau](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se/chapters/the-secret-of-flambeau)

Reveals himself as the criminal in the room, confessing his past as a thief and crediting Father Brown for his reformation.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se/characters/flambeau
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_secret_of_father_brown_se/characters