What would the Father Brown series be like if it had a slightly more "devilish" detective-protagonist, more like a roguish fallen-angel (though likably so) rather than saintly like the Padre is, yet still striving to make up for his dark past by trying to do some good again. John Hawkwood (formerly of Scotland Yard) is a descendant of the infamous medieval knight and mercenary Sir John Hawkwood, known as "The Devil Incarnate" by his enemies because of his use of deceitful stratagems & brutal tactics in battle; a somewhat shameful family legacy that John's own highly-moral missionary parents hope to avoid, so they named him after his notorious ancestor with the hopes of teaching him how not to behave, which worked at first - that is, until he was ten years old and both his parents suddenly died from Cholera within days of each other while doing their missionary work. Embittered and alone, Hawkwood now saw God as the enemy, taking out good people like his parents while letting murderers and other villains live on. It was a belief that secretly fuelled his passion against injustice: he joined the Police and rose through the ranks quickly (thanks to his keen intelligence and sharp powers of observation) to become one of the youngest to ever achieve the rank of Inspector, and gained a reputation as one of the best and brightest at the Yard, with a sterling record and numerous Commendations for Bravery. It didn't hurt that he also happened to be the "Tall, Dark & Roguishly Handsome" type (a love child of classic Hollywood swashbucklers, Christopher Reeves' Superman and the cool & cheeky disreputability DC's John Constantine) with a dazzling grin and charismatic devilish charm. "Devilish" being the key word, since the "Devil Incarnate" part of his ancestor's legacy had unfortunately taken hold of his heart beneath that "Golden-Boy Prodigy of Scotland Yard" exterior.
Though the villains he arrested himself were always convicted due to his own solid detective skills, he got tired of seeing criminals in other cases get off scot-free due to an imperfect justice system, so he made it his personal mission to make sure they eventually paid for their wrongdoings. One of Hawkwood's hobbies was the study of magic tricks, with sleight-of-hand and misdirection being his specialities (a bit of a clue if anyone had thought to look closer, since deceptive strategies were also his notorious ancestor's speciality), which he claimed were actually "useful skills" for Police work. But they also happened to be useful skills for his other moonlighting job, namely secretly moonlighting as a vigilante who tracked down and executed villains who'd slipped through the net. It took a while for his shadow activities to be found out since he was hiding in plain sight behind his sterling reputation, but eventually he was arrested and sent to prison for his crimes. While he awaited his own date with the gallows, Hawkwood began to feel genuinely contrite about his actions and decided the only way to make amends was to escape from prison (using the impeccable lock-picking skills he'd learned as an amateur magician) to help save the life of the Inspector who'd originally arrested him (and whom he'd also tried unsuccessfully to recruit for his vigilante cause) from a gang of villains far worse than Hawkwood himself had ever been. In gratitude for saving his life (as well as the lives of several innocent civilians), the Inspector helped get Hawkwood a reprieve from the gallows, if not from prison itself - he still needed to serve time for his past crimes. But from that point on, Hawkwood continued to lend his particular expertise to his Inspector friend, (whether he actually wanted the help or not) by escaping a few more times and using his unconventional strategies to help him catch even more elusive villains (only without killing them now).
Ironically these well-intentioned prison-escapes helped prove that he had genuinely reformed, so Hawkwood was given an early pardon with the recommendation of that same Inspector whom he'd "assisted." But now he had to find another way to continue his pursuit of justice since he couldn't go back to being a Copper and no longer was the killer vigilante he once was, either. He decided to become a private detective, but wasn't quite sure where he wanted to set up "shop", since he didn't want the more brutal crimes of the big-city villains to tempt him back into his darker vigilante ways. He quietly relocated to one of the larger market towns of the Cotswolds, Wintergreen-on-the-Wold ("Gateway to the Cotswolds", as the town sign says), which was just big enough & close enough to the city of Gloucester to draw a bit more criminal activity to it and give him more work as a detective; yet it was also still small & idyllic enough to give him the peace of mind he's looking for to continue with his ongoing struggle back to the light. Though he's been asked by the local coppers (well aware of his past and keeping a close eye on him) why he didn't chose to settle in the Cotswolds village where the Inspector who saved his life & helped get him the pardon is posted, (since they allegedly became friends) he's been rather elusive about his reasons as to why he didn't. Hawkwood now often works with the local Wintergreen constabulary, led by Inspector Wellman, showing up at the latest murder investigations with uncanny timing and an annoying habit of charming his way in anywhere & with anyone (both women and men) with his affable manner. He's also slowly getting attached to some of the quirky locals who also somehow usually get involved in the murder cases as well.
