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Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries) [Hardcover]

James Runcie
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
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Book Description

10 May 2012 The Grantchester Mysteries

Sidney Chambers, the Vicar of Grantchester, is a thirty-two-year-old bachelor. Tall, with dark brown hair, eyes the colour of hazelnuts and a reassuringly gentle manner, Sidney is an unconventional clergyman and can go where the police cannot.

Together with his roguish friend, Inspector Geordie Keating, Sidney inquires into the suspect suicide of a Cambridge solicitor, a scandalous jewellery theft at a New Year's Eve dinner party, the unexplained death of a well-known jazz promoter and a shocking art forgery, the disclosure of which puts a close friend in danger. Sidney discovers that being a detective, like being a clergyman, means that you are never off duty. Nonetheless, he manages to find time for a keen interest in cricket, warm beer, hot jazz and the works of Tolstoy and Shakespeare - as well as a curious fondness for a German widow three years his junior.

From the son of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, this is the first of The Grantchester Mysteries, six detective novels spanning thirty years of British history - from the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 to the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 - featuring the unforgettable vicar and sleuth, Sidney Chambers.


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Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing; First Edition edition (10 May 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1408825953
  • ISBN-13: 978-1408825952
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.4 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 23,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Review

While the diminutive priest detective created by G. K. Chesterton led the way, Sidney Chambers is set fair to be a worthy successor ... this is quite an achievement (barry Turner Daily Mail )

Each tale is beautifully crafted and surprising. I hope for many more volumes (a.N. Wilson Spectator )

A charmingly effective tale of detection ... Runcie's fine crime debut evokes oodles of churchy village atmosphere, circa 1953, [and] provides a satisfyingly old fashioned read (The Times )

No detective since Father Brown has been more engaging than Canon Sidney Chambers. Perfect company in bed (Salley Vickers, author of Miss Garnett's Angel )

The coziest of cozy murder mysteries ... These stories present a consistently charming and occasionally cutting commentary on "a postwar landscape full of industry, promise and concrete" (New York Times Book Review )

Chambers turns out to be a winning clergyman-sleuth, and Runcie's literary authority is repeatedly demonstrated in the construction of his elegant tales ... there is no denying the winning charm of these artfully fashioned mysteries (barry Forshaw Independent )

Inspector Morse would appear to have a rival

(mary Crockett Scotland on Sunday )

The clerical milieu is well rendered as an affectionate eye is cast over post-war England - a perfect accompaniment to a sunny afternoon, a hammock and a glass of Pimm's (Guardian )

Alexander McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe is going to have to look to her laurels! Sidney Chambers's adventures are thoroughly captivating and engaging. I loved the character and I loved the highly evocative period feel and dialogue (Amanda Craig, author of Love in Idleness )

An undiluted pleasure (Scotsman )

What a bloody fantastic thing ... this could only be improved by finding a winning Euromillions ticket tucked in the pages (Rev Richard Coles )

Beautifully crafted … Perfectly placed to become comfort viewing on Sunday evenings, filling those Rumpole- and Morse-sized gaps in our lives. But enjoy them as literature first (Reader’s Digest, Books of Christmas )

Only a churl could resist Sidney, whose musings on love, evil and morality, penchant for quoting snippets of poetry, preference for whiskey over the endless cups of tea he is offered, and ratiocinative success at unraveling crimes make him endearing (Kirkus )

Book Description

From the son of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, this is the first of The Grantchester Mysteries, six detective novels spanning thirty years of British history - from the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 to the wedding of Charles and Diana in 1981 - featuring the unforgettable vicar and sleuth, Sidney Chambers

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A clerical conundrum 27 Jun 2012
By catherine VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
What a super start to a new mystery series.
Canon Sidney Chambers is a joy. Charming,insightful, gentle and intriguing - and with that knack for subtly effective meddling that the very best clerics have in spades.
I confess that when I started to read the book, I assumed that it was an entire novel & not novella's But that does not detract from this accomplished book.
Each of the six mysteries reveal more of Sidney's character & relationships with some very deft chracterisations, and just the right amount of wit to satisfy this reader.
The prose is lovely,and there are some wonderful philosophical musings contained within this entertaining book.
I really am looking forward to seeing how Sidney's life in the Church and involvement in crime develop over the remaing five books.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Unthreatening whimsy 3 Oct 2012
By J.R.Hartley VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I don't know about you but I am a bit tired of forensic mavericks who solve horrific murders and then get into deadly cat and mouse type showdowns with fiendish villains, while at the same time balancing disabled spouses and wayward children and appeasing unnecessary shouty bosses... and suchlike. This book, I was delighted to find, was not like that. Instead James Runcie has served up a well-baked and slightly sugared slice of old-fashioned amateur sleuthing with ne'er a pathology report or DNA result in sight and by heck it's a very pleasant change of pace. I'm reluctant to discuss any of the plot as I fear it might some people off and had I not received this book for free from Amazon Vine (thank you, Amazon) I doubt I would have chosen to buy it. What I'll say is I enjoyed it much more than I ever expected to, and found the plot developments to be intriguing and oddly satisfying. I read the book over the course of a very rainy weekend and the fact that I kept going back to it when I could have been doing something emminently more practical, or reading something more in-keeping with my usual literary choices, says a lot for the book. Is it an edge of the seat rollercoaster ride? Don't be daft, just look at the title! Is it reminiscent of Miss marple and Lord Peter Whimsy? I'll say! I have subsequently passed the book on to a couple of relatives and one said it was worth five stars (she's a big Agatha Christie fan), while the other (more likely to read Patricia Cornwell) said she liked it more than she expected and said it was maybe worth four.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable stories 17 July 2012
By Sid Nuncius HALL OF FAME TOP 10 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
I enjoyed the six stories which make up this book. Set in 1953-54, the book has a slight feel of a Sunday evening TV programme in the Miss Marple/Call The Midwife tradition. It is well-written, engaging and gentle in tone and also has some moral weight, albeit lightly worn. Canon Sidney Chambers is a likeable protagonist and the plots are interesting without being sensational. Sidney's moral and ecclesiastical musings add an interesting depth and the whole thing carries you along very nicely.

Runcie's style is readable and he creates believable characters who behave plausibly, which is not always the case in detective stories. I thought the period was quite well done although, as someone who was born around that time and who remembers life just a few years later, I wasn't altogether convinced by it. The 50s' sense of recovering from the war and still rebuilding and making do and mending wasn't really there, and while the language was largely convincing, people didn't use modern phrases like "on a weekly basis" and "it sends out the wrong signals." Perhaps I'm nit-picking a little but those of us who were there (and I suspect that there will be a lot of readers who were) will be rather thrown out of the atmosphere by this.

Minor niggles aside, I can recommend this as a charming book with more substance than may at first appear and a very enjoyable read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A good holiday read.
A gentle who done it, evocative of the fifties. Miss Marple type of tale with a moral dimension. Worth a try.
Published 2 days ago by Coniston
3.0 out of 5 stars Poor Sidney
Poor Canon Chambers! I wouldn't want to sit next to him at a dinner party as, if events ran to form, I'd certainly be found murdered within a day or two. Read more
Published 7 days ago by C. Doughty
3.0 out of 5 stars Nostalgic
A time honoured romp, Agatha Christie / Poirot stylie, through the English countryside. Predictable in its approach not terribly gripping but passable.
Published 9 days ago by Levishamsmiths Micky
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable
I was expecting these stories to be simple whodunits with straightforward plots easy to work out, but they were quite intricate with well rounded characters. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Mrs. S. Doyle
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful.
A delightfully "English" story from the early 1950s, set in the lovely village of Grantchester where "peace and holy quiet" can usually be found. Read more
Published 13 days ago by Mark Godden
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read
Easy going, well written. Nice bedtime book, great characters and you definitely want to read the next book to see how they all are
Published 14 days ago by janeyjane
2.0 out of 5 stars Boring
I've read worse but I'm afraid this didn't do much for me. Just too unexciting and nondescript. Also, it consists of a few short stories, which I'm not keen on, although I would... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Hemingway's Proofreader
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read
I bought this as a present for my sister who had requested it. Although it is the first book by James Runcie that she has read, she is really enjoying it.
Published 1 month ago by HODI
5.0 out of 5 stars A VERY GOOD READ
A good read with the characters gaining more depth in each chapter. The book was in the condition as stated and delivery etc. very good
Published 2 months ago by fiona watson
5.0 out of 5 stars Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries)
Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries)
There are nostalgic reminders of past times. I hadn't realised there were several stories. Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Webster
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