Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death: Grantchester Mysteries 1 (The Grantchester Mysteries)

It is England the early 1950s. The ravages, personal and national, of World War II are still visible and felt. A young bachelor canon is assigned to the small parish of Grantchester , near Cambridge. He still experiences flashbacks to the war, where he served with distinction. He finds a bit too much solace in the bottle. His sermons tend to be largely about love, trust and forgiveness, but he seems to have trouble trusting and forgiving himself.Unexpectedly, he finds himself embroiled in murder, and discovers he can go places and talk to people in ways the police cannot.If you’re a fan of “The Grantchester Mysteries, you will recognize the story line. The first series has shown on PBS here in the United States; the second has recently completed filming in the U.K. and will be aired in 2016 on ITV and (it’s hoped) PBS. Actor James Norton plays the title character of Canon Sidney Chambers.The series is based on the short story collections of author and film producer James Runcie. The first book in the series is “Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death,” a collection of six mystery stories featuring the canon, four of which were filmed as episodes in the PBS series.In “The Shadow of Death,” what looks like an obvious suicide turns out to be something else entirely. In “A Question of Trust,” an expensive engagement ring goes missing at an engagement party. “First, Do No Harm” concerns the suspicions of the local coroner about elderly people dying a little too soon before their times. In “A Matter of Time,” a young woman is strangled in a London nightclub in Soho, apparently in full view of everyone there (including Sidney, who loves jazz). “The Lost Holbein” concerns the forgery and theft of a valuable painting of Anne Boleyn. And in “Honourable Men,” a local aristocrat is killed during a performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Casear.In the first story, Chambers develops a friendship with the local police inspector, Geordie Keating, a friendship that becomes a central feature of each of the stories.The first four stories formed the basis of the four television episodes of “The Grantchester Mysteries,” but as television producers tend to do, liberties were taken with the written stories. Relationships were condensed and combined; story lines were greatly simplified. And few of Sidney’s occasional spiritual ruminations are included on television. While a fan of the TV series, I found myself liking Runcie’s stories more – they’re more thoughtful, more nuanced, and a bit more provocative. And a one-night stand between Sidney and a jazz singer in London that is featured in one of the television episodes is nowhere to be found in the written stories.Runcie has published two other Sidney Chambers mysteries – “The Perils of Night” (2013) and “The Problem of Evil” (2014), with the fourth in the series, “The Forgiveness of Sins,” being published this year. He’s also written four novels. In 2014, he explained in an article for the Telegraph how the inspiration for Sidney Chambers came from his father, the late Robert Runcie, the former archbishop of Canterbury.If you’re familiar with the format of John Mortimer’s “Rumpole of the Bailey “stories, you’ll be comfortable with the format of “The Grantchester Mysteries” – a collection of short stories that share characters and themes and come to seem like a novel.

First Sentence: Canon Sidney Chambers had never intended to become a detective.Vicar of Grantchester, Sidney Chambers, is a bachelor and veteran of battle during WWII. With his backgammon and pint friend Insp. Geordie Keating, and his friends, Sidney becomes involved in much more than baptisms and wedding; sometimes mystery is on the agenda.What a wonderful collection of six short stories this is. Although they are “cozy”, as in no profanity, sex, or overt violence, some of the themes are quite serious.Because of Sidney’s past in the war, the topic of PTSD, even though not recognized as such then, is addressed, as is racism and prejudice of several kinds. There is certainly the theme of faith, but rather than blind faith, it is questioning and uncertain. Sidney questions his vocation, and certainly questions his participation in some of the mysteries with which he becomes involved.Beside Sidney and Geordie, Ruskin has created very real supporting characters in Mrs. Maguire, the housekeeper, Curate, Leonard Graham, Sidney’s friend, Amanda Kendall, and the dog, “What the Dickens.” They add dimension, and occasionally conflict, to the stories.There is a delightful thread that runs through the stories of everyone assuming—“I had you down as a sherry man.” “Most people do…but I’d prefer whisky if that’s possible.”Ruskin‘s wonderful use of language makes this such a treat to read—“I’m not stupid, Canon Chambers. I know how to keep secrets. Have you heard of Tupperware?...Nothing gets in; nothing comes out.” His descriptions are evocative—“Autumn was his favorite time of year, not simply for its changing colours but for the crispness in the air and the sharpness of the light. There are nicely done analogies—“The snow had muffled the once audible cries of the world. It was like grace, he decided, or the love of God, coming down silently and unexpectedly in the night.”“Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death” is a collection of mysteries, but it’s also a study of humanity and faith in general, as well as the question of at what cost comes pride.SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH (Trad Mys/Pol Proc-Sidney Chambers/Insp. Geordie Keating-Grantchester, Eng-1953) – G+ Runcie, James – 1st book of short stories Bloomsbury, USA – Apr 2012

What I liked…This book was a nice, easy read - it is absolutely perfect for the casual or time-poor crime fan. The stories and characters and engaging and likeable which goes a long way to making this book a low-stress read.I like the fact that the book is broken up into 6 different parts, but has a sort of 'main story' as I mentioned above. A lot of writers would have been tempted to drag each of the 6 stories in this book out into a whole book so in order to try and find a balance between the crime themes and Sidney's personal and professional life, but Runcie has done the opposite - finding a good balance by saying less. There is a lot to be said for short-and-sweet.I enjoy the characters, mainly because I know them from the television programme, however I am particularly enjoy the character of Sidney and his relationship to the Church and Christianity in general. I personally really enjoy reading about peoples interaction with and interpretation of their personal faith, and this book has plenty of it - although I am cautious to add, not so much of it that it detracts from the other themes of the book!Finally, I enjoy the setting - mainly because Grantchester is only a few miles away and I know most of the place names! It makes things slightly entertaining for me...What I disliked…There are a handful of times where I found Runcie's method of description a little peculiar, but not so much that I can remember exactly what bothered me, and certainly not enough to stop reading.Also it bothers me the way the characters talk during a discussion about homosexuality, but frankly that's my bad for reading a book set in the 50's. Having said that, Sidney is very progressive in this regard which makes these passages easier to digest.Final thoughts...This book was an easy and enjoyable read. Each story was entertaining, and due to the format of short stories, the romantic subplots I usually can't stand were engaging, but not drawn out.The characters are lovable, although not hugely developed in many cases (again, due to the short-story format) but with 4 further books in the series, there is plenty of room for expansion. That said, the crime plots are the real selling points of this book. They are well thought out and a joy to read.I strongly recommend this to anybody who enjoys a simple crime read - particularly those who are casual readers, are strapped for time, or struggle with longer stories.

I encountered one of the later books in this series and liked it, so decided to start with the first volume. I like the character of Canon Chambers - he is authentically CofE, being humane, thoughtful and aware of his own shortcomings. I suppose you would expect no less from the son of an Archbishop of Canterbury!I think Runcie conveys the atmosphere of the time rather well - the reference at p. 514 to "Amami-waved" hair achieves much in two words (Amami setting lotion, a favourite of my mother's - and a step up from Grandma's cold tea, went out of production in 2010).But given that the story is set in 1954 (as explicitly stated at page 503), the editor who allowed the clanging anachronism "British Rail" to slip through on page 477 ought to be... well, as it's Canon Chambers, ought to be very gently reproved and treated with understanding.

Well what can I say, except that I thoroughly enjoyed these stories. Sidney is a very likeable but unlikely solver of murders, and along with Geordie Keating and Amanda; who manages to get herself involved in some way or another, they solve all manner of crimes. And what crimes they are too, and include a stolen painting, a jazz singer, a murder that wasn't a murder and ones that were. A stolen ring for an engagement that never happened and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.I'm a bit too young to remember the early 1950's, but life appeared to be much simpler then. Amongst Mrs Maguire's toad-in-the-hole and shepherds pie, games of backgammon and warm beer in the pub on Thursday evenings, a beautiful black Lab puppy called Dickens....we have Sidney the Canon, who butters his early morning toast before cutting them into soldiers......These stories are very well written and for me personally, the TV series has really brought the characters to life. There aren't any breaks in the stories, and I think including a few chapters in each would have helped. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed them all, and will be adding a few more to my Kindle.

The book consists of six `long' short stories; a format with which readers of John Mortimer's Rumpole stories will be familiar. The stories also follow Sidney Chambers' life chronologically through nineteen fifty three and nineteen fifty four. Sidney is the mild mannered courteous Vicar of Grantchester near Cambridge. He meets a friend Inspector Geordie Keating every Thursday for two pints of beer and to play Backgammon. Sidney finds himself, frequently against his better judgement, involved in trying to investigate a variety of crimes of greater or lesser importance.This is not a book which will please readers who prefer their crime with all its gory details but those who prefer to read novels which remind them of Agatha Christie or Georgette Heyer will love this book. I found the characters believable and interesting and the nineteen fifties background is well done. People are polite to each other and things which are talked about freely today are glossed over and not discussed. This is how it was then.Sidney finds people will talk to him much more freely than they will to the police and he can ask questions and obtain answers which the police would fail to do. Sidney is a likeable character. He doesn't enjoy Christmas and finds Lent frustrating. He is irritated when his friend Amanda wishes a Labrador puppy on to him because she thinks he is lonely but soon finds Dickens indispensible to his happiness. He is gradually realising that like his friend Geordie he is never off duty.As must always be the case with short stories, the plots are slight but they are well constructed and I enjoyed trying to work out who was responsible for the crimes. If you enjoy Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer's crime novels and modern authors such a R T Raichev then you will enjoy Sidney Chambers. I shall be watching out for future books in this series.

As someone who was aged 10 years at the time the book is set I readily recognise the fifties in it, albeit a somewhat sanitised version of the decade which has of late grown to become regarded as 'the good old days'. The book gallops along at a fair old pace quite frequently dragging our hero, the oft hapless Canon Sidney Chambers, puffing in its wake. This is probably a little unfair to the cleric but with so many major crimes between the front and back covers plus two, albeit staid, love interests and a parish to look after the poor fellow has his work cut out merely to survive. This is a charming book with likeable characters, good stories and a continuing thread that makes it certain that I shall read the rest of the series and seek out the television series to watch. The fifties was not a cuddly decade however, towns and cities still bore the scars of war, austerity was very much the order of the day as was intolerance and control by society leaders. In the matter of homosexuality, which is the focus of one of the stories, Canon Chambers' attitude seems very twenty first century whereas in reality it was a crime at that time which generally resulted in chemical castration and/or imprisonment, remember the case of Alan Turing who was a war hero, and any approach to a priest would at the very least result in a hell and damnation lecture! Notwithstanding this is a very good read, a good page turner and I for one am looking forward to revisiting the redoubtable Canon and his investigations.