Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night

Starred review from March 25, 2013
Runcie’s richly atmospheric second collection of Grantchester mysteries improves on its predecessor, 2012’s Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death. Over six stories, Sidney Chambers, an Anglican minister, wrestles with his impulse to solve crimes rather than tend to the aspects of his religious duties that he finds less engaging. In the especially fine title tale, Chambers witnesses three college fellows attempt a dangerous prank by climbing an octagonal turret. One man falls to his death, one vanishes without trace, and the third is left badly shaken. In other episodes, a building rented to a photographer burns down, a bursar is found dead in his bath, and food poisoning claims the life of an Indian cricketer. Runcie’s intimate view of post-WWII English society will appeal to admirers of Barbara Pym. His clerical sleuth would be welcome in a novel-length puzzle one day. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Associates (U.K.).

April 15, 2013
Six loosely connected stories featuring that mid-20th-century Cambridge sleuth Canon Chambers. Still uncertain if he's ready for marriage, Cambridge canon Sidney Chambers enjoys his weekly backgammon games at the pub with Inspector Keating, his daily walks with his faithful Labrador Dickens, his frequent luncheons with wealthy, beautiful Amanda Kendall when she's down from London, his jaunts to Germany to moon over his soul mate, widow Hildegard Staunton, and his hobby, deducing whodunit and why when others are stumped. A don's misstep off the roof of King's College in "The Perils of the Night" makes him wonder why anyone would murder a man who was going to die anyway. "Love and Arson" reminds him that people sometimes burn places down to get rid of dead bodies. "Unholy Week" finds him scrutinizing salacious magazines for clues to a bathtub fatality. Racism comes to the fore in "The Hat Trick," which will be mostly incomprehensible to those readers not conversant with the game of cricket. The bachelor vicar dispenses matrimonial advice to a bigamist in "The Uncertainty Principle." A spy passes a message to him in "Appointment in Berlin," in which he's incarcerated by the Stasi before finally committing to a life together with Hildegard. Less engaging than Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012), but still a sharp portrait of scholarly rivalries that makes room for a riff on jazz in a Mozart score and a grim reminder of East and West Germany as the wall was going up.

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May 1, 2013

Canon Sidney Chambers lives in the Cambridge-adjacent village of Grantchester but manages to visit Berlin on a regular basis, thanks to his friendship with the widow Hildegard. Though devoted to his ministry, Sidney loves to sleuth, and his chum, Insp. Geordie Keating, appreciates his insights. The result here is six interlinked stories, each providing a snapshot of midcentury Britain. One case, set on the Cambridge campus, involves a spying ring. Another begins with an arson fire that exposes several secrets. An academic rivalry turns deadly one spring, while racism rears its head at a cricket match later that year. The book culminates in a daring Berlin escape. Meanwhile, Sidney's love for Hildegard grows at a glacial rate. VERDICT Runcie's screenwriting background shows in his second series entry (after Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death), which reads like a BBC series. While the stretch from 1955 to 1961 makes the final two stories seem tacked on, it successfully captures Cold War sensibilities. This old-fashioned historical moves at a methodical pace, dense with long theological dialogs. Pair with Bernard Knight's Dr. Richard Pryor series.

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