#BookReview The Road to Grantchester by James Runcie @james_runcie @BloomsburyBooks

The Road to Grantchester by James Runcie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The captivating prequel to the treasured Grantchester series follows the life, loves, and losses of young Sidney Chambers in postwar London.

It is 1938, and eighteen-year-old Sidney Chambers is dancing the quickstep with Amanda Kendall at her brother Robert's birthday party at the Caledonian Club. No one can believe, on this golden evening, that there could ever be another war.

Returning to London seven years later, Sidney has gained a Military Cross and lost his best friend on the battlefields of Italy. The carefree youth that he and his friends were promised has been blown apart, just like the rest of the world--and Sidney, carrying a terrible, secret guilt, must decide what to do with the rest of his life. But he has heard a call: constant, though quiet, and growing ever more persistent. To the incredulity of his family and the derision of his friends--the irrepressible actor Freddie and the beautiful, vivacious Amanda--Sidney must now negotiate his path to God: the course of which, much like true love, never runs smooth.

The Road to Grantchester will delight new and old fans alike and finally tell the touching, engaging, and surprising origin story of the Grantchester Mysteries' beloved archdeacon.

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I thought with Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love did the series end, However, James Runcie decided to go back in time and write about Sidney Chambers life before the stories in the first Grantchester book. And, what a treat this book was. To get to know a young Sidney, his experiences in the war, his call to be a priest, how he discovered his love for jazz. And, of course, his friendship with Amanda. I quite enjoyed this part of the story, Amanda being the little sister of his best friend and how she become such an important person in his life.

It's such a fabulous novel. I listened to the audio version of this book and I enjoyed the book immensely. This is not in any way a crime novel, like how Sidney helps Geordie Keating in the rest of the books. There is death in this book, but it's not a mystery novel. It's a novel about how Sidney Chambers become the man we met in the Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death. If you are a fan of this series, or the TV series is this a must read book!

#BookReview Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love by James Runcie @FreshFiction

Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love by James Runcie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The sixth book in the James Runcie's much-loved series, adapted for ITV's Grantchester which stars James Norton as Sidney Chambers. Perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton.

It is May 1971 and the Cambridgeshire countryside is bursting into summer. Archdeacon Sidney Chambers is walking in a bluebell wood with his daughter Anna and their ageing Labrador Byron when they stumble upon a body. Plunged into another murder investigation, Sidney discovers a world of hippies and psychedelic plants, where permissive behaviour seems to hide something darker.

This is the first of many disturbing secrets that Sidney unearths beneath the tranquil surface of the diocese: a celebrated photographer is accused of rape; a priceless religious text vanishes from a Cambridge college; the authentication of a lost masterpiece proves a slippery business; and Sidney's own nephew goes missing.

Endeavouring to fit in his clerical duties around sleuthing, Sidney continues to reflect on the divine mysteries of love, life and faith, while wrestling with the earthly problems of parish scandals, a progressive new secretary, the challenges of parenthood, and a great loss.

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In the first book we meet a young Sidney Chambers some years after WW2, unmarried and vicar of Grantchester. It's now the 70s and Sidney and Hildegard are married and they have a young daughter, Anna. He has risen in the ranks and is now archdeacon. But, he still can't stay away from trouble as the stories in this book will prove. This book is, as the rest I have read, divided into short stories that have different cases that Sidney takes one. And, I have to say that so far this is my favorite book in the series, all six stories are quite good with interesting cases, from murder and rape cases to Sidney's nephew going missing. And the years go by in the book. In the first story, is it early 70s and Anna is a little girl, but she is a teenager in the last story in this book.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!

Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie

Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation by James Runcie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's the summer of love in late 1960s. The Apollo 11 astronauts are preparing to land on the moon, the war in Biafra dominates the news and Basil D'Oliveira has just been dropped from the England cricket team before a test series in apartheid South Africa. In the midst of all this change, Sidney Chambers, the loveable English clergyman, continues his amateur sleuthing investigations.

A bewitching divorcée enlists Sidney's help in convincing her son to leave a hippie commune' at a soiree on Grantchester Meadows during May Week celebrations, a student is divested of a family heirloom; Amanda's marriage runs into trouble; Sidney and Hildegard holiday behind the Iron Curtain; Mrs. Maguire's husband returns from the dead; and an arson attack in Cambridge leads Sidney to uncover a cruel cast of blackmail involving his former curate.

In the rare gaps between church and crime, Sidney struggles with a persistent case of toothache, has his first flutter at the Newmarket races, and witnesses the creation of a classic rock song.

Charming, witty, intelligent, and filled with a strong sense of compassion, these six new stories are guaranteed to satisfy and delight this clerical detective's many fans.

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It's the 1960s and Sidney Chambers, now Archdeacon of Ely Cathedral is back to solve crime in six new stories. Sidney will for instance tackle, murders, theft, blackmail, arson and a vicious case of toothache. A lot has happened in his life, he is now a father of a four- year-old girl, he's married and his old friend Amanda is going through some difficulties. And, he just can't stop finding puzzles to solve. His mother-in-law in Germany is finding him too curious for his own good.

READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW OVER AT FRESH FICTION!