Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation: Grantchester Mysteries 5
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As Archdeacon Sidney Chambers' former housekeeper, Sylvia Maguire, tells him, You never stay out of trouble for long. Here, in the fifth entry in this series, some of the troubles on view beset persons closest to Chambers: his dear friend Amanda faces a marital crisis; his former curate becomes a victim of bribery; his wife Hildegarde's childhood friend dies in a presumed accident on a family visit to Hildegarde's hometown in East Germany; Mrs. Maguire's husband returns to her after decades. As usual, Chambers confronts the miscreants and usually elicits confessions, from thieves to arsonists to murderers, the most violent of whom beheads his victim. Setting these adventures in the late 1960s to 1970, Runcie grounds the stories with actual events the first moon landing, a Pink Floyd concert in London and adds an international/political note with the chapter in East Germany. As for the temptations of the title, they revolve around the two verities of money and love, the latter of which also is the focus of Chambers' Easter sermon at the book's close. Fans of the books and the ­British-made PBS program the series has spawned won't want to miss this one.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2016 Booklist

Runcie continues to deepen his characterization of Sidney Chambers in the six short stories set in the 1960s and 1970s that comprise the engrossing fifth volume of the Grantchester Mysteries (after 2015's Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sin). The rounded depiction is most in evidence in the title story, as the clergyman, now elevated to the position of Archdeacon of Ely, is asked by a woman he finds disturbingly attractive to help get her teenage son away from a commune, a request that becomes much more delicate when a murder occurs. Runcie is also adept at crafting mysteries without a corpse, as in the theft of a valuable necklace that coincides with a cattle stampede. In one lapse into Jessica Fletcher syndrome, Sidney's visit to Germany, his wife's homeland, lands him in the midst of a homicide investigation. The series' strength lies less in the author's devising and resolving baffling whodunits than in his portrayal of his all-too-human lead. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Associates (U.K.). (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Runcie's latest story collection is the fifth in his clerical series (Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins) that forms the basis of the popular PBS program Grantchester. In the title story, our Anglican vicar falls under the influence of an attractive divorcée Barbara Wilkinson, who needs Sidney's help in getting her son out of a cult run by awareness guru Fraser Pascoe. Pascoe turns up dead with no lack of suspects. "Grantchester Meadows" is the setting where unruly Cambridge students set off a stampede by normally placid cows during May Week and an heirloom necklace goes missing in the melee. "Love and Duty" places Sidney at a Pink Floyd concert at Royal Albert Hall with friend Amanda, who reveals her affair with Leonard Finch, Sidney's curate. Sidney then connects this information to an arson case. Chambers tends his flock and his jazz collection, all while coaxing clues from individuals under questioning. VERDICT Runcie's gently paced stories, now set in the nostalgic 1960s, will appeal to cozy fans who want less blood and more village shenanigans.-Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Six interrelated new stories about the crime-solving priest who struggles with his own frailties. The Venerable Sidney Chambers, Archdeacon of Ely, is already facing at least one of "The Dangers of Temptation" in trying to give up alcohol for Lent when a deliberately provocative ex-parishioner who asks his help with her son draws Sidney and his friend Inspector Geordie Keating into the brutal murder of the leader of a commune dubbed the "Family of Love." A post-finals celebration for students at the University of Cambridge gets out of hand in "Grantchester Meadows," in which a cattle stampede and a missing heirloom necklace call on Sidney's crime-busting talents. "The Trouble with Amanda" is Sidney's former flame Amanda Richmond's husband, Henry, whose disturbed and disturbing ex-wife suddenly drowns. Even if Sidney can prove that Henry isn't guilty, what does the news mean for the Richmonds' marriage? In "The Return," Sidney's former housekeeper gets the shock of her life when her long-lost husband reappears for unknown reasons and tempts Sidney into a flutter at the horse races. "A German Summer" is a holiday for Sidney and his family on the East German island where Sidney's wife spent her summers as a child. Sidney endangers his own safety by trying to solve a crime everyone else wants him to leave alone. In "Love and Duty," it's nearly Lent again, and again Sidney plans to stop drinking at the same time he tries to bring tact to a blackmail case whose victim wants to keep his private life private. Although the stories' allusions to free love, the moon landing, and Pink Floyd remind the reader of passing time, Sidney's inquisitiveness, humility, and appreciation of both the sacred and the secular are as constant as in his previous adventures (Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins, 2015, etc.). The Swinging '60s give Runcie's sleuth in a cassock plenty of opportunity to stick his memorable nose in where it isn't wanted. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

As Archdeacon Sidney Chambers' former housekeeper, Sylvia Maguire, tells him, "You never stay out of trouble for long." Here, in the fifth entry in this series, some of the troubles on view beset persons closest to Chambers: his dear friend Amanda faces a marital crisis; his former curate becomes a victim of bribery; his wife Hildegarde's childhood friend dies in a presumed accident on a family visit to Hildegarde's hometown in East Germany; Mrs. Maguire's husband returns to her after decades. As usual, Chambers confronts the miscreants and usually elicits confessions, from thieves to arsonists to murderers, the most violent of whom beheads his victim. Setting these adventures in the late 1960s to 1970, Runcie grounds the stories with actual events—the first moon landing, a Pink Floyd concert in London—and adds an international/political note with the chapter in East Germany. As for the temptations of the title, they revolve around the two verities of money and love, the latter of which also is the focus of Chambers' Easter sermon at the book's close. Fans of the books and the ­British-made PBS program the series has spawned won't want to miss this one. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Runcie's latest story collection is the fifth in his clerical series (Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins) that forms the basis of the popular PBS program Grantchester. In the title story, our Anglican vicar falls under the influence of an attractive divorcée Barbara Wilkinson, who needs Sidney's help in getting her son out of a cult run by awareness guru Fraser Pascoe. Pascoe turns up dead with no lack of suspects. "Grantchester Meadows" is the setting where unruly Cambridge students set off a stampede by normally placid cows during May Week and an heirloom necklace goes missing in the melee. "Love and Duty" places Sidney at a Pink Floyd concert at Royal Albert Hall with friend Amanda, who reveals her affair with Leonard Finch, Sidney's curate. Sidney then connects this information to an arson case. Chambers tends his flock and his jazz collection, all while coaxing clues from individuals under questioning. VERDICT Runcie's gently paced stories, now set in the nostalgic 1960s, will appeal to cozy fans who want less blood and more village shenanigans.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO

Runcie continues to deepen his characterization of Sidney Chambers in the six short stories set in the 1960s and 1970s that comprise the engrossing fifth volume of the Grantchester Mysteries (after 2015's Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sin). The rounded depiction is most in evidence in the title story, as the clergyman, now elevated to the position of Archdeacon of Ely, is asked by a woman he finds disturbingly attractive to help get her teenage son away from a commune, a request that becomes much more delicate when a murder occurs. Runcie is also adept at crafting mysteries without a corpse, as in the theft of a valuable necklace that coincides with a cattle stampede. In one lapse into Jessica Fletcher syndrome, Sidney's visit to Germany, his wife's homeland, lands him in the midst of a homicide investigation. The series' strength lies less in the author's devising and resolving baffling whodunits than in his portrayal of his all-too-human lead. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Associates (U.K.). (June)