I read this book in February, 2025.

Of late, I have been writing these reviews under three headings - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .

Sidney Chambers (who will be 33 on 14.02.54) is the Vicar of Grantchester, and the son of Alec and Iris. He has a sister Jennifer, and a brother Matthew. His stipend is £550 pa - a pittance. Although few know, he fought in the last war, and won an MC. His pet labrador puppy, Dickens, is a present from Amanda Kendall.
Amanda Kendall is Jennifer's best friend and flatmate. She works at the Nat. Gallery. She is a possible love interest for Sidney.
Mrs Silvia Maguire is Sidney's daily help and housekeeper. She was born on 21.01.1901, the day Queen Victoria died.
DI Geordie Keating of Cambridge Police is married to Cathy, and they have 3 children.
Leonard Graham is Sidney's new curate, appointed during the year.
Stephen Staunton, murdered, Irish, a solicitor.
Hildegard Staunton was married to Stephen, and teaches piano. She too is a possible love interest for Sidney.
Miss Annabel Morrison is Stephen's secretary.
Pamela Morton had been having an affair with Staunton.
Clive Morton, solicitor, was Staunton's business partner.
Derek Javis is the Cambridge coroner.
Ben Blackwood, a Magdelene man, an architectural historian, is writing the history of Locket Hall, owned by Lord Teversham.

Private Lives :

The story is set in 1954. Sidney Chambers, vicar of Grantchester is 32/33. Every Thursday he meets his friend DI Geordie Keating in the RAF bar of the Eagle for a game of backgammon and a pint or two. Sidney's parents do not approve of his sister Jennifer's latest boyfriend, Johnny Johnson who runs a jazz club with his father Phil (the cat) Johnson who has a long police record but is now reformed. Sidney is a jazz lover. His brother Matthew plays is a skiffle band.

There are two love interests in Sidney's life - Amanda Kendall and Hildegard Staunton. Amanda is Jennifer's best friend and flatmate. Amanda is as rich as Sidney is poor. They are sort of in love with each other, but call it a hearty friendship. Geordie Keating thinks Sidney should propose to Amanda, but such is her busy, whirlwind social life, how could she adjust to live as a poor vicar's wife ? Sidney and Amanda get into all sorts of scrapes together through the year, and Amanda's father tells her to marry one of her many rich suitors and never to see Sidney again. Associating with Sidney is too dangerous. Amanda ignores her father's advice. She tells Sidney that she will never marry without love, that he will have a veto over whom she marries, and that he will conduct the wedding service - but at some distant future. She admits that if Sidney married someone else first, she would be broken. This may be a possibility ? Amanda has given Sidney a black labrador puppy which he renames Dickens.

The other love interest is a widow - Hildegard Staunton. Her husband Stephen was murdered in the first of the six stories in this book. She met Stephen who was Irish in Berlin. They were to live in Ireland, but never did. She doesn't like living in Cambridge - there is too much but understandable post war prejudice against Germans. She teaches piano, but does not have many pupils. Sidney and Hildegard feel comfortable, and at home in each other's company. They do not analyse their feelings for each other, but is it love ? Hildegard returns to Berlin, but Sidney is invited to visit, and they write to each other. At the end of the book Sidney tells Geordie that he is to visit Hildegard after Christmas. Geordie asks if Amanda knows. No, says Sidney, but it's not a secret. I think it should be says Geordie.

In the course of the book Sidney acquires a curate to help him with church duties - Leonard Graham. He may have homosexual leanings, but it's 1954, and illegal. Leonard never admits to this, but without lying.

The Main Plots : There are six stories that follow one after the other, as the year progresses, often involving the same characters. I will say something about each : -

1. The Shadow of Death.

Sidney has just buried Stephen Staunton - an apparent suicide, a bottle of whisky on his desk, he blew his brains out. Stephen and Clive Morton were solicitors and business partners. Pamela Morton, Clive Morton's wife, visits Sidney. She and Stephen had been having an affair, and planned to run away together - no way would he commit suicide. DI Geordie Keating is not interested - it's an obvious suicide, full stop. Sydney has to investigate. He visits Stephen's wife Hildegard, a German - and so Sydney and Hildegard meet. She says Stephen had no enemies, but he should ask Stephen's secretary Miss Annabel Morrison. The whisky on Stephen's desk was not the distinctive malt he drank. Later Miss Morrison gives Sidney an apparent suicide note, and Stephen's personal diary. The diary was kept in pencil, and rubbed out after each day. Curiously it seemed to be sometimes split into morning and afternoon sections - AM and PM. It is Sidney that realises AM and PM could stand for something else. It's quite a neat story which I won't spoil. Throughout, Sidney keeps Hildegard informed, and they develop a friendship, perhaps it's more.

2. A Question of Trust

This is another interesting story. Sidney's old friend Nigel Thompson, an MP, has invited Sidney to a New Year's Eve party. Sidney's sister Jennifer is there with her new boyfriend Johnny Johnson, and her flatmate Amanda Kendall. Guy Hopkins gives Amanda a jewellery box and asks her to open it. It's an expensive (325 guineas) ruby and diamond engagement ring. Everyone admires it as it is passed round, but Amanda has not actually said yes. Nigel drops a bottle of Champagne - glass and mess everywhere. However the ring has now gone missing - who had it last ? When a taxi arrives for Daphne Young, Guy insists on searching her handbag before she leaves - no ring. Amanda and Guy argue, and the proposal is withdrawn. Everyone thinks that Johnny Johnson stole the ring - his father is an ex cat burglar, like father like son. When MP Nigel does not want the police involved, Jennifer volunteers Sidney's services to investigate. Daphne's father is a retired jeweller. Sidney sets up a reconstruction with a cheap ring from Woolworths. Amazingly, this too goes missing. Sidney goes to retreive it, and produces the original ring. Who stole it ? Read the story. As an aside, Daphne's introduces Sidney to her lodger, Leonard Graham who is looking for a position as a curate somewhere.

3. First do no Harm.

Inspector Keating wants Sidney's help. Old Mrs Livingstone has died. Her daughter Isobel and her doctor Michael Robinson can now get married, and they want a quick cremation. However, there are rumours that Michael "helped" Old Mrs Livingstone on her way. Someone has complained to Derek Jarvis, the coroner. How much morphine is an acceptable dosage to alleviate only suffering? Exceed that and it may be murder. A post mortem is required. Soon another of Doctor Robinson's older patients has died, and now no one want's the doctor near them in case he kills them. It's quite a puzzle for Sidney.

4. A Matter of Time

Sidney takes Inspector Keating with him to Johnny Johnson's jazz club to hear the great American star Gloria Dee perform. Jennifer is there, as is Johnny, and Phil Johnson, Johnny's disreputable father. Also there is is Claudette, Johnny's sister and her father's favourite. As the evening progresses, Sidney is enthralled with Gloria Dee's singing - a world famous artist. Next there is a scream. Someone has strangled Claudette. Geordie takes over until the local police arrive - call an ambulance, contact Scotland Yard, lock the doors, no one can leave. Inspector Williams of the Yard arrives to take charge of the murder enquiry. Everyone in the Johnson family is shattered. Her father Phil doted on Claudette. Amanda is there too. Earlier, she had seemed to recognise one of Gloria's supporting crew, but he denied knowing her. Sidney's services are volunterred - Jennifer tells him that, after all, Claudette was soon to become her sister. It turns out to be a revenge killing.

5. The Lost Holbein

Sidney is a guest of Lord Teversham at Locket Hall. Teversham is complaining of death duties,and may have to sell one of his precious paintings, or bequeath it to the nation. Sidney recommends Amanda to Lord Teversham. She works at the National gallery and will advise him. Amanda visits Locket Hall, and is very taken with a dark portrait of a mystery woman. This painting had been restored about 10 years ago on advice from an insurance assessor. Amanda tells them that the painting is a copy put back into the original frame. If she is correct, the original may be a missing painting of Anne Bolyn, and worth a fortune. Amanda goes in search of the original, working solo, and finds herself locked in a bathroom of an isolated cottage, captured by a wierd lunatic man who drugs her and almost rapes her. Read the story. Not unreasonably Amanda's father doesn't want her associating with Sidney any longer - too many dangerous things happen when he is around !

6. Honourable Men.

Sidney is participating in a local amateur dramatic version of Julius Caesar, but set in a 1930's fascist state. The director is Derek Jarvis, the coroner. Caesar is stabbed on stage. The actor is Lord Teversham, one of the prop knives had been substituted with a real one, and Lord Teversham is dead. Sidney is there, and so is very much involved. Lord Teversham was a homosexual - illegal in the 1950s. Was it a crime of passion by one of his lovers ? Chatting to Sidney, Amanda had told him that, a while ago, when drunk, her exasperated father had threatened to kill her if she still mixed with Sidney. She goes on to say that it must be very difficult for a father to kill a favourite son or daughter - "so I'm not worried". This remark solves the case for Sidney.

All in all, it' a good read, although I would prefer a single long story to six little ones. Meanwhile we must read on to follow the Sidney / Amanda / Hildegard love triangle.

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I read this book in July, 2025.

This is book 2 in the Grantchester Mysteries series by James Runcie where we follow the dual life of Sydney Chambers as a vicar and as an enthusiastic amateur detective. We also follow his private life - will he pluck up enough courage to marry, and will it be Amanda Kendall or Hildegard Staunton ? My usual three headings are - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .

Sidney Chambers (38) is the Vicar of Grantchester, and the son of Alec and Iris. He fought in the last war, and won an MC. His pet labrador dog, Dickens, was a present from Amanda Kendall.
Jennifer Chambers is Sydney's sister, and she is still dating Johnny Johnson.
Matthew Chambers is Sydney's brother.
Amanda Kendall is Jennifer's best friend and flatmate. She works at the Nat. Gallery. The daughter of Sir Cecil Kendall, she is a possible love interest for Sidney.
Mrs Silvia Maguire is Sidney's daily help and housekeeper. She was born on 21.01.1901, the day Queen Victoria died.
DI. Geordie Keating of Cambridge Police, Sidney's best friend, is married to Cathy, and they have 3 children.
Leonard Graham is Sidney's curate, possibly a homosexual but never admitted (it's illegal in the 1950s).
Hildegard Staunton (31) is the widow of Stephen, and teaches piano. She too is a possible love interest for Sidney. She lives in Berlin. Her maiden name is Leber, and she is the daughter of Hans Leber, a hero in Leipzig.
Mattias Baumann is Hildegard's brother.
Sibilla Leber is Hidegard's mother.
Trudi Leber is Hildegard's sister.
Derek Javis is the Cambridge coroner.
Chantry Vine is the Archdeacon in Ely.

Private Lives :

This book finally settles the Amanda v Hildegard contest. For a long time, rich Amanda Kendall had no rival. She and Sydney were in love, but she made it quite clear that she would not forgo her London social life to live as the wife of a relatively poor country vicar. We then met Hildegard Staunton, a widow, a gifted pianist. She and Sydney were soul mates - comfortable in each other's company. Hildegard is a German who doesn't feel welcome in post war Britain, and she returns to live in Berlin with occasional visits - Hildegard to the UK, and Sydney to Berlin. Hildegard is puzzled that Sydney is so adept at solving murders, and reading characters, but he can't recognise love when it's staring him in the face! Amanda brings things to a head when she phones Sydney at 11 pm one night. She has met Tony (Prof. Anthony Cartwright ) a physics professor whose research she is financing. He has asked her to marry him, she said yes, a London church on Sloane Street has been booked, and she wants Sydney to take the service. When Sydney meets Tony he has his misgivings, and tries to caution Amanda. She says he is just jealous that she is not marrying him, and won't be warned. They quarrel, and Amanda says she'll get someone else to take the service. Tony is only interested in Amanda's money, Sydney discovers that Tony has a wife, and so the wedding is off. Much later, Amanda apologises to Sydney, and as good as asks if it's too late for them. Sadly, yes. For the first time, Sydney says out loud that he loves Hildegard, but there are tears in his eyes when Amanda leaves.

And so Sydney goes to Berlin, but Hildegard is not there - her mother has had a stroke, and Hildegard has gone to Leipzig, in East Germany, to be with her. Her brother arranges for Sydney to join her, but in East Germany Sydney gets involved in a spy adventure, is arrested, stripped, held in prison, and interrogated. Happily, Hildegard's father Hans Leber was a war hero - a communist martyr - and so Hildegard manages to rescue Sydney. But now there are tanks on the streets, gunfire, and the Berlin Wall is going up. Hildegard and Sydney go up river, swim across, and escape. Months later they get married in Grantchester in front of all their friends. Leonard Graham, Sydney's curate takes the service and Amanda and Geordie are there to add their sincere congratulations.

The Main Plots :

There are six chapters of about 60 to 100 pages, each a separate story.

1. Perils of the Night.

This is a story based upon Cambridge's reputation as a recruiting ground for the UK secret service. A college fellow takes two of his students on a night time prank / climb of a college tower, and although an experienced climber, falls to his death. Did he fall, or was he pushed ? The Master of the college has secret service connections. Is this an attempt to ingratiate the two fellow student climbers with the enemy? The climber who fell was a well known secret service recruiter. Are we dealing with secret agents, or double agents ? One of the students disappears, but resurfaces in the final chapter in Berlin - puting Sydney's life in danger.

2. Love and Arson.

There is a fire in a summer house used by an artist but owned by Bell's Garage. It's arson, but not by petrol - in fact, it's quite ingenious. Is it an attempt to frame an unsuitable boyfriend, or an insurance scam ?

3. Unholy Week.

A victim is found dead in his bath, and while the doctor says it's natural causes, others say electrocution, and the college electrician who is rewiring the place is unfairly sacked. Hildegard is over visiting Sydney, and the electrician's sister is Hildegard's B&B host. Why did maths professor Todd act so quickly ? The victim Adam Cade was Todd's junior lecturer. It's a case of plagarism, and reputation protection.

4. The Hat Trick.

This is a homage to the game of cricket. Zafar Ali has an English girlfriend and gets a hat trick, but doesn't get to keep the ball as is tradition - it has disappeared. Ali is poisoned in three ingenious ways which together prove fatal. One of the poisons used was commonly used to sedate horses - says Amanda. This is a vital clue for Sydney. It's racial prejudice at it's worst.

5. The Uncertainty Principle.

This is the Amanda / Tony intended marriage story.

6. Appointment in Berlin.

This is the conclusion of the spy story of chapter one, with Rory Montague the student who disappeared being seen by Sydney on a train in East Germany. Stupidly he tackles Rory who denies knowing Sydney, but afterwards gives him a letter for the college Master. Rory tries to escape - shots ring out, and later Sydney is told Rory is dead, but is he really ? Sydney is arrested and found to be carrying a secret letter to the Master. It all looks a disaster, but happily Sydney is rescued by Hildegard, and they escape together back to the West from Berlin Wall era East Germany.

All in all, it's a typical Grantchester Mysteries book where Sydney is warned that his detective exploits are harming his chance of advancement in the Church. How will married life with Hildegard work out? We must read on to find out.

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I read this book in October, 2025.

This is book 3 in James Runcie's Grantchester Mysteries following the dual life of Sidney Chambers as a vicar and as an enthusiastic amateur detective. There is big news here - Sidney and Hildegard who married in the previous book, are now blessed with a baby daughter, Anna, born just before Christmas, 1963. My usual three headings are - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .

Sidney Chambers (38) is the Vicar of Grantchester, and the son of Alec, a doctor, and Iris. Sidney fought in the last war, and won an MC. His pet labrador dog, Dickens, a present from Amanda Kendall, dies but there is a new puppy - Byron.
Hildegard Chambers is Sidney's wife. She was the widow of Stephen, and still teaches piano. Her maiden name is Leber, and she is the daughter of Hans Leber, a hero in Leipzig.
Anna Chambers is Sidney and Hildegard's new baby daughter.
Jennifer Chambers is Sidney's sister - she is now engaged to Johnny Johnson.
Matthew Chambers is Sidney's brother.
Amanda Kendall is Jennifer's best friend and flatmate. She is an art historian who works at the Nat. Gallery, and the rich daughter of Sir Cecil Kendall. She is now Anna's godmother.
Mrs Silvia Maguire is Sidney's former daily help and housekeeper, born on 21.01.1901, the day Queen Victoria died. She now works for Simon Opie.
DI. Geordie Keating of Cambridge Police, Sidney's best friend, is married to Cathy, and they have 3 children.
Leonard Graham was Sidney's curate, but now has his own parish.
Sibilla Leber, 67, is Hidegard's mother.
Mattias Baumann is Hildegard's brother.
Trudi Leber is Hildegard's sister.
Derek Javis is the Cambridge coroner.
Chantry Vine is the Archdeacon in Ely.
Helena Randall is an attractive and persistent journalist.
Simon Opie is Sidney's former tutor at Cambridge.

Private Lives :

There are lots of smaller stories, such as Leonard Graham, Sidney's curate, moving on to have his own parish, and Archdeacon Chantry Vine suggesting it might also be time for Sidney, a bright prospect in the Church, to be moved to an inner city parish. However I will concentrate on three topics :-

Geordie Keating and Helena Randall.
Helena Randall is a very attractive, keen, ambitious local reporter who wants to become a crime reporter, and is seeing a lot of DI Geordie Keating. He admits she is gentle on the eye, but it's rather more than this, and Sidney often finds them alone. Geordie's wife Cathy knows about Helena and she and Sidney speak. He advises that she leaves things to run their course, and Geordie will soon come to his senses.

Sidney's dog Dickens dies.
Dickens is getting old, has athritis, and wheezes. He has an adventure playing a part in a film with Sidney. In a drowning scene, a dummy is thrown into the river, and an agitated Dickens jumps in, presumably to the rescue. Dickens gets a chill, then an infection, and then has a stroke. The vet suggests to Sidney that perhaps Dicken's time has come, it's the kindest thing to do, and so Dickens is put to sleep. Dickens, a present from Amanda, had been Sidney's patient, loyal, faithful, constant companion for 10 years, and as he says farewell Sidney recalls Kipling :
  "Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware,
  Of giving your heart for a dog to tear."
Amanda gets Sidney another dog, a puppy labrador from the same Redmond farm - it's name is Byron. Sidney has been told there is a baby on the way, and thinks it is crackers to take on a new puppy and baby at the same time.

Sidney and Hildegard, and soon baby Anna.
At the start of the book, Sidney and Hildegard have been married 6 months, and they are very, very much in love. Hildegard has stettled in well at Grantchester, has a part time teaching job at Perse Schol, still gives private piano lessons, and she organises weekly coffee mornings. When asked directly by someone else, Sidney says that yes, he would like children, and he is surprised at his answer. There is a story about nudes and nakedness in performance art. Back home, Hildegard goes to bed first, and then calls Sidney. He finds the lights out, the bedroom lit by candles, and Hildegard is lying naked on the bed surrounded by apples. She asks Sidney, "am I naked or nude ?".

Sidney had played a part in a film, and, back home after attending it's film premiere, Hildegard tells him why she has been so tired. She is pregnant, with the due date December, 15th, just before Christmas. Hildegard's mother Sibilla Leber comes over from Germany for the birth and to stay for Christmas. Of course Sidney is out when the time comes - he is collecting his new puppy from the Redmonds. The Redmonds get a phone call telling Sidney that Hildegard is in hospital, but with other excitement, there is a delay in passing on the message. It's a big baby, it will be a breech birth, and so Caesarian delivery is best. Sidney is anxious that they are not telling him everything, but happily all is well, and baby Anna is born at 2 am to an exhausted Hilegard. Sidney is delighted beyond words. Amanda is to be the godmother. Everyone is at Sidney's Christmas service and he preaches a brilliant, and very appropriate, sermon about the birth of a child, and the Christ child.

The Main Plots :

There are four chapters of about 75 pages, each a separate story, but linked.

1. The problem of Evil.

This is about the fore-warned killing of vicars, and the carving of the mark of the devil on their chests. The plot opens with Sidney and Hildegard arriving home to find two dead doves posed on their doormat. Geordie is concerned when Sidney tells him, as a vicar, Philip Agnew, had been found suffocated in his church. Sidney asks Jerome Benson, the local taxidermist, about the significance of dead doves, and also meets Jerome's brother, Jimmy Benson a vagabond. Geordie thinks Jimmy might be a suspect for the killing, but when he goes to interview him, he has disappeared. Sidney holds Agnew's funeral, and Patrick Harland gives him a lift home. Harland says that Agnew had confessed to be a homosexual on his death bed. Could that be a murder motive ? Next a decapitated blackbird is left on reporter Helena Randall's door step. There is another death, the Rev Isaiah Shaw, also with the mark of the devil carved on his chest. Geordie offers Sidney police protection. Sidney next gets a muffled man's phone call - "meet me at 4 pm, I know the man you seek." Sidney goes there and finds Jimmy Benson's dead body. Meanwhile Patrick Harland had become a suspect - he had trained to be a vicar, but failed, was he seeking revenge of the Church? Sidney consults his former Cambridge tutor Simon Opie who had found a dead robin in his aviary - how had it got there. Sidney arrives just in time to save Opie's life. Who did it - read the story?

2. Female, Nude.

Sidney meets Amanda to view an exhibition of nude paintings at the Fitzwilliam. A beautiful girl in a fur coat enters the gallery, takes off her coat revealing she is naked, and walks around the room, singing in French. Soon Geordie joins them - she was a decoy, a semi valuable Sickert painting, "The Trapeze" has been stolen from a gallery two rooms along. Sidney interviews the custodian on duty in the Sickert room, an Omari Baptiste. Reluctantly, Sidney drags out of Omari that he had seen the girl before talking in French to the museum director, Graham Anderson. Anderson is not all that co-operative when Sidney and Geordie interview him. Helena Randall, the reporter thinks she has identified the girl as a French performance artist by the name of Celline Bellacourt. She lives in London with her older boyfriend Quentin Reveille. Sidney tracks Celline down, but she is lying to him - why? They interview Graham Henderson again. Eventually he acknowledges that he does know Celline - a girl who thinks the artist on the trapeze painting may be her mother. Celline's parents died when she was young, and she was adopted and brought up by a couple who ran the Hotel Du Plage, in Dieppe. Later Henderson confesses that he thinks he is Celline's father from his days as a student and a visit to Paris - but she does not know this. Now Celline and Reveille have disappeared. Sidney suggests that if they stole the painting, they may have taken it to Dieppe to get the trapeze artist identified as Celline's mother. Amanda loans Sidney £20 so that he accompany Geordie to Dieppe, but on condition that Sidney also gets Hildegard some of her favourite Shalimar perfume with any change. From his friendship with art historian Amanda, Sidney has picked up a bit about paintings, and how they are framed, etc. The painting is recovered and the thieves arrested.

I read this book in October, 2026.

This is book 4 in the Grantchester Mysteries by James Runcie. Our hero is Sidney Chambers initially as a vicar in Grantchester, Cambridge, and then as Archdeacon of Ely but always as an amateur detective. My usual three headings are - Characters , Personal Lives and Main Plots .

Characters .

Sidney Chambers (c 44) is the Vicar of Grantchester at the start of the book, and then is promoted to Archdeacon of Ely. He is the son of Alec, a doctor, and Iris, he fought in the last war, and he won an MC. His new pet labrador dog is called Byron. He is married to Hildegard, and they have a daughter Anna.
Hildegard Chambers is Sidney's wife. She was the widow of Stephen, and is a brilliant pianist - she also teaches piano. Her maiden name was Leber, and she is the daughter of Hans Leber, a hero in Leipzig.
Anna Chambers is Sidney and Hildegard's new baby daughter.
Jennifer Chambers is Sidney's sister - she is now married to Johnny Johnson, and they have two boys.
Matthew Chambers is Sidney's brother.
Amanda Kendall is Sydney's former girlfriend and Jennifer's best friend and flatmate. She is an art historian who works at the Nat. Gallery, and the rich daughter of Sir Cecil Kendall. She is also Anna's godmother.
Mrs Silvia Maguire, Sidney's former daily help and housekeeper, is still around. She also worked for Simon Opie.
DI. Geordie Keating of Cambridge Police, Sidney's best friend, is married to Cathy, and they have 3 girls, the youngest of which, Katie, wants a pony.
Leonard Graham was Sidney's curate, but now has his own parish.
Sibilla Leber, c 70, is Hidegard's mother.
Mattias Baumann is Hildegard's brother.
Trudi Leber is Hildegard's sister.
Derek Javis is the Cambridge coroner.
Chantry Vine was the Archdeacon in Ely, but he transferred to Bristol, and Sydney became the new Archdeacon of Ely.
Helena Randall is an attractive and persistent journalist.
Simon Opie is Sidney's former tutor at Cambridge.
Malcolm Mitchell is Sydney's new curate, a model railway enthusiast, who loves his food and cakes from ladies in the congregation.
Felix Carpenter is the Dean of Ely. He is married to Cordelia.
Orlando Richards was the choirmaster at Cambridge, but died in a freak accident.
Canon Christopher Clough, 52, is a womanising canon in Ely - the Casanova of the Cloisters.
Sabine Neuer , 17, is Sydney and Hildegard's new Au Pair, sent to England to improve her English, and recover from a first time love affair.
Adam Barnes, sixth former, and Hildegard's star piano student.
Henry Richard, widower, is Amanda's boyfriend, and husband by the end of the book.

Private Lives :

There are lots of smaller stories. However I will concentrate on five topics :-

Sydney, Hildegard, and daughter Anna.

At the start of the story, daughter Anna is a baby of 3 months, and at the end she is almost 3 years old. Hildegard asks why Sydney keeps involving himself in detective cases when he should be enjoying the company of his wife and child. Hildegard has her own work as a music teacher too, and tells Sydney that she has asked her sister to find them an au pair to take on some of their work load. Sydney's curate Malcolm is very popular - old ladies give him lots of delicious cakes. He is someone who has time for them - unlike Sydney is off being a detective. Half way through the story, Sydney gets promoted to Archdeacon of Ely - and so the family move there, into a huge old house, too big to heat, but with a lovely main room ideal for Hildegard's piano. Sydney gets a massive wake up call when Hildegard, is annoyed at him for going off to the pub with Keating when she needs time to practise for her forthcoming piano recital. She says she will not be a nagging wife, but if his family is not his priority, she will up sticks, and take Anna with her back to Germany. Sydney is shaken to the core.

Sydney and Hildegard interview 17 year old Sabine Neuer, who becomes their new au pair - but one more interested in playing with Anna than doing the ironing. She is a bit of a character - earning extra money doing chores for Canon Christoper Clough, but wearing only her undies. She later does it topless for more money - see the Christopher Clough section below.

Sydney and DI Geordie Keating.

At the start of the book, Sydney and DI Geordie Keating meet most Thursday evenings in the RAF bar of the Eagle pub - for a couple of drinks and a game of backgammon. After Sydney tells Geordie that he is moving to Ely, they still meet up, but sometimes in Cambridge, and sometimes in Ely at a new venue in the Price Albert pub in Silver Street.

Malcolm Mitchell and Helena Randall.

This unlikely pairing of a pushy reporter with a church curate, starts when Malcolm invites Helena out for an evening meal. Romance blooms. After Helena gets promotion to become a crime reporter in London with the Daily Mirror, she wants Malcolm to be transfered there.

Amanda Kendall and Henry Richard.

Amanda wants Sydney and Hildegard to give her their opinion on her new boyfriend, Henry Richard, a widower looking for a wife. Initially Amanda is not too impressed with Henry -he is weak She wanted him to tackle his friend Sir Mark, suspected of wife abuse - but Henry didn't even broach the subject. Henry was married before, but he told Amanda that his wife died (a lie). He wants a registry wedding, and Amanda wants a blessing in the Lady Chapel of Sydney's Ely Cathedral. But someone is threatening Amanda, sending her "I will kill you", "He loves me", "Marry him and die" letters. Next it's a phone call "Marry him and you will die " - a woman's voice. There is a complication when Sydney sees a woman, dressed as Amanda, and so meets Virginia Newburn. They have a most peculiar conversation. The harrassment extends to someone having goods sent to Amanda on approval, and even an undertaker calling. To cut a long story short, Connie, Henry's wife is not dead, but in a mental institution. They are divorced. Virginia was visiting and keeping an eye on Connie but, out for a walk with her, Virginia ends up drowned in the River Ouse. Henry and Amanda visit Connie and put an end to her nonsense. Amanda does not love Henry with a passion, and knows that part of her attraction is her money, but Henry is a decent man, trying to do his best for Amanda, and it is enough. They marry, and get their desired church blessing from Sydney in the Lady Chapel.

Canon Christopher Clough.

Unlike in Grantchester, Felix Carpenter, the Dean of Ely, is happy for Sydney to use his detective skills. He wants him to investigate Canon Christopher Clough, a notorious womaniser, the "Casanova of the Cloisters". Christopher assures his lady friends he is harmless, is celibrate, and does not like to be touched. By chance, Clough is on the train to offer help to new 17 year old au pair Sabine when Hildegard and Sydney fail to meet her at Ely station. Soon she is calling him Chris, and they are seeing each other. When he tells Sydney that they love each other, Sydney exerts his authority as Archdeacon. It is completely unacceptable for a 52 year old member of the clergy to be dating a 17 year old young girl. Hildegard also tackles Sabine and is amazed that she is doing his ironing to earn extra pocket money. More than that, she does the ironing in her underwear, Clough tells her not to look, and then goes off to the bathroom. Next Sabine is getting more money doing the ironing topless. However it has come to a head. Clough was not satisfied with just looking, and Sabine defended herself with her hot iron. Clough is in hospital with bad burns.

The Main Plots :

There are six short, separate, linked stories, each about 70 pages long.

1. The Forgiveness of Sins.

Josef Madera has turned up at Sydney's church and claimed sanctuary. He woke up in his hotel bedroom to find his wife Sophie dead, all the doors and windows locked, and a blooded knife on the bed. He threw it out of the window, saw a bus going to Grantchester, and so took a bus there. Josef and Sophie are half of the Holst musical quartet, the other half being Dmitri and Natasha Zhirkov. Sydney visits Keating, and they visit the Madera hotel room - no body, no mess, the room is immaculate. Where is Sophie, also where is her cello ? The reporter Helena Randall is covering the story, and joins Sydney and Geordie. The trio investigate and the facts emerge. Madera had an affair with Natasha - Sophie found out, but Dmitri didn't know. Sophie has a bad temper and told Josef to give up Natasha or she would kill her. Of course Sophie is not dead. She is staying at her parents house in Thaxted (Holst connection). Natasha is killed. All this is a Sophie revenge plot. She told Dmitri that Natasha was unfaithful, and he killed her - a crime of passion. And Sophie tormented Josef with the thought that he had killed her. It's all too much to forgive - Josef and Sophie separate.

2. Nothing to Worry About.

Persuaded by Amanda, Sydney and Hildegard are spending a weekend at Witchford Hall on the invitation of Sir Mark and Lady Elizabeth Kirby-Grey. The weekend is also a "find a husband for Amanda" exercise and Sir Mark's best friend Henry Richard is the target - see personal lives. Amanda is worried about her good friend Elizabeth who has been acting strangely. As the ladies leave the evening dinner table, Amanda notices a large burn mark on the back of Elizabeth's neck. She says she must have sat too long under the dryer at the hairdressers. Mark says she is always having litle accidents. Amanda tells Sydney and Hildegard that Elizabeth is scared of her husband, and the burn was caused by him. Mark seems to have his eyes on their maid Nancy Hayworth - he thinks it's a perk of his position to bed her.

At the weekend shoot, the gamekeeper tells Sydney that his reputation is well known - and that everyone is glad that he is there for Lady Elizabeth. "It's got to stop." Late at night, as Sydney goes to get a cocoa for Hildegard, he sees Mark trying to enter Nancy Hayworth's bedroom, and hears Nancy reply "You know what I want - you have to bring me money." Amanda asks Henry to speak to Sir Mark, but initially he fails to do so. Dr Robinson visits Elizabeth when Mark is out - there are more burns and bruises. Amanda arranges to meet Elizabeth in London, and wants Sydney to be there. Elizabeth admits that Mark hits her, but he always apologises afterwards. They had a son Peter, who died, and this was when their marriage problems started. It's Nancy's mum Mrs Francis Hayworth who is Mark's mistress - and it was she who got the maid job for Nancy. Sydney visits Francis, and tells her that Sir Mark has seduced her daughter. She is furious. Later Dr Robinson phones. Elizabeth has been badly beaten, and is in hospital but will live. Henry had tackled Mark, they quarrelled, Henry left, and Mark started on Elizabeth.

Although Sydney, Amanda and Henry have done their best, they have not helped matters, and there is not a happy ending. Sir Mark takes his shotgun into his woods, and shoots himself. Amanda simply cannot understand how Elizabeth can miss a man who treated her so badly.

3. Fugue.

Sydney watches as Orlando Richards, a Cambridge college choirmaster, is having a new Steinway piano delivered by a crane into his upper floor rooms through a removed window. The piano slips, falls on Orlando and kills him. Everyone is talking about the freak death. The delivery firm was Gaunts, owned by reclusive Dennis Gaunt. It was his nephew Lennie Gaunt who fell off the piano platform and broke his leg. It's an unusual case - Sydney cannot but take an interest. He visits Lennie in hospital who tells him he untied the piano to get it through the window, and he and the piano slipped. The Gaunts are a family firm apparently in deep financial difficulties - the accident will cost them business. If the company fails, all the family will suffer, and may lose their livelihoods and homes. The college bursar shows Sydney the Gaunts accounts which are a work of fiction - impossibly dire. Most business is obviously being done on a cash in hand basis - in fact they are money laundering. Walter Collins, the college bursar had reached the end of his patience with them over long overdue unpaid rent - "settle the amount you owe or the college will evict you". As part of his investigation Sydney had obtained before and after accident pictures from an attending local photographer, Colin Larkin. His conclusion is somewhat cryptic - it was an accident, and Orlando's killer must be brought to justice. Read the story to see what he meant.

4. A Following.

Amanda's pending marriage to Henry Richard has hit a snag. She consults Sydney over threatening "marry him and die" letters she has been receiving. Sydney tells her to ask Henry about his recent past, and, although Ely is outside his jurisdiction, asks Geordie Keating to help. Amanda receives more letters, but insists that Henry must not find out. Sydney wonders if the sender might be Virginia Newburn, a woman he met dressed exactly like Amanda. They had a most peculiar conversation. Amanda's harassment increases - someone is having unsolicited goods delivered to Amanda's house, and then she finds dead roses on her door step. Amanda is spooked, and moves to her parents' house, but the problem follows her there - an undertaker's hearse arrives at the door.

Sydney and Keating insist that Henry must be told, and the story comes out. He admits that his wife Connie is not dead, but in a mental institution. They are divorced. Amanda and Henry visit Connie - confronting Connie has removed Amanda's fear of some unknown assasin. Amanda and Henry are married.

5. Prize Day.

It's prize giving day at Millingham Private school near Ely on the River Ouse. Geraint Rogers, the headmaster has asked Sydney to umpire the Old Boys v Pupils cricket match. All is going well when there is a terrific explosion from the Pearson Building, the new science block. The door opens and the chemistry master Trevor Paine staggers out on fire. Bystanders rush to help, and eventually Paine is taken to the local hospital. The explosion was deliberate - someone had entered the building earlier, and turned on the gas of all the Bunsen burners. Paine entered later, switched on the light, and the resulting spark set off the explosion. Trevor Paine had a reputation for over enthusiastic use of the cane and had his enemies. The headmaster clears it with the Cathedral Dean and then asks Sydney to do an unofficial investigation. Was the explosion an end of term prank, or was Paine the target ? There had been a problem with the school's previous chaplain, "Rev Kev", serving time for abuse in local public toilets. The Reverend Kevin Warner and Trevor Paine were comrades in arms. Heading the list of possible pupil suspects is Marcus Pearson, grandson of the School's main benefactors. Sydney interviews Marcus. He denies causing the explosion - he was playing in the cricket match when the building exploded, and earlier he was practising in the nets, with lots of witnesses. He tells Sydney to speak to another pupil, Adam Barnes - the same Adam who is Hildegard's star piano pupil.

Sydney speaks to Adam, and visits Mrs Barnes. Adam's older brother Luke was also a pupil at Millingham and, a victim of abuse, he gassed himself in the family kitchen. He had told his brother that if anything happens to him, Adam should kill the devils who tormentd him. A gas explosion seems like poetic justice. Sydney speaks to Rev Kev and Paine. Kev says the boys get pleasure from his caning, it's a form of loving that has always been going on. The same boys keep misbehaving deliberately to get caned. Paine behaved similarly. It's child sexual abuse on a massive scale. Marcus changes his mind, and confesses to causing the explosion. His grandparents ask Sydney to help get him reinstated. Sydney thinks Marcus's confession might have been a noble act. Adam had caused the explosion in retribution, and Marcus thought the Barnes family had suffered enough. Sydney says the abusers must be investigated, Adam should be treated with understanding, and if Marcus withdraws his false confession he should be reinstated. In the event Marcus is happy to leave this terrible school.

6. Florence.

Amanda tells Sydney that she is off to Florence on National Art Gallery business, and invites Sydney, Hildegard, and Anna to join her. She will pay the air fares, and the family can stay with Timothy Jeffers, the English chaplain who is a friend of Sydneys. Also staying there are Sir William and Lady Victoria Etheringham who are negotiating the loan of some of their paintings to a Florence Art Gallery. Timothy and his housekeeper Francesca, young and beautiful, meet the Chambers at Pisa airport and take them back to Florence. Francesca's family are all in security or the police - her father is head of security at the famous Uffizi gallery. Soon Amanda is showing them the sights of Florence, wonderful artwork, paintings, statues, etc. Her knowledge (and the author's ) is impressive. But then trouble arrives. There had been prolonged rain, and the deluge floods the city whose centre becomes a lake. Basements are flooded, untold damage is done, and it's all hands on deck to save as much as possible and move everything to upper levels. Sydney, in his huge clerical cloak, is a conspicuous helper. Exhausted, he gets back to the English chaplain's house, but there is a knock at the door. It's the local police - the calabinieri, (the two other police forces are the state police and the local police). They appear ever so polite, and explain that one of a famous pair of paintings has gone missing - did Sydney remember where he had left it during his rescue efforts? They ask if he is absent minded and are fascinated with his huge cloak, that could well conceal a painting. In short, they suspect Sydney is a thief, arrest him, and search the house. Amanda is incandescent. They ask Francesca for help, and when she explains that it will take money, it all becomes plain. Hildegard says we do not have money, but Francesca counters that Amanda does. It will take 10,000 lire, only £60 in English money, and Amanda can afford it.

Naturally they are reluctant to pay a bribe on principle, but Francesca explains that the police are not well paid, and it is common practice. Amanda pays up - but first Sydney has to be transferred to the state police for further questioning - and another bribe, which Francesca pays in kind, agreeing to a date with a police officer. Amanda had insisted on seeing the Uffizi director, and then that he show her the companion painting to the stolen one. As she suspected, it too was missing - but it could not be blamed on Sydney who was in police custody at the time it was stolen. This is about half the story, and Sydney has a good hunch that he knows who stole the painting. Lady Etheringham had apparently fainted in the public square under the weight of all the "shopping" she was carrying. She soon recovered, but meanwhile Sir Etheringham had taken her "shopping" home. There are police chases directed by Sydney, and eventually the culprits are caught, but not in the least penitent. They think they can donate to charity and buy their freedom. Sydney explains this will not be so - he has called in Interpol to take over from the local corrupt police.

All in all, a book much as expected written by an educated and cultured author well versed in Church of England Ecclesiastical life and practice. I didn't think this was quite as good as previous books in the series - but this is just a minor quibble.

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James Runcie Heading

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