Grantchester Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of The Grantchester Mysteries Books

The Grantchester Mystery series is a series of mystery and crime fiction books written in the form of short stories by one of the highly popular British novelists named James Runcie. There is a total of 5 books released in the series between the years 2012 and 2016. All the novels of the Grantchester Mystery series are set during the time of the 1950s in a village located near Cambridge, England, called Grantchester. The series mainly revolves around a 32 year old clergyman-detective named Canyon Sidney Chambers. He is depicted as an amateur sleuth as well as the vicar of Grantcheseter. Throughout the series, he indulges in a number of the sleuthing activities related to important cases in Grantchester, Cambridge. He also plays an important role in solving many of those cases with the help of his investigative intelligence and wit. Author James Runcie had initially planned to publish a total of 6 mystery novels in the series, of which 5 have already been written and released by him. He is currently working on the 6th novel of the series, which is expected to be ready for publication very soon in the coming days.

Author James Runcie has said in his interviews that he was inspired to write the series because of his father, Robert Runcie, who was Canterbury’s former Archbishop. In the year 2014, a few of the short stories from the Grantchester Mystery series were adapted into a television series titled ‘Grantchester’ by ITV. The television series was filmed on real locations in Grantchester, Cambridge, and in London. Initially, a six part series was made which was broadcast on television in The United Kingdom during the Autumn of the year 2014. After its grand success, similar to the original novel series, a second television series was developed and released in England in the year 2016. In both the novel series and the television series, Sidney Chambers is depicted as a part time detective and a full time priest in Grantchester. With his excellent and dedicated sleuthing activities, he goes on to become one of the lovable sleuthing vicar’s of England. In the television series, the role of Sidney Chambers is played by a popular actor named James Norton and that of the Detective Inspector Geordie Keating is played by another famous British actor named Robson Green.

The first novel of the Grantchester Mystery series written by author James Runcie was released under the title ‘Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death’. This book is set in Grantchester, Cambridge, The United Kingdom, and features the primary characters in the form of Sidney Chambers, Geordie Keating, Amanda Kendall, Mrs. Maguire, Johnny Johnson, Leonard Graham, Jennifer Chambers, and Derek Jarvis. At the beginning of the this novel, Sidney Chambers is depicted as a 32 year old bachelor, an unconventional clergyman, the Vicar of Grantchester, and can easily go to places where the Grantchester police is unable to go. Inspector Geordie Keating is described as the roguish friend of Sidney Chambers, who seems reluctant in the beginning to join in his detective activities. But, after seeing his dedication towards setting the things around him right and serving justice, he begins to help him. The first case that they work on together is that of the suspected suicide of a solicitor in Cambridge.

They also go on to work on the case of a scandalous theft of jewelry during the occasion of a dinner party on New Year’s Eve. The other cases that Sidney Chambers and Inspector Geordie Keating work on and solve include the suspicious death of a popular jazz promoter as well as a grand art forgery. During the shocking case of the art forgery, one of the close friends of Sidney Chambers gets in danger due to the disclosure. After helping solve several cases as a part time detective along with his inspector friend Geordie Keating, Sidney Chambers realizes that being a clergyman or a detective means that you do not get the chance of being off duty ever. After the success of the novel, ITV decided to adapt it into a television series and hired actor James Norton to play the lead role of Sidney Chambers, while Robson Green was asked to play the character of Geordie Keating. The other members of the cast included Morven Christie as Amanda Kendall, Tessa Peake-Jones as the housekeeper of Sidney Chambers, and Kacey Ainsworth as the wife of Geordie Keating.

The other initial novel of the Grantchester Mystery series written by author James Runcie was published under the title ‘Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins’. It was released in the year 2015 by the Bloomsbury publishers. The plot of this novel also consists of the same main characters along with a few others, such as Hildegard Chambers, Macolm Mitchell, Sophie Madara, Josef Madara, etc. At the start of the book, Canon Sidney Chambers continues with his sleuthing activities during the 1960s as a full time priest and part time detective in Grantcheseter, Cambridge, England. A stranger visits Grantchester’s church in Lent on Thursday Morning in 1964 for seeking sanctuary. He seemed pretty much convinced that he had killed his wife. When Sidney Chambers goes to practice shooting on a weekend along with his wife Hildegard, he finds a sinister burn on the neck of his hostess. On the other hand, Sidney’s friend Amanda gets frightened after receiving some poison pen letters a few days before her marriage.

Also, a few school kids get accused of blowing up the science block of their school during a cricket match. In the middle of these multiple cases, Sidney Chambers learns that his new curate named Malcolm is becoming very popular with the parish. He himself gets an offer of promotion and thinks whether he should take it or not. In the end, the book became highly successful because of its entertaining, thoughtful, deeply humane, suspenseful, and moving plot. This helped author James Runcie to achieve name and fame for himself as a mystery writer. He was praised for his determined efforts by a number of readers, critics, and his fellow writers. The success of the initial novels of the series enabled author James Runcie to focus on and develop a few more novels in the series. He even played an important role in helping the producers from ITV to make the TV adaptation of the novel series.