Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night

Reviews

Taken individually, each of these clerical whodunits poses a clever puzzle for armchair detectives. Viewed as a collective study of British life as it was lived when Elizabeth II first ascended the throne, these stories present a consistently charming and occasionally cutting commentary on 'a postwar landscape full of industry, promise and concrete. Richly atmospheric… 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. Runcie is a master at capturing the mood of the 1950s, replete with the loathing and fear of Communism—as well as the enthusiasm of its advocates. The author is a master wordsmith, writing in delicate, lyrical prose…Readers definitely are in for a treat when they meet this gentlemanly but worldly man of the cloth. I cannot but hope there are many more cases in his future. Successfully captures Cold War sensibilities. This old-fashioned historical moves at a methodical pace, dense with long theological dialogs. Only a churl could resist Sidney, whose musings on love, evil and morality, penchant for quoting snippets of poetry, preference for whiskey over the endless cups of tea he is offered, and ratiocinative success at unraveling crimes make him endearing. Expand reviews