A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

Grantchester stars James Norton and Robson Green and is adapted from The Grantchester Mysteries series by James Runcie.  I have previously reviewed the first three books of the series on the blog, and I'm currently reading the fourth book.  A fifth one was released this summer.  I didn't review the first season of Grantchester .  But now I'm reviewing the second season of Grantchester because I have things to say. You can view the series without reading the books.  I think they are far enough apart to be considered separate entities essentially.  The TV series largely diverges from the books in both story/plot line and character story.  As with the first series, the second one does use some of the mysteries from the second book.  However, they change a lot in the mystery and the story. There's a season long story arc in which a murder investigation, trial, and subsequent execution is followed that strains Sidney's friendships with both D. ...

Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie is the first of the book series from which the British TV series, Grantchester is adapted.  Both major and minor details of characters, relationships, and mysteries change in the adaptation from book to screen.  Having watched the series before reading this book, I can say that both book and TV show are equally engrossing. Shadow of Death is not a novel, instead it's a collection of short stories that take place successively over the course of a year that follows Sidney Chambers, the bachelor vicar of the Anglican parish in Grantchester near Cambridge in England; these particular stories are set in 1953 and 1954.  In the book Inspector Keating and Chambers are already friends and acquaintances when Chambers is called upon by a mourner who believes that the suicide of their loved one was not a suicide at all.  Unfortunately once Chambers begins meddling in solving mysteries and crimes, these matters encroac...