The sixth book in the James Runcie's much-loved series, adapted for ITV's Grantchester starring James Norton, sees full-time priest, part-time detective Sidney Chambers plunged back into sleuthing when he discovers a body in a bluebell wood. Perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton.
It is May 1971 and the Cambridgeshire countryside is bursting into summer. Archdeacon Sidney Chambers is walking in a bluebell wood with his daughter Anna and their ageing Labrador, Byron, when they stumble upon a body. Thrust into another murder investigation, Sidney discovers a world of hippies, folk music and psychedelic plants, where permissive behaviour seems to hide something darker.
This is the first of many disturbing secrets that Sidney unearths beneath the deceptively tranquil surface of the Diocese of Ely- a celebrated photographer is accused of rape; a priceless religious text vanishes from a Cambridge college; the authentication of a lost masterpiece proves a slippery business; and Sidney's own nephew goes missing.
Endeavouring to fit his clerical duties in around the demands of sleuthing, Sidney continues to reflect on the divine mysteries of love, life and faith, while wrestling with the earthly problems of parish scandals, an alarmingly progressive new secretary, the challenges of parenthood, and a great loss.
