SIDNEY CHAMBERS AND THE PERILS OF THE NIGHT

Canon Sidney Chambers focuses on crimes that don't at first appear to be crimes--which is quite something for a 1950s cleric. In this series of loosely connected short stories, narrator Peter Wickham masterfully tackles German, Indian, Scots, and a wide range of English accents depicting various classes and personalities. An Indian Muslim is murdered in a clever manner after he leads his cricket team to victory. Sidney's relationship with socialite Amanda takes a moving turn as he investigates her fiancé. Most exciting is Sidney's arrest in communist East Berlin. Wickham enhances Runcie's fine writing and well-developed characters and shines brightest as he reveals a wonderful, quite unexpected ending. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2013]