Order of Book Series
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James Runcie Books in Order

James Runcie has written 14 books, published between 2000 and 2022. The first book is The Colour of Heaven (2000) and the newest is The Great Passion (2022). Publication order is the reading order below. 7 of the 14 books listed here are in the Grantchester Mysteries series, which has its own page: Grantchester Mysteries books in order.

Books
14
Published
2000–2022
Confirmed
1 of 14 titles
Pages on record
2,339 in 7 of 14 books
Reading time
39–58 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,339 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 7 of 14 titles with a page count on record.

See all 14 books in order Printable James Runcie checklist

James Runcie, born 7 May 1959, is a British novelist, documentary filmmaker, television producer and playwright, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a visiting professor at Bath Spa University. From 2016 to 2020 Runcie served as Commissioning Editor for Arts on BBC Radio 4. The catalogue holds 14 books, from The Colour of Heaven (2000) and The Discovery of Chocolate (2001) through Canvey Island (2006) and East Fortune (2009) to The Great Passion (2022). Sidney Chambers titles run from Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012) to Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (2017), and Grantchester Mysteries is the listed series. Clergy, murder, England and the 1950s appear in the subjects.

How many James Runcie books are there?

James Runcie has 14 books, released between 2000 and 2022. 7 of them belong to the Grantchester Mysteries series.

James Runcie Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 14 James Runcie books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Canvey Island by James Runcie (2006)
  2. Cover of East Fortune by James Runcie (2009)
  3. Cover of Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, book 1 of the Grantchester Mysteries series (2012)
  4. Cover of Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night by James Runcie, book 2 of the Grantchester Mysteries series (2013)
  5. Cover of Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil by James Runcie, book 3 of the Grantchester Mysteries series (2014)
  6. Cover of Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins by James Runcie, book 4 of the Grantchester Mysteries series (2015)
  7. Cover of Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love by James Runcie, book 6 of the Grantchester Mysteries series (2017)
  1. 1
    The Colour of Heaven2000 · confirmed 2/4
    2000–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The Discovery of Chocolate2001 · confirmed 2/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Canvey Island2006 · confirmed 2/4
    2006–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    East Fortune2009 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of DeathGrantchester Mysteries #12012 · 392 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012392
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the NightGrantchester Mysteries #22013 · 356 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2013356
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Sidney Chambers and the Problem of EvilGrantchester Mysteries #32014 · 287 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2014287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of SinsGrantchester Mysteries #42015 · 405 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2015405
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of TemptationGrantchester Mysteries #52016 · 315 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2016315
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of LoveGrantchester Mysteries #62017 · 344 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017344
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The Road to GrantchesterGrantchester Mysteries #72019 · confirmed 2/4
    2019–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The BBC National Short Story Award 2021BBC National Short Story Award #122021 · confirmed 3/4
    2021–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Tell Me Good Things: On Love, Death and Marriage2022 · confirmed 2/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Great Passion2022 · confirmed 2/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

James Runcie series in order

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.

James Runcie books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

BBC National Short Story Award

1 book

1 title published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.

Standalone books

6 books

6 James Runcie titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read James Runcie books in order?

You only need to read James Runcie books in order within the Grantchester Mysteries series, which holds 7 of the 14 James Runcie books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with James Runcie

Start with Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012), the first Grantchester Mysteries book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Colour of Heaven (2000).

What is the newest James Runcie book?

The Great Passion (2022) is the newest James Runcie book released so far.

Is there a new James Runcie book coming?

No next James Runcie book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

James Runcie at a glance

Paused
No new James Runcie title has appeared for 4 years. The last was published in 2022.
Release pace
James Runcie books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
2,339 pages across the 7 of 14 books with a recorded length, a median of 344 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most James Runcie books, 7 of 14, were published in the 2010s.

What the James Runcie books are about

11 of the 14 James Runcie books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: clergy is tagged on 6 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.