Cherringham is a long running cosy mystery series of shorts, featuring Sarah Edwards and Jack Brennan and narrated perfectly by Neil Dudgeon. Each story is complete, with character development and lives evolving as the time frame moves on. Great for a quick listen and I enjoy catching up with the characters.
Jack, a retired NYPD homicide detective, relocated to the Cotswolds after his wife died and now lives on an old Dutch barge moored at Cherringham, with his dog Riley. Sarah Edwards, a web designer, returned to Cherringham from London with her two children when her husband left the family for his boss. She now runs her own company. She and Jack are Cherringham’s answer to private investigators, except they help out for free.
Murder Under The Sun
Grace, Sarah’s assistant, was due to get married and the wedding day was fast approaching. With just days to spare and on the night of the stag party Grace’s father, Len, was arrested on suspicion of murder. A murder committed thirty years ago and many miles away. Jack and Sarah found it very hard to believe that Len was capable of murder…but it turned out that Len has a past no-one knew about. The sleuthing duo haven’t much time to unravel the mystery and solve the crime before Grace’s big day.
Killing Time
Killing Time focuses on Urban Explorers and their excitement of finding and investigating long abandoned buildings, sometimes despite the security measures put in place to discourage visitors. But this visit to Blackwood House by Megan and Luke was to find their friend, Zach.
Zach had disappeared from Cherringham a week ago and nobody had seen or heard from him since, not even on social media. It seems Zach had broken the unwritten rule of not exploring alone. The police didn’t seem interested when Megan had reported him missing. But it wasn’t like Zach to be off the radar for any length of time and everyone in their group thought something was wrong…
Still Dead
When Arnold Pettifer, the Head of Botanicals at the Cherringham Gin Company, made an evening visit to the distillery to carry out some quality tests, he had no idea it would be his last. Finding the door to the Dry Room unlocked, which shouldn’t be the case because here were kept the herbs and spices for the secret recipes. But something was different…a scent maybe? As he tried to place it, he realised he was having some kind of allergic reaction and tried to find the EpiPen that was kept in the first aid box for emergencies. It wasn’t there…
Co-authors Neil Richards (based in the UK) and Matthew Costello (based in the US), have been writing together since the mid-90s, creating innovative content and working on major projects for the BBC, Disney Channel, Sony, ABC, Eidos, and Nintendo to name but a few. Their transatlantic collaboration has underpinned scores of TV drama scripts, computer games, radio shows, and the best-selling mystery series Cherringham. Their latest series project is called Mydworth Mysteries.
The narrator of the audiobook, Neil Dudgeon, has been in many British television programmes including the roles of ‘DCI John Barnaby’ in Midsomer Murders and ‘Jim Riley’ in The Life of Riley. He is also known for his film roles in The Nativity, Sorted and Son of Rambow. In 2012 Dudgeon starred as Norman Birkett on BBC Radio 4’s Afternoon Play series written by Caroline and David Stafford.
