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Cherringham #12
Death on a Summer Night
Cosy crime series. Episode 12 of 12:
Twenty-five years ago, on a hot summer night, Tim Bell drove to a secluded spot with talented young musician Dinah Taylor after their date at the village fair. But Dinah was never seen again, and Bell - with blood spatters on his clothing - was sent to prison for her murder. Now freed, Bell has returned to Cherringham and his life is in danger from those who feel that justice hasn't really been served. But Jack and Sarah wonder: was Bell really guilty - or did the real killer escape detection all those years ago? As Cherringham swelters in another hot summer, time is running short for the two of them to uncover the truth... before someone else dies.
-- Cherringham is serial novel à la Charles Dickens, with a new mystery thriller released each month. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack. Thrilling and deadly - but with a spot of tea - it's like Rosamunde Pilcher meets Inspector Barnaby. Each of the 12 self-contained episodes is a quick read for the morning commute, while waiting for the doctor, or when curling up with a hot cuppa.
-- For fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series, Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who series, Caroline Graham's Midsomer Murders, and the American TV series Murder She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.
-- Co-authors Neil Richards (based in the UK) and Matthew Costello (based in the US), are known for their script work on major computer games. The Cherringham crime series is their first fictional transatlantic collaboration.
Twenty-five years ago, on a hot summer night, Tim Bell drove to a secluded spot with talented young musician Dinah Taylor after their date at the village fair. But Dinah was never seen again, and Bell - with blood spatters on his clothing - was sent to prison for her murder. Now freed, Bell has returned to Cherringham and his life is in danger from those who feel that justice hasn't really been served. But Jack and Sarah wonder: was Bell really guilty - or did the real killer escape detection all those years ago? As Cherringham swelters in another hot summer, time is running short for the two of them to uncover the truth... before someone else dies.
-- Cherringham is serial novel à la Charles Dickens, with a new mystery thriller released each month. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack. Thrilling and deadly - but with a spot of tea - it's like Rosamunde Pilcher meets Inspector Barnaby. Each of the 12 self-contained episodes is a quick read for the morning commute, while waiting for the doctor, or when curling up with a hot cuppa.
-- For fans of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series, Lilian Jackson Braun's The Cat Who series, Caroline Graham's Midsomer Murders, and the American TV series Murder She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury.
-- Co-authors Neil Richards (based in the UK) and Matthew Costello (based in the US), are known for their script work on major computer games. The Cherringham crime series is their first fictional transatlantic collaboration.
104 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 23, 2014
37 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 8, 2024
Dieser zwölfte Band der Reihe hat mir bisher am besten gefallen. Es geht um einen alten Mordfall. Der vermeintliche Täter Tim Bell hat seine 25 Jahre im Gefängnis abgesessen und kommt nun zurück nach Cherringham, wo er nicht gerade herzlich willkommen wird. Jack kommen Zweifel an Bells Schuld und zusammen mit Sarah versucht er, den alten Fall neu aufzurollen.
**
Ich weiß nicht, warum, aber dieses Stochern in alten Fällen mochte ich schon immer gerne. Es kommen neue Tatsachen ans Licht oder neue Beweise tauchen auf. Ich finde das spannend :)
**
Ich weiß nicht, warum, aber dieses Stochern in alten Fällen mochte ich schon immer gerne. Es kommen neue Tatsachen ans Licht oder neue Beweise tauchen auf. Ich finde das spannend :)
November 11, 2023
Road trip with my husband so Cherringham time.
June 18, 2020
This was a short story and I found it pretty engaging for the length of it. I would have preferred it to be a full length story, but it was published as part of a serial. I'd love to read a full length novel by Matthew Costello.
December 11, 2025
Een goed verhaal over een vermissing of dood van 25 jaar terug. Sara en Jake gaan op onderzoek uit nadat de verdachte van toen terug naar her stadje komt.
3.75 sterren
3.75 sterren
November 29, 2023
Number 12 in the Cherringham series of cozy mysteries.
Okay, Messrs Costello and Richards, j’accuse – you have violated The Mystery Readers’ Bill of Rights. At the beginning of this story, when the events leading up to the crime at the heart of the mystery are being narrated, you say:
But with the window being rolled down, and seeing the man’s face catching the glare of the headlights bouncing off her dress, she realized she knew him, recognised him from the village.
Didn’t actually know him by name; but someone she saw in the shops, or at church on the big holidays.
This statement is repeatedly contradicted throughout the remainder of the story. Now, I understand and enjoy the use of red herrings and unreliable narrators, but this is obviously just a continuity error. It’s as if you forgot you had said it, and changed your story as you progressed.
For shame!
Okay, Messrs Costello and Richards, j’accuse – you have violated The Mystery Readers’ Bill of Rights. At the beginning of this story, when the events leading up to the crime at the heart of the mystery are being narrated, you say:
But with the window being rolled down, and seeing the man’s face catching the glare of the headlights bouncing off her dress, she realized she knew him, recognised him from the village.
Didn’t actually know him by name; but someone she saw in the shops, or at church on the big holidays.
This statement is repeatedly contradicted throughout the remainder of the story. Now, I understand and enjoy the use of red herrings and unreliable narrators, but this is obviously just a continuity error. It’s as if you forgot you had said it, and changed your story as you progressed.
For shame!
April 15, 2025
25 years ago, on a hot summer night, Tim Bell drove to a secluded spot with talented young musician Dinah Taylor after their date at the village fair. But Dinah was never seen again, and Bell was sent to prison for her murder. Now out of prison, Bell has returned to Cherringham and his life is in danger from those who feel that justice hasn't really been served. But Jack and Sarah have reason to think Bell may not have been guilty and they decide to try to find out for sure.
I love the Cherringham series of short, cozy mysteries, and enjoy the developing relationship between Jack and Sarah. I liked this story and, if the end seemed a little bit rushed, it did have a bit of a twist. I’m not sure it was as well-developed or believable as many of the earlier stories in this series. But I liked it. I always enjoy the audio versions of these mysteries, expertly narrated by Neil Dudgeon. Mainly I listen while walking on the treadmill or lying in bed. I’d love to find more books narrated by Dudgeon. Looks like it’s mostly the Cherringham series, but also a few BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramas.
This is #39 of the 100 books I aim to read in 2025.
I love the Cherringham series of short, cozy mysteries, and enjoy the developing relationship between Jack and Sarah. I liked this story and, if the end seemed a little bit rushed, it did have a bit of a twist. I’m not sure it was as well-developed or believable as many of the earlier stories in this series. But I liked it. I always enjoy the audio versions of these mysteries, expertly narrated by Neil Dudgeon. Mainly I listen while walking on the treadmill or lying in bed. I’d love to find more books narrated by Dudgeon. Looks like it’s mostly the Cherringham series, but also a few BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramas.
This is #39 of the 100 books I aim to read in 2025.
February 17, 2018
Twenty-five years ago a teenage girl went missing. Twenty-five years ago a young man went to prison as a convicted murderer despite the fact that the girl's body had not been found. Now he is out of prison and has returned to Cherringham where he is hated and despised for killing such a popular and talented girl. Why has he returned? Why hasn't the girl's body been found? The fact that he returned has Jack concerned...and when Jack learns more about the case, he has doubts about the young man's guilt. Unfortunately, this makes Jack and Sarah targets for resentment by the townsfolk but the more they look into the case, the more they feel that an injustice was done.
This is a very different kind of case for Jack and Sarah. No one has asked them to look into this. This is just a growing conviction of a case not well investigated, leads ignored, circumstantial evidence accepted on face value, and a young man who was well-known as a bad boy taking the brunt of it all. Jack and Sarah have a difficult task in front of them.
This is a very different kind of case for Jack and Sarah. No one has asked them to look into this. This is just a growing conviction of a case not well investigated, leads ignored, circumstantial evidence accepted on face value, and a young man who was well-known as a bad boy taking the brunt of it all. Jack and Sarah have a difficult task in front of them.
March 31, 2022
In this episode a man returns to Cherringham after 25 years in prison for the murder of a fellow high school student and is shunned quite noisily. Jack witnessed town behavior in the pub and objected to the escalation. When he asked the first simple questions, he was appalled at the rush to judgement in view of no body being found. Together with Sarah and a few others, the investigation is launched and a good whodunit unfolds. Well done!
Love this idea of a series given in short bursts that are just the right size as well as so much more flexible than a whole novel! The ongoing sleuthing involves a retired and widowed older NYPD homicide cop who is finding life in the English countryside a fair antidote to his mourning, and a local recently divorced woman who has returned to her hometown with her children. They make a good sleuthing pair.
Voice actor Neil Dudgeon has been an excellent asset to my listening pleasure, making sure that
I know who's talking while I do mindless things.
Love this idea of a series given in short bursts that are just the right size as well as so much more flexible than a whole novel! The ongoing sleuthing involves a retired and widowed older NYPD homicide cop who is finding life in the English countryside a fair antidote to his mourning, and a local recently divorced woman who has returned to her hometown with her children. They make a good sleuthing pair.
Voice actor Neil Dudgeon has been an excellent asset to my listening pleasure, making sure that
I know who's talking while I do mindless things.
October 1, 2025
It looks like I'm reading a lot of books here, but I'm actually reading a series of "Mystery Shorts" by Matthew Costello and Neil Richards. They are all set in Cherringham, a small town in the Cotswolds in England. They are very quick, basically a one or two day read. I really like the characters, Jack Brennan a retired NYC detective who has retired to the Cotswolds after losing his wife, and his friend Sarah Edwards who has a sort of advertising print company. Together they tackle the small crimes and mysteries that happen in their small town. I've come to know all the "townspeople" and Sarah's family and I really like these when I'm looking for something quick. I'm just starting #31, so there are a lot of them! If you need something quick I recommend these delightful little stories.
March 8, 2023
Apparently this is the 12th of these episodes and the last of the first series.
It has been a pleasure to drop into Cherringham to relax after a long book or one that needed a lot of thinking.
With my reading schedules, I can easily read one of these episodes in a couple of sessions- sometimes one.
They all have been worth reading and have changed my views of the worth of short stories.
Well worth the 4 *
It has been a pleasure to drop into Cherringham to relax after a long book or one that needed a lot of thinking.
With my reading schedules, I can easily read one of these episodes in a couple of sessions- sometimes one.
They all have been worth reading and have changed my views of the worth of short stories.
Well worth the 4 *
September 13, 2021
I didn’t guess the end. As the suspects were eliminated, I had no idea where this writing team was going. I kept going back and forth in my head, trying to come up with a likely suspect, but still, I was at a loss.
By the end, it all made sense, and it was right there in front of you the whole time. Sometimes the most unlikely person is the one you have been looking for all along.
By the end, it all made sense, and it was right there in front of you the whole time. Sometimes the most unlikely person is the one you have been looking for all along.
April 2, 2018
What a cruel crime. At least for the young Tim Bell. He was young and an behaved idiotically, but what happened after that night wasn't right. I'm glad Jack and Sarah searched for the truth, no one else did, sadly.
May 28, 2023
The crime occurred 25 years ago, but he served his time, and now he’s back in town. Most of the town sees him as a killer, but the facts just don’t add up for Jack. Especially since they never found a body. Good mystery.
August 16, 2025
A good book to listen too when you clean the house. It gives you ”Midsomer murders” wibes. It is fun to try to figure out how the guilty person is. Jack is a retired cop from US, Sarah is a singel mom and they solves crime together. This one was about a murder that happened 25 years ago.
December 5, 2017
Exploring a 25-year-old disappearance of a teenage girl, Jack & Sarah work through my favorite in the series so far.
June 5, 2018
I loved the plot and the development of the events, it's getting better!
July 9, 2018
good one
August 9, 2018
#12 ♥️
November 8, 2018
Liked this one. Different concept and that made it quite strong
September 11, 2020
I really liked this one! Very suspenseful and good red herrings!
October 3, 2020
Cold case
Enjoyed this story. Amazing what a fresh look can do to a cold case. Sarah is an amazing single woman.
Enjoyed this story. Amazing what a fresh look can do to a cold case. Sarah is an amazing single woman.
November 16, 2020
Adore this series! Would love to see BBC make it for telly.
January 23, 2022
3.5 stars. This is the best one I’ve read so far.
April 1, 2022
Of course Sarah dives.
June 14, 2024
Death on a summer night
I enjoyed this book very much. At times it was very exciting. I will recommend this book to my friends and family. I give this book 5 stars.
I enjoyed this book very much. At times it was very exciting. I will recommend this book to my friends and family. I give this book 5 stars.
July 12, 2024
Another one in the series I really enjoyed listening to.
August 6, 2024
Audiobook. Right from the chilling start you are not sure who is the killer. You know who the victim will be even as you hope it isn't.
August 1, 2025
This was my favourite case so far. A cold case, a wrongly convicted person and a very cleverly written story and a great ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews