Killer Track

Cherringham. A Cosy Crime Series - Mystery Shorts 39

By: Matthew Costello, Neil Richards

Narrated by: Neil Dudgeon

Length: 3 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Every year Lady Repton opens up her grand estate to host 'Cherringfest' - the Cotswold's favourite music festival. And this year will be special, featuring not just the return of the legendary and infamous metal rock band, Lizard... but also the home debut of the young and wildly successful new group, Unlost. But what should be a summer weekend of fantastic music, food and fun for all, turns frightening when murder is threatened, and one performer is nearly killed. Soon Jack and Sarah are in a race against time, trying to untangle a web of jealousy, egos and revenge before this Cherringfest ends in a deadly climax...

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 self-contained episodes is a quick read for the morning commute, while waiting for the doctor, or when curling up with a hot cuppa.

Co-authors Neil Richards (based in the UK) and Matthew Costello (based in the US), have been writing together since the mid-90s, creating content and working on 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.

©2021 Lübbe Audio (P)2021 Lübbe Audio

I usually love this series....

I got addicted to Cherringham during book 1; couldn't listen to the next books fast enough.
It seems like a while for this installment (the books writing team of Costello/Richards have another
series they are writing)... and this one seemed not as good as previous ones. Maybe too much time
has elapsed since the last one... but not my favorite. Hope there are more, and better ones, to come.

Disappointing

One of the main reasons I’ve followed this series through 39 episodes has been the relationship between Sarah and Jack. Sadly, this episode contained next to nothing about that. And the story itself seemed one-dimensional. I was kind of glad when it ended. I’m afraid Costello and Richards have lost the juice for this series. Sad.

Love Cherringham

I love these stories and the narration makes me feel like I am right there experiencing the excitement.

Great Mystery with Sub-par Performance

I loved this little tale. It's exactly what you expect from a cosy mystery and worth reading.

The only let down for me was Neil Dudgeon's performance.

Now, I love Neil. He's great in Midsomer and has a long history of very good roles on TV (including the Mrs Bradley Mysteries).

But as an audiobook performer, he leaves a lot to be desired.

His main issue is that he seems to be either incapable or unwilling to do any of the voices differently. Everyone from the main characters to the side ones sound the same - even the ladies.

At times, Neil affects a hilariously lame and half-hearted American accent for one of the leads, but it comes and goes, sometimes midsentence.

It's a serious issue, since you really have to pay attention to know who is speaking and when. It also means that none of the characters really come alive. It's all done in one voice, like a exceptionally bored dad reading his child a story

This is especially disheartening when you realise that The Mydworth Mysteries, a series of cozy crime novels by the same authors, is narrated so exceptionally well by Nathaniel Parker. Parker does everything Neil doesn't, giving life to the characters, distinct voices, and reading everything with an air of fun that the story deserves.

I do so hope Dudgeon either improves or they get someone else to do the next one in this series. Or maybe he and Parker can have a sit down and Neil can take notes on how to perform an audiobook well.

Too short 😢

I love the Cherringham mysteries! So I really need them to be twice as long 😉

Oh Dear

This series has always been uneven in quality, and I got it as fairly brainless convalescent fare - but Oh Dear! A very bored Neil Dudgeon sounds like he has given up on the material, and really one can’t blame him: the plot was truly ridiculous. It actually made me laugh, but not intentionally, and not enough for me to keep going with it. Last in the series for this listener…