Review: Addictive
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2014
In another lifetime Sarah and Sammi were best friends.  Sammi pursued her life on the wild side while Sarah went to University, married Oliver, and had children.  Sarah moved back home to Cherringham when her marriage fell apart and hasn’t heard from Sammi since her last visit two years ago.  Now Sammi has been found dead in the local weir.  Why was Sammi in Cherringham, the last place she ever wanted to be?  Did she contact anyone in Cherringham?  Sarah has nothing but questions and doesn’t believe the official “accidental death” verdict but what can she actually do?The CHERRINGHAM series is a different concept.  Unlike serials that give you the story in bits CHERRINGHAM is episodic, like a TV show.  Instead of a new show every week readers get a new episode every month with a beginning, middle, and end.  No cliff hangers.  The characters continue to evolve but you don’t have to read the next one to be satisfied.The main characters, Jack and Sarah, are introduced via succinct bios at the start of the episode.Jack’s widowed and retired from the NYPD homicide division.  He lives on The Grey Goose, an old Dutch barge, with his Springer spaniel, Riley.  Jack’s quite the enigma and seems to be doing his best to perpetuate the “rude American” cliché.Sarah’s a stressed single mom to new teen Chloe and Daniel, ten.  Returning to your home town isn’t always easy, especially when recovering from a failed marriage thanks to a cheating spouse.Jack has the experience and Sarah smoothes the way for the outsider “Yank”; creating an appealing sleuthing duo.CHERRINGHAM – MURDER ON THE THAMES is a comfortable cozy; a light, refreshing change of pace from darker mysteries.  Everything is fairly straight forward, no hidden motives or characters (at least in the first), so readers can easily solve the mystery along with Jack and Sarah.  Inclusion of interesting details and insider knowledge brings the quirky, cliquish English village and its denizens to life.  I’m still mulling over the fascinating Cherringham Toll Bridge tidbit.Charming, entertaining, and just the right size for a quick whodunit fix; the CHERRINGHAM series is proving to be quite addictive.  I’m looking forward to each monthly episode just as I used to look forward to my favorite mystery shows.Reviewed by IvyD for Miss Ivy's Book Nook & Manic Readers