Costello / Richards Cherringham - Episode 22-24

A Cosy Crime Series Compilation
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-7325-2129-6
Verlag: Bastei Lübbe
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 8, 360 Seiten

Reihe: Cherringham: Crime Series Compilations

Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries.
This compilation contains episodes 22 - 24. The storyline after episode 24 continues in the first Cherringham novel 'Dead in the Water'.

THE SONG NEVER DIES
When Alex King, leader of legendary 90s rock group Lizard, hosts a party to get the band back together, old grudges surface. At dawn Alex is found floating in the pool of his Cherringham mansion. To the police it's a drug-fueled accident. But when Jack and Sarah get involved, they quickly discover that while a song may never die - the person, who wrote it, might have been murdered.

A BAD LIE
When talented young artist Josh Andrews goes missing after a stag night prank at Cherringham Golf Club, the bride in desperation asks Jack and Sarah to find him. It seems he's gotten cold feet, with the wedding just days away.
But Josh is not all he appears to be... And soon suspicion falls on the Golf Club itself. Can Josh be found before he takes justice into his own hands?

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
When a doddering Harry Platt tumbles from the top of his stairs in a deadly fall, it looks like an unfortunate accident. But when solicitor Tony Standish meets the beneficiaries and discovers the immense size of the estate, his suspicions are aroused. Jack and Sarah are asked to investigate and find that nothing is what it seems when it comes to families - not when money and secrets are involved.

ABOUT THE SERIES
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.

You'd like to know what happens after episode 24 in Cherringham? The first Cherringham novel 'Dead in the Water' continues where 'A Death in the Family' left off. The second book The 'Body in the Woods', will be out on July, 25th 2017. Or maybe you'd like Neil Dudgeon to read them to you? Episodes 1-18 are also available as audiobooks!
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.

ABOUT THE AUHORS
Neil Richards (based in the UK) and Matthew Costello (based in the US), have been writing together since the mid 90's, 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 - most recently - the successful crime fiction series Cherringham.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Costello, Matthew

Richards, Neil

Leseproben

3. Party On

Lauren leaned in as close as she could to the young guy she was dancing with and shouted:

“Got — to — get — some — water!”

But the music was so loud — all he did was grin and shrug at her.

So she grinned and shrugged back, then fought her way through the darkness, the strobe lights picking out the mostly stoned faces in the mill of gyrating people, and she moved towards the brighter lights of the ballroom doors.

Wow, she thought. I haven’t danced like that in years. And I haven’t danced with anyone as sexy as that in years either …

In the banquet room, she found a pillar to lean against and checked her watch.

It was nearly one in the morning.

That too was rare!

And this party was still going strong. But where was Will?

She found her shoes where she’d hidden them in a corner and just about managed to get the straps on.

I’m a bit pissed, she thought, swaying.

No. Scratch that.

More than a bit …

She took a deep breath and headed for the French windows that led out onto the terrace.

It would be quieter there …

But a big crowd stood outside too. As she stepped out onto the terrace, she could see clusters of people chatting, smoking, chilling.

Lanterns and flares made pools of orange light in the darkness. She could see the fountain now rippled with blue, red, and green lights. A laser arced up into the sky from the roof of one of the outbuildings.

Some small party.

Silent movie scenes were being projected onto the back of the house.

She wandered round the garden, looking for Will among the chattering, laughing groups.

“Will? Will?”

“Lauren–” came a voice just by her side.

But it wasn’t Will’s voice.

She turned to see Chris Wickes emerge from the shadows and approach her.

He put an arm around her and kissed her softly on the cheek.

She shivered, but she wasn’t cold.

“Still smoking then?’ she said. She could smell the tobacco on his breath.

“Why not?” he said with his killer smile. “The drugs will probably kill me first.”

“We used to say you’d die in a bar fight before anything else would take you!”

“Nice joke.”

“We weren’t joking.”

She watched him sit on the balustrade. Light from the house caught his face. He’d aged well. A few lines, the usual stubble on his chin now grey. His long hair still dark though also streaked with grey.

But his eyes were the same. Lauren loved his eyes. Dark and cold — as if he was constantly angry. And so deep.

“Will tells me you got kids,” Chris said.

“Two boys,” said Lauren. “Teenagers.”

“Handful, I bet …”

“Tell me about it! How about you?”

“Oh, single and fancy free.”

Lauren looked around, suddenly aware it was just the two of them catching up, talking …

“Where is Will by the way?”

“He’s in the studio. Planning the tour. With Alex. And Carlton.”

“Carlton Flame? That shark,” said Lauren. “I should have guessed he’d be here.”

“Legally — we’re all still signed to Carlton. And trust me — they’re all sharks.”

“And he wants to keep an eye on his ten percent huh?”

“Twenty.”

“Ouch. No wonder me and Will never see a penny. So who else is digging around in the entrails?”

“Just Nick.”

“Ah. So he did come.”

“You thought he wouldn’t?”

Another look around.

Then Lauren went and sat next to him.

Suddenly it was as if they were back in the past, in their own history.

They’d sat just like this once, a long time ago, before everything happened for Lizard and the world turned upside down.

Sat on the kids’ swings in Chris’s mum’s garden in Cherringham, one early summer night just like this.

It had been in their final year for the two of them, school exams just on the horizon, everyone’s futures unwritten, any future possible, everything up for grabs.

Like now. Just the two of them.

“I thought he’d have more sense,” said Lauren.

“Hell. He needs the money,” said Chris. “Like we all do. No money in sales. Or bloody downloads. You want to make cash — got to go back on the road.”

“So, you’re going to do it?”

“Sure.”

“Why aren’t you in the meeting?”

“Time out. Got a bit heavy in there.” He grinned. “Lot of unresolved issues … know what I mean?”

Lauren smiled back. “And here I thought you liked fights.”

“Not my argument. What’s the expression? Don’t have a dog in that fight.”

“Whose argument is it?”

“Guess …”

“Alex and Nick?”

“You got it. At each other’s throats like it was 1994.”

“And what are they fighting about?”

“Me,” came a woman’s voice from the side.

Lauren looked up to see a girl standing silhouetted against one of the flares.

“I’m Sarinda,” she said, stepping closer.

Lauren looked at the girl.

At this Sarinda …

She wore the tiniest of skirts, and clumpy platform shoes that added a good five inches to her height.

Tiny diamonds sparkled on her exposed tummy, nose, and ears. On her face she had a party tattoo … a bright red rose, with a single drop of blood dripping from it.

Whatever that’s supposed to mean!

She couldn’t be more than seventeen. If that! What was she doing here?

We’re all old enough to be your parents, love, thought Lauren.

“Showing your age,” said Chris. “You’ve not heard of Sarinda?”

Lauren shrugged. “Sorry, love, I don’t …”

“I’m a singer,” said Sarinda.

“Not just any singer,” said Chris. “Sarinda’s got her own YouTube channel. Queen of the Streams — no?”

“I’m just lucky to have such wonderful fans,” said Sarinda. “I’m nothing without them.”

Sounding like she memorised that line.

“Good for you,” said Lauren. “But — what’s the Alex connection?”

“There isn’t one,” said Sarinda. “I’m here with Nick.”

“Ah,” said Lauren.

“Are you and Chris together?” asked Sarinda.

“God no!” said Lauren, laughing and looking at Chris.

But he wasn’t laughing.

“I’m Lauren Dumford. Will’s wife.”

“Oh,” said the girl. “Will … he’s the—”

“Our drummer,” Chris added. “Damn good back in the day.”

Even in the darkness, Lauren could see that the girl’s expression was one of … what? Sympathy?

Lauren stared at her, not sure what all this meant.

Was this young thing Nick’s girlfriend too? But more important — was she a threat to the band getting back together?

An awkward silence. Lauren saw the girl look away, as if seeking something more interesting than these two old folk she had wandered into.

“Well, um, nice to meet you,” she said, with a quick half-smile, then she turned, and Lauren watched her slip away, heading back to the crowd.

“Confused?” said Chris.

“Totally. Seems like she should be studying for her A-levels not partying with a bunch of ageing rockers.”

Chris nodded, smiling. “Let’s go and get a drink,” he said. “And I’ll explain it all, love.”

And he put his arm around her shoulder and led her away.

*

Alex King slid open the door to the pool house and looked around.

It took a minute for his eyes to adjust from the bright lights of the terrace outside. A handful of candles girded the pool, their flames flickering, reflections sparking on the water, which steamed gently in the darkness.

Some chilled Ibiza sounds played on the pool speakers.

Vintage Café del Mar?

Sexy stuff.

The place seemed empty.

Bliss.

Right now, everyone’s more interested in getting stoned than having a swim, he thought.

Normally he’d have been with them. But he’d smoked and snorted enough for tonight.

He had wanted to keep his wits about him talking about a new tour.

The goal — getting the band back together.

Now a quick swim would help clear his head.

He could just hear the distant beat of the dance music still pounding away back at the house. But this place was so calming.

Just the thing after going head-to-head with Nick!

Talk about reliving the old days.

He looked across at the sauna and steam room — but they were dark.

He had the pool to himself.

For now anyway.

But not for long — he hoped. He dug out his phone and looked at the text he got back at the...