Matthew Costello and Neil Richards co-author the
Cherringham series, an addictive cozy mystery series, I for one, cannot
get enough of. Cherringham is the perfect English village to stop by for a cuppa
and a mystery with good friends.
Jen: Hi, Matthew and Neil! Thank you so much for joining us on Fresh
Fiction. You publish a new episode for the Cherringham series every month, very
much in the spirit of the serial novels Charles Dickens made popular in the mid-
1800’s. Were you both fans of serials; novels, radio, or TV; before you first
dreamed up the Cherringham series, and if so what were you favorite
serial stories?
Matt: When I was a kid the serials that were popular in theaters had
vanished. But they had migrated to TV! Amazing serials like the Flash
Gordon series with its sputtering rockets, or Superman (versus the nefarious
Mole Men!), or one of my favourites -- Tim Tyler’s Luck with his
improbable ‘Jungle Cruiser’. Cliffhangers? Bring ‘em on. But when I, um, matured,
Bond, Sherlock, and Miss Marple showed how to keep a series character alive, fresh
and always compelling. I hope our village and Jack and Sarah capture some of that.
Neil: I’ve always been a big fan of TV crime series. American, British,
Scandinavian, French… And now that we’re able to record whole seasons our family
viewing has become an urgent race to get through stuff – there’s so much high
quality crime out there! At the lighter end, I love Donna Leon. At the other end,
the hardboiled US writers. Love True Detectives. Jo Nesbo. Henning Mankell.
But my all time favourite you may not know – a series of thrillers set in Europe
in the 30’s by Alan Furst. The novels are separate stories, but as you read them
you realize that characters are slipping between the books, appearing in
background, crossing each other’s paths. Fine writing!
Jen: I love that the
Cherringham series is written in episodes. I see this
as the perfect fit for modern technology, which allows readers instant access to
stories they can carry with them. How have you adapted this form of serial story
to fit a modern audience and modern technologies?
Matt: The novella, which in essence is what each episode is, has been with
us quite a while. In this case the monthly delivery via ebook is – I believe –
new. That necessitated our getting ahead of the series launch to write the first
episodes and stay on schedule. That we’re midway through the second season, and
the story ideas keep coming shows that the format, setting and characters seem to
work for us creatively.
Neil: I think coming up with a story shape that can be satisfying on a
tablet in a two hour read has really taken a lot of thought. Plenty of gin and
tonic has gone into this show you know…
Jen: It’s so easy to get caught up in Jack and Sarah’s mysteries. I’d pick
up my Kindle to start a new episode and I’d find myself an hour or so later,
completely finished and ready for the next. Each episode is perfectly paced with
just the right amount of tension. How do you collaborate on the series to create
that balance between pace, tension, and still maintain a consistent tone for the
entire series?
Matt: One model we discussed was that of the hour-long TV drama. That feel
and structure of the drama seemed a good model. In addition we try to balance the
Q&A investigations of traditional mysteries with action and -- usually -- moments
of suspense and tension. We somewhat think in acts as well (1 to 3), and know when
certain elements should be resolved (i.e meeting all the suspects, breakthroughs
etc.) That said, for me I just get carried away with the story, and that's how it
should be.
Neil: We’re good editors of each other, and both on the lookout for
anything that jars in our fictional world of Cherringham. To us the place is real:
we have a map, and new characters have to be housed within it. We know where they
drink, eat, shop. The schools they go to. The place is authentic. It just has the
most terrible murder rate…
Jen: One last question, although it is the
Cherringham series, can we expect to see Jack, Sarah, and the kids
heading to New York for an episode? I have to say I keep hoping! And if that’s
not in the future for the
Cherringham gang, can you give us a hint about what new
mysteries Jack and Sarah may find themselves involved in?
Matt: We are in discussion about what comes next to
Cherringham and the
characters. And we have considered that very trip to NYC you raise. Sarah and her
kids would love my hometown, and to see Jack's haunts, and to have it all
connected to a very Manhattan Mystery? I want to read it!
Neil: Yep, I’d quite like to see what would happen if we took Jack and
Sarah to the big city for a story. We do have a queue of stories still to write.
We meet every few months for real in our Cotswolds hideaway (you’ll never guess
where) and normally come away with another twenty or so thumbnails. And each time
we start a new one, we decide – are we going a tad lighter? Darker? Murder – or
some other heinous crime? And the stories just don’t stop coming…
Jen: For which I am thankful! Thank you again for joining us on Fresh
Fiction.
So tell us, Readers, what new mystery do you hope to see Sarah and Jack stumble
into?
Matthew Costello is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and video game writer.
His best-selling video games include The 7th Guest, Doom 3 and Pirates of the
Caribbean. His horror novel, Beneath Still Waters, was filmed by Lionsgate. He
also has written episodes and created TV formats for PBS, Disney, SyFy, and the
BBC. He lives in Katonah, New York.
Website
Neil Richards has worked as a producer and writer in TV and film, creating scripts
for BBC, Disney, and Channel 4, and earning numerous Bafta nominations along the
way.
He's also written script and story for over 20 video games including The Da Vinci
Code and Starship Titanic, co-written with Douglas Adams, and consults around the
world on digital storytelling.
His writing partnership with NYC-based Matt Costello goes back to the late 90's
and the two have written many hours of TV together. Cherringham the series is
their first crime fiction as co-writers.
An American and an Englishman writing crime stories with an American and an
English hero - what took us so long?
Twitter
When a big movie production comes to Cherringham, complete with lords, ladies,
and flashing swords, the whole village is abuzz with excitement. But when a series
of dangerous accidents threatens the life of the young lead, Zoe Harding, Sarah
and Jack get involved. Are these really accidents? Or could they be something more
sinister - even deadly? Who is trying to destroy the career of the beautiful young
star - and why?
-- Cherringham is a 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 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.
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