Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

When a severed hand is found in an abandoned flat, Detective Jake Porter and his partner Nick Styles are able to DNA match the limb to the owner, Natasha Barclay, who has not been seen in decades. But why has no-one been looking for her? It seems that Natasha's family are the people who can least be trusted. Delving into the details behind her disappearance and discovering links to another investigation, a tragic family history begins to take on a darker twist. Hampered by a widespread fear of a local heavy, as well as internal politics and possible corruption within the force, Porter and Styles are digging for answers. But will what they find ever see the light of day?

When Nicholas Bracewell finds himself once again in the parlour of his lost love, Anne Hendrik, he was not expecting her entreaties to embroil him in the murder of a beloved choir master. Between tales of cruelty, forgotten maps of London and a butcher determined to rescue his son, it is yet another mystery for the book keeper to untangle. But will his quest endanger Lord Westfield’s Men?

On suspension and unable to work, DCI Domenic Jejeune finds his attention snared by an unexplained death at an Antarctic research base. Meanwhile, DS Danny Maik investigates a string of arson attacks in Norfolk. When a corpse is discovered in a bird hide, Danny's investigation escalates. It appears the body links the two enquiries, but the men are unable to share information. As they attempt to unravel a twisted web of leads involving Antarctic researchers, climate scientists and billionaire philanthropists, Jejeune is forced to decide how much he is willing to sacrifice.

Out of the courts of 12th-century England strode the legendary figure of Richard of England leading his knights onto the Saracen battlefields, inspired by a vision of the Holy Land. Here is the story of the Soldier-King and the Third Crusade - of his strange, ill-fated union with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre; and of his mother, the She-Wolf, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. And, above all, here is the story of the minstrel whose life was linked with that of the King - the story of Blondel, the Lute Player....

The first in a series of action-packed novellas set in Ancient Rome introducing Pavo, a novice gladiator, and featuring Simon Scarrow's ongoing soldier character Optio Macro. It is AD 41. The savage Gaul Britomaris has defeated the best of the Roman gladiators in the arena. Now a young volunteer...

After my beautiful daughter Annabelle died in a tragic accident, I thought I would never recover. With my world in pieces, my husband Matthew did what he could to support me and our son, Noah. He hired a young woman, Reka, to help us at home, to be the mother for Noah that I couldn’t be. She cares for him like he’s her own.

The third novella in Simon Scarrow's Roman Arena series sees gladiator Pavo and mentor Macro fight for their lives amid a bloody revolt. The imperial gladiator school in Capua: once the pride of the Roman Empire, lately driven to the brink of ruin by a greedy lanista. Now the school welcomes its...

In a small market town in the northeast of England in 1825, something momentous happened: ticket-bearing human beings started moving along wrought-iron tracks on a contraption with engine-powered wheels. The contraption was called a 'train'. What happened in Darlington, along a 26-mile line to Stockton, would kickstart the worldwide railway revolution.

Experience Twelfth Night as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds. To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world.

Following a mysterious explosion, the offices of Excelsior Joinery Company are no more; the three directors are killed and the peace of a quiet town in Surrey lies in ruins. When the supposed cause of an ignited gas leak is dismissed and the presence of dynamite revealed, Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is summoned to the scene. But beneath the sleepy veneer of Evingden lies a hotbed of deep-seated grievances. Confounding Littlejohn's investigation is an impressive cast of suspicious persons, each concealing their own ax to grind.

Patrick Hamilton is renowned for his gritty, slice-of-life tales chronicling the hopes, dreams and obsessions of London's working class in the inter-war years. This collection brings together his key pieces, together with some lesser-known classics and a bonus 2004 documentary exploring his achievements and legacy.

Renowned Egyptologist Dr Elliott Elwood is slightly puzzled when he's invited to Torquay to take part in a bizarre bidding war for a well-known artefact collection. But, of course, he couldn't pass up the chance to view the 'Cleopatra Necklace' - an infamous piece from the collection, rumoured to be cursed. However, Elliott's weekend away with his fellow bidders, including the strangely familiar Maisie Norris - if that is her real name - ends up involving far more than afternoon tea and historical chit-chat.

You have 87 seconds to save yourself from drowning. Can you? A young woman in a strapless blue summer dress lies on the cobblestones next to the canal. With her eyes half open, it looks like she's had one too many Bacardi Breezers and is going to wake up with a killer hangover. Except she won't wake up ever again... and her lifeless body has been pulled from Christianshavn canal, right in the centre of Copenhagen. Investigator Georg Guldmann watches with dismay as the zip of the bodybag is pulled close.

A radically revised new edition of this highly readable, popular guide aimed at everyone from students to statesmen who want to make sense of the modern economy and grasp how economic theory works in practice. It starts with the basics, and from the underlying theory it moves to the specifics of the world economy, including an analysis of the recent recession. The closing part puts the usefulness and the failings of economics under the spotlight, and looks at the innovative approaches being developed to address these failings.

Bat, Ball and Field is a wonderful foray into the history and culture of cricket. ‘Hotten is not just good, he is one of the best’ Cricketer Chronicling the evolution of the sport since its earliest years, highlighting transcendent moments as well as tragedies, Jon Hotten lifts the seemingly...

Moreish digs into the unseen triggers, secret influences and mysterious motivations hovering above the table every time we get peckish. Explore the impact of words in menu construction alongside the power of comfort food; why the first bite is not always with the eyes; and how the worlds of sex, symbolism and animal instinct are simmering just beneath the surface in all of us. Continually eye opening and perceptive, often witty and entertaining, Moreish sets a place for persuasive packaging, in your face pop songs, underhand menu writing and over the top advertising.

The opening day of the Games in Rome is a time for celebration in honour of the new Emperor. But for Marcus Valerius Pavo, a young military tribune fallen from grace, only despair awaits. Along with former mentor, Optio Macro, Pavo must fight for his life in a ferocious beast hunt. Battling...

48 assassinations - from Archduke Franz Ferdinand to Osama Bin Laden - that changed the world. We live in an age of asymmetric warfare. Huge armies no longer face each other on the battlefield. Instead, heads of major powers and lone assassins (or martyrs) target each other to pursue their agendas. President Donald Trump felt it necessary to use drones to blow away the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Qasem Soleimani, and President Barack Obama felt fully justified in sending in US Navy SEALs to take out Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Wall of Hadrian, Britannia, AD 367. Tribune Sixtus Victorinus is scouting north of the Wall when he first sees the smoke. Riding south he finds a province in chaos, the local populace in flight, the soldiers absent. Britannia is ablaze, overrun with barbarians and Valentia is the word on everyone’s lips. But no one seems to have the first clue what it means... Victorinus may have let his life run to ruin and drunk his youth away, but now he must forge himself into the soldier he always wanted to be, the hero his children think he is.

The second novella in Simon Scarrow's Roman Arena series, following novice gladiator Pavo's next gruelling test, which will put mentor Macro's loyalties on the line. Rome under the rule of the ruthless new Emperor Claudius is a dangerous place. Condemned to gladiator school Marcus Valerius Pavo...