Showing results by narrator "Diana Bishop" in All Categories

DCS Fran Harman's relationship with Assistant Chief Constable Mark Turner is going well and they are buying a house together. At work, a former protégé, Simon Gates, has just become her new boss. But there are complications with Simon and with Mark's daughter. Even the environment is hostile, the water in Fran's village tainted by something in the local reservoir. Some good old-fashioned detective work seems a useful antidote.

Jenny has never been one to feel sorry for herself. The illegitimate child of a wealthy man and a statureless woman, she has been an orphan since before she can remember. It is a hard life made bearable only by the kindness of her guardian, an old woman named Miss Garstone, who has always treated Jenny as her own. Struck down by a motorist, "Garsty" dies, whispering to Jenny that her parents were actually married, and she is the rightful heir to the Alington fortune.

Hired to trace Anna Ball, who has vanished, Miss Maud Silver encounters an eccentric art colony, bank robberies, and counterfeiting. As with other Miss Silver mysteries, the story relies on character development. Nadia May reads clearly and distinguishes individuals well; her British voice is ideal for this genteel period thriller (1951). Agatha Christie fans will enjoy this one.

Miss Silver joins a friend from Scotland Yard to investigate a suspicious suicide. Frank Abbott’s vacations never last very long, and his trip to Field End is no exception. He has hardly enjoyed a moment of Jonathan Field’s hospitality before tragedy strikes. A niece ventures into old Jonathan’s study at night to ask him a question, and finds him stone cold with a revolver by his hand. An obvious suicide, it seems, but Inspector Abbott is not so sure.

Adelia Aguilar is to accompany 10-year-old Princess Joanna on her thousand-mile journey to marry the King of Sicily. They must take with them the legendary sword Excalibur. And so Adelia sets sail with the golden princess and her lavish procession of nobles, musicians, servants, laundresses, grooms, luggage and treasure. But when members of the procession begin to die and it looks as though Adelia is to blame, there are dangerous accusations of witchcraft.

On hearing of this momentous discovery, King Henry II demands evidence that the legendary Arthur is dead. So he calls upon his Mistress of the Art of Death, anatomist Adelia Aguilar, to examine the bones. But someone doesn’t want the skeletons identified – and is prepared to kill in order to prevent it…

When the Metropolitan Police fail to realise a serial killer is at work, London ignites over the fact that the killer's victims are young black and mixed race boys. Institutionalised racism is claimed by the community's activists and tabloids alike. Acting Superintendent Thomas Lynley is given the case, and his Scotland Yard task force is soon handling more killings and a looming tragedy.

There was a certain heavy air of intrigue and mystery emanating from the old inn high on the cliff top. The Catherine-Wheel had once been a home for pirates and smugglers, but now it looked like it was harbouring a murderer. It had begun with an advertisement in the paper requesting descendants of the late innkeeper, Jeremiah Taverner, to stay for a weekend at the inn. They had arrived, a mixed assortment, to the family reunion eager to discover the secrets of their ancestry. But one of them had been hideously murdered, bringing the inn's stormy past into frightening focus.

Things had never been quite the same at Latter End since Lois had taken over. Suddenly life seemed to be an endless succession of bitter family rows which Lois, needless to say, invariably won. More than one person at Latter End found themselves stretched to the limit by Lois and her bullying, and it was only a matter of time before somebody snapped. It was unthinkable of course...but if anyone ever murdered Lois Latter, it would be very embarrassing to discover just how many people might have wished her dead.

Who was William Smith? And why was Mavis Jones so horrified to see him? For seven years William had worked as a woodcarver for the local toyshop, ignorant of his true identity. The war had robbed him of his memory, and no one expected him to ever find the answer. So when he took his work to Evesleys Ltd, why was his life instantly in danger? When William makes the frightening discovery that there are people determined not to let his memory return whatever the cost, Miss Silver is called in to investigate.

A young woman goes to the country to reconnect with old relatives, and stumbles on a murder only Miss Silver can solve. An orphan of the Second World War, Candida Sayle has gotten so used to life with her guardian that she never considered that she might have a family somewhere. When her guardian dies, a letter appears from an unheard-of aunt, informing Candida that it is time for her to return to the Benevent family fold. The young woman ventures to the country, and finds a strange pair of spinsters who spend their days obsessing over family lore.

Rachel Traherne does not want to meet Maud Silver. She does not want to tell her that someone has threatened her life, because she does not want that dreadful fact to be true. But see Miss Silver she must, for the stout, old-fashioned detective is the only person in London who may be able to keep her safe. Rachel has been receiving threatening letters about her deceased father's fortune. The first two letters were vague; the third said simply, "Get ready to die."

Mary Stokes was walking through Dead Man's Copse one evening when she saw, in the beam of a torch, the corpse of a young woman dressed in a black coat, black gloves, no hat and an eternity ring set with diamonds in her ear. But when she and Detective Sergeant Frank Abbott went back to the wood the body had vanished.

James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea. The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the old house and replaces it with a mounting tension, culminating in murder. Fortunately, Miss Silver is present to unravel the complex mystery and seek out the murderer amongst them.

Like his actor namesake, Ronald Coleman is a suave, well-spoken English gentleman. But although he's a movie buff, Coleman is no film star - he's a copper, and a Detective Inspector to boot. Together with his down-to-earth Scottish partner, DS Fred Astor, he sets about solving cases on two very different patches - rural Kirkcaldy and inner-city Southampton.

Marjorie had never seen a dead person until she got home one tranquil summer evening and found her sister’s body. She looked peaceful, as if she was asleep. Their mother suspects, however, that Dot’s death was far from natural. What’s more, she’s convinced she knows who the killer is. Slowly and meticulously, she plots her revenge. After all, who would suspect a neatly dressed, grey-haired widow of anything?

Meet Buffy. With three ex-wives, a failing career and only his dog, George, for company, Buffy's bachelorhood is looking worryingly confirmed. Until he meets Celeste. Dazzled by love, Buffy has no idea that Celeste is systematically researching his ex-wives, children, and step-children, and unearthing secrets that will change all their lives.

Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned to investigate the case of a woman beaten into a coma. Elise has been in a coma for two years, and if the hospital switches off her life support now, her attacker will be guilty of murder. Fran faces overload as she takes on more responsibilities – her elderly parents, Elise, a child abduction, the disappearance of her only witness, and the growing affection that she and her long-time colleague Mark Turner seem to share for one another.

Antonia Weston has come to the sleepy market town of Amberwood in search of peace and anonymity after a shattering and all-too public tragedy in her life. Shortly after her arrival, a series of disturbing incidents occur eerily echoing the past she is trying to forget. She becomes fascinated by the macabre local history surrounding the disused watermill, Twygrist, and the now vanished Latchkill Asylum.

When a child goes missing at the local tennis club on the same day that several skeletons are unearthed on a building site, Fran Harman’s caseload is heavier than ever. Enjoying a game of tennis when the girl disappeared, Fran's partner Mark blames himself for not keeping an eye on her. Sucked into the kind of desperate police search he thought he'd left behind on retirement, Mark enlists the help of his fellow Golden Oldies to find young Livvie before it's too late. Meanwhile, a further shocking discovery suggests that a serial killer may be lurking.