Showing results by narrator "Julia Barrie" in All Categories

Emma Appleby's arrival in the County Durham village of Tow Law is sudden and mysterious, provoking deep suspicion in the locals. And because she has a child with her, seemingly out of marriage, they want nothing to do with her - except for pub landlord Mick Castle. When Emma opens an academy and sets herself up in competition with the local school, she provokes a savage response from the community.

Ellie opens the door to a man who is a stranger but instantly recognisable as the father of her housekeeper's young son. Mikey had been conceived at a party during which his mother, Vera, a schoolgirl, had been drugged and raped. Abdi hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but now he is a consultant whose wife cannot have children, and he aims to pay off Vera and adopt Mikey. Ellie discovers that Vera still thinks fondly of her then boyfriend, even though he had also rejected her.

Troubles never come singly. Ellie’s old friend and housekeeper falls off a ladder and hurts herself after seeing a “ghost” in a neighbour’s house, while Ellie is trying to get rid of a desperate young man, who says he’s looking for his great aunt… who happens to own the house in question. Mrs Pryce had told everyone she was moving to a retirement home, but never arrived there.

Ellie opens the door to a man who is a stranger but instantly recognisable as the father of her housekeeper's young son. Mikey had been conceived at a party during which his mother, Vera, a schoolgirl, had been drugged and raped. Abdi hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but now he is a consultant whose wife cannot have children, and he aims to pay off Vera and adopt Mikey. Ellie discovers that Vera still thinks fondly of her then boyfriend, even though he had also rejected her.

Ellie's friend on the police force asks her to enquire about some deaths which might or might not be suicide. Unbeknown to the police, an elderly lady with dementia has come across some drugs and is using them to ease people in pain out of their misery. At the same time, the project to turn the quirky, turreted Pryce House into a hotel is dogged by problems and suspicion falls on the difficult twelve-year-old boy Mikey who Ellie has taken in.

When Ellie Quicke's friend, Felicity, witnesses a Pitbull savage a young mother in the park, she goes into shock and calls on Ellie for help. Ellie's enquiries indicate that the dog and its owner are strangers to the neighbourhood, but soon there are other attacks...and after each one, the dog vanishes.

Ellie has always disliked the local big estate agent - aka Great White Shark - and is distressed when her daughter Diana announces that she is carrying his child and about to become his fourth wife. But Ellie is soon drawn into the family circle when one of the Hooper children dies in their private gym and another succumbs to a peanut allergy. The police want to write off the deaths as accident and misadventure, but Ellie believes someone is targeting members of the Hooper family. Surely Diana wouldn't… or would she?

Return to the worlds of The Craftsman and Lacey Flint in this first short-story collection from Sharon Bolton, International award-winning author of The Split. This collection is available exclusively in audio and features eight short stories, each with a new introduction written and read by the author.

When Jake tells Lyssa it's not working, she knows he's not talking about the toaster. Her immediate reaction is to sob into her pillow and wait for Jake to come to his senses. But slowly Lyssa begins to understand that's not an option. In a bid to escape, she embarks on a trekking holiday in Nepal. Lyssa needs to get away - it never occurred to her that she might fall in love.... When it's time to go home - back to reality and a very sheepish Jake - Lyssa is faced with the hardest choice of her life.

Two girls divided by time, united by their love for some very special horses - an epic Caribbean adventure! On a remote tropical island, 12-year-old Beatriz is about to embark on an epic journey, through hurricanes and across the high seas and back to the time of Christopher Columbus.… When Beatriz stumbles across a wild mare with strange markings in the jungle she can't believe it is real. Yet from that moment on the strongest connection grows between them, and she begins to uncover an incredible history.

In That Way Madness Lies, 15 acclaimed YA writers put their modern spin on William Shakespeare’s celebrated classics!

There is something not quite right about the death of her aunt...and psychic investigator Fran Castle is sure of it. The will is missing, and long-lost relatives are obstructing the case, both of which are suspicious on their own, even before the bodies start piling up.... Luckily, nothing is likely to stop Fran's sleuthing partner, Libby, from getting involved to help hunt down the murderer. As the murders multiply and the police take over, can the amateur sleuths keep on the trail?

Superintendent Alan Markby and Meredith Mitchell are in desperate need of a holiday—and the Cotswold village of Parsloe St John seems the perfect choice. Their neighbour, retired journalist Wynne Carter, is as convivial as the village itself and, over a glass of blackberry wine, indulges in her latest obsession, Olivia Smeaton, a racy old lady whose life—and death—she is convinced are not all they seem.

When 17-year-old, Eva Olsen, awakes after a horrific accident that has left her bed-bound, her parents are right by her side. Devoted, they watch over her, night and day, in the attic room of their family home in the forests of Norway. But the accident has left Eva without her most recent memories, and not everything is as it seems. As secrets from the night of the accident begin to surface, Eva realises she has to escape her parents' house and discover the truth. But what if someone doesn't want her to find it?

When her childhood best friend shows Ella that you can't always believe what you see, Ella finds herself thrown into the world of the German Resistance. On a dark night in 1941, Claudia is taken by the Gestapo, likely never to be seen again, unless Ella can save her. With the help of the man she loves, Ella must undertake her most dangerous mission yet and infiltrate the Nazi Party.

Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when a one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to ensure her husband doesn’t find out - including the unthinkable. Her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms, something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common and people are starting to ask questions.

Ellie Quicke believes in helping people in trouble. But it would appear that her latest good deed has returned to bite her when she takes in a weeping girl who needs somewhere to stay. Selfish, thoughtless and irresponsible, Angelica is by no means the easiest of houseguests, confident that someone else will always pick up the bill. But when a dead body is found in the garden the morning after a riotous party she's organised, Angelica plunges Ellie's household into a situation too hot for any of them to handle.

Traumatized by her final case as a psychologist, Stella only feels truly safe hidden away in the isolated house she shares with her husband, Max. Then Blue appears in the middle of a snow-storm, begging to be let in. As secrets and lies gradually seep out of the young girl, Stella’s tightly controlled world begins to unravel.

Shirley Steadman, a 70-year-old living in a small town in the North East of England, loves her volunteer work at the local hospital radio. She likes giving back to the community, and even more so, she likes getting out of the house. Haunted by the presence of her son, a reluctant Royal Navy officer who was lost at sea, and still in the shadow of her long-dead abusive husband, she doesn't like being alone much. One day, at the radio station, she is playing around with the equipment and finds a frequency that was never there before.

When 12-year-old Rhianna and her younger sister, Eleri, are thrown out of their home by their cruel stepmother, they must find food and shelter. Appealing to King Prasutagus in the name of the goddess Morrigan, they are rejected - but then Queen Boudica takes them into her household. As Rhianna settles into this new life, she learns that there's not only kindness in Boudica - there's a darkness waiting to be unleashed, and the Romans will suffer for their crimes against her. A great battle is looming....