Showing results by narrator "Kim Hicks" in All Categories

Sex, drugs, cinema and stardom in a glorious technicolour romp through London's Swinging '60s. Summer, 1967. As London shimmers in a heat haze and swoons to the sound of Sgt. Pepper, a mystery film - Eureka - is being shot by German wunderkind Reiner Werther Kloss. The screenwriter, Nat Fane, would do anything for a hit but can't see straight for all the acid he's dropping.

In May 1943, a young, pregnant Frenchwoman called Lucie Aubrac engineered the escape of her husband Raymond from the clutches of Klaus Barbie, the feared Gestapo chief. She later ambushed the prison vans in which members of the Resistance were being driven to an almost certain death. Spirited out of France by the RAF at the end of 1943, nine months pregnant, she arrived in London a heroine. In 1983, when both Aubracs had retired, Klaus Barbie was put on trial in France.

There's consternation among the villagers of Prior's Ford when a firm is interested in re-opening an old granite quarry. It'll be disruptive, noisy and dusty, despite bringing in some new jobs. Publican Glen organises a protest group - but when a local newspaper takes an interest in him and the story, he begins to feel nervous. And when Jenny Forsyth attends a protest meeting, she is shocked to discover the quarry surveyor is an unwelcome face from her past.

Emmaline has always understood from her mother that, as the eldest of four daughters, she must marry. But it seems that no proposals are going to come her way. Until, at a crowded ball, Julius makes his way to her side and waltzes her off. The next morning he makes it plain that he wants to marry her, and will marry her no matter what. So Emmaline finds herself travelling to England from America to join her husband-to-be, her hopes as high as they have ever been.

Something wicked has happened on court eighteen... When a double grand slam winner is found dead, newly promoted Detective Inspector Angela Costello finds herself uncovering a trail through the complicated life of the beloved victim. While she has no way of proving her many suspicions, she gets closer to the truth when a prime suspect overlooks a vital detail... A classic murder mystery in the Christie tradition, Game, Set and Murder is ideal for fans of that genre, tennis lovers, and anyone seeking a light but satisfying read.

Beneath the blooms of Chelsea Flower Show, danger lurks behind every petal... When a suspicious death occurs at the high-profile book launch party of Welsh TV chef Griff Madoc, DI Angela Costello finds herself entangled in yet another tantalizing web of intrigue. With cyanide-laced champagne and a long list of suspects, DI Costello and her team must unravel the truth behind the deadly incident before it's lights out for another victim...

A killer riff that hits a deadly note. When a member of rock star Brendan Phelan's road crew turns up dead, all fingers point to the colourful cast of characters on stage - including front man Phelan. With guns, whips, and a trail of suspects, DI Angela Costello and her team must race against time to catch the killer before the show's over for good. But with a web of secrets to unravel, the truth may be harder to find than a backstage pass...

As the top model for the Ivano King fashion house and girlfriend of the label's founder, Ian King, Kirsty was destined for stardom. But when she is found dead in her flat, D.I. Angela Costello is called to the scene. D.I. Costello's investigation leads her to the local gym, and as she delves deeper, she discovers a seedy underworld of theft, addiction, and prostitution lurking behind the glamorous façade of the fashion world.

In 1960s Bristol, a family is overshadowed by tragedy. While Susan, a typically feisty seven-year-old, is busy being brave, her mother, Eddress, is struggling for courage. Though bound by an indestructible love, their journey through a world that is darkening with tragedy is fraught with the kind of misunderstandings that bring as much laughter as pain, and as many dreams as nightmares. How does a child cope when faced with a wall of adult secrets?

Hannah is a hotel worker, who struggles with depression after a trauma in her childhood and a toxic ex-boyfriend. Callum is a student, questioning his own sanity since a strange young man appeared on the other side of his mirror. When Hannah disappears, her brother Callum determines to find her. His journey leads him to Epping Forest and a mysterious waterfall. But Hannah has fallen through a portal to another world.

Twelve years ago, Grace Kitto was a successful TV producer, wife and mother. She was also clinically obese and on the path to Type 2 diabetes. Until one day when she left work determined to stick to one of her serial diets, but soon found herself eating an ice cream, as if on autopilot. It sparked an epiphany - she realised the solution to her many failed diets lay in her unconscious. In the powerful, instinctual part of her brain.

'I'll fly,' Jenna whispered to herself. 'I'll fly, whatever Ned says. Whatever anybody says....' Jenna is 13 - and has suddenly realised what she wants to do with her life. She wants to fly. Like Granddad's heroine, Amy Johnson.... But Jenna's wish for wings has to be put on hold when something awful happens: Granddad's souvenir of his wartime service - a loaded gun - goes missing. And Jenna is almost certain that her brother, Ned, has taken it....

Now you see them, now you don't.... What would you do if you could become invisible? Creep around unseen? Listen in on other people's conversations? Twins Carrie and Conrad, and their friends Peter and Charlotte, do all these things and much more when a new girl at school - Rosie - shows them her secret: how to make themselves invisible. It's exciting, and it's fun. It can also be frightening...and dangerous.

When Alexandra Stamford goes to stay with her Millington cousins at Knighton Hall, she knows nothing about the handsome stable lad Tom O'Brien. But are Alexandra and Tom really destined to be together?

When Juliet Porter’s mother dies, she leaves Juliet some old letters and a photograph which shatter all her previously-held beliefs. They show that her real father was an American bomber pilot in the second world war, some 40 years before, and that he had met her mother while serving in England. Armed only with this photo, Juliet sets out to trace her real father, and eventually finds the airfield where he served.

Four short murder mysteries, three featuring Detective Sergeant Christina Kenton, set in the Cambridgeshire countryside... In "Kill Me Tomorrow", a serial murderer is killing according to the position of the numbers on a clock face. The police think they can mark on the map the place where the fifth murder will occur: In Christina Kenton's own village of Foxfield.

The Magic Factory is where Midden and her team of helpers come up with magical answers to all sorts of problems. In these four fun stories, they must stop the terrible twins from terrorising the town; round up some runaway scissors; save school from a spell disaster and catch an invisible imp, all before the Halloween party!

Twistleton is a village untouched by time. Daisy, Jean, Freddie and their friends Aurelia and Laura are devoted to the place, so that when war breaks out Twistleton becomes the embodiment of everything for which they are fighting. For the previous generation the new conflict causes private despair, increased when Twistleton is requisitioned by the Army. Turfed out of their houses, the villagers take refuge at the Hall.

Six years have passed since the end of Sister, Missing and Madison is now a teenager. During a visit to older sister Lauren, she learns that their biological father was an anonymous sperm donor and sets out to track him down. Her search bears fruit sooner than she expects, but is the father she discovers all he seems? As Madison gets drawn into a mysterious investigation involving missing girls and secret hideaways, she finds herself in more and more danger...

You wouldn’t be ‘barking mad’ if, when asked the definition of certain phrases, ‘the cat got your tongue’ and you ‘clammed up’. Let’s not ‘beat around the bush’; the English language is littered with linguistic quirks that, on closer examination, seem utterly fantastical. In Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pyjamas, Judy Parkinson explores the many colourful – but rather incomprehensible – phrases that enhance our language, describing their origins and defining their true meanings.