Showing results by narrator "Matthew Davies" in All Categories

At precisely two minutes to seven every morning, Gabriel Ward KC steps out of his rooms in the Inner Temple, presses his oak front door three times to ensure it is locked, and walks to his office to begin his day. Except for today. Today, the dead body of the Lord Chief Justice of England, immaculately clad in evening dress except for his bare feet, is lying on his doorstep – with one of the silver Temple carving knives sticking out of his chest. As rumour and gossip fly round the chambers and the press set up camp outside the gates, an investigation is ordered by the head of the Temple.

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution now forms the basis for all the life sciences, but it ignited widespread controversy upon its 1859 publication. The idea that humans and animals might have evolved from a common source came as a shock to readers at the time, and people struggle with the implications of Darwin’s theory to this day. But Darwin foresaw this resistance and argued his case with extensive examples and rigorous logic - and his theory continues to push us toward a deeper understanding of life on Earth.

One moment, he was enjoying a breakfast of salmon trimmings in his home in South Wales. The next, he was teleported across time and space onto the cold stone floor of an evil warlock. Locked in the warlock's tower through day and night, Ben may have to serve him for a while. He'll hate this, especially having to hunt those infernal demon rats when the warlock doesn't feed him well at all.

Twenty-nine-year-old workaholic Libby Dewitt lives by the motto "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail." She's finally about to start her dream life with her fiance, Richard Tomy. Together, they're the perfect power couple - right down to the fact that he's agreed to use their honeymoon to help further her career in mergers and acquisitions. But 10 minutes before the wedding, her dreams dissolve via text message. Libby escapes to Paradise Bay alone. She's got two goals for her trip: devise a plan to get Richard back and convince resort owner Harrison Banks to sell his property.

A magical serial killer is stalking the Occult town of Wrackton. Hypnotic whistling causes victims to chew their own tongues off, leading to the killer being dubbed the Whistler (original, right?). Enter the Undetectables, a detective agency run by three witches and a ghost in a cat costume (don't ask). They are hired to investigate the murders, but with their only case so far left unsolved, will they be up to the task?

On Dr. Benjamin Bones’s first night in the quaint Cornish village of Birdswing, a shocking hit-and-run leaves him seriously injured and his unfaithful wife dead. As he recuperates, Lady Juliet, a fiery aristocrat who won’t take no for an answer, pulls him into a sleuthing partnership destined to change both their lives. Suspecting that Ben’s late wife was murdered, he and Juliet dive headfirst into the investigation, questioning Birdswing's most eccentric and suspicious residents.

Modern art dealer Granville Hardwick has a way with people - a way of making them wish he were dead. His London gallery is filled with works of questionable merit, his dating pool consists of other men's wives, and his home is the eyesore of a fine old neighborhood. So when Hardwick turns up dead, bashed on the head by a rather tasteless reproduction, it's Hetheridge and his new bride, Kate, who embark on solving the case

From Andy Anderson, founder & CEO of Ultimate You - the innovative fitness, nutrition, and coaching franchise that is transforming lives and minds Down Under - comes a clear, actionable, step-by-step process that will help anyone make dramatic changes in life and health. Anderson himself is a true embodiment of transformation: After years of excessive drinking and wallowing in self-doubt, he found the strength to dramatically improve his health, defeat depression, become a professional athlete, and build a seven-figure business with over sixty staff members and thousands of clients.

In the quaint village of Birdswing, the winter of 1939 is bitterly cold. Still haunted by his ex-wife’s murder and eager to contact the Fenton House ghost, Ben enlists Lady Juliet in an amateur séance. But the surprise return of Juliet’s rogue husband, Ethan, upends her life, setting tongues wagging. While she fights to make him sign divorce papers, a bloodless, naked corpse confronts Ben. The murdered man, handsome but uneducated and known to make passes at all things female, is discovered in an oh-so-proper estate.

Adam has come far. Once a lowly apprentice, and a powerless one at that, he has discovered a whole new field of magic. Combining magic and technology into one, he has become the leading light of the university. His innovations have made many things possible, from powerful magics anyone can use to hot air balloons and flying battleships. The world has changed beyond hope of repair.

A few days before Christmas 1939, Dr. Benjamin Bones is in a "Bah, humbug" sort of mood. It's the coldest winter on record, his country is at war, and his love life has run aground. But magic as well as mysteries abound in Cornwall. When Ben makes a bargain with an elfin little man, it leads him to an old woman who longs to make amends - and a chance for Ben to show that certain someone how much he cares.

Tired of reporting the news but never investigating, Jane Hartley is determined to expose the truth of the Carlisle dragon hunters. While meeting with one of her sources, she spots the tall, blond dragonman she first saw three months ago back on Stonefire. When the dragonman warns her off, Jane becomes more determined than ever to find the truth before he does. With most of the threats to his clan under control, Kai Sutherland wants to find a way to take down the Carlisle hunters for good.

The Moonstone, a priceless yellow diamond, is looted from an Indian temple and maliciously bequeathed to Rachel Verinder. On her 18th birthday, her friend and suitor Franklin Blake brings the gift to her. That very night, it is stolen again. No one is above suspicion, as the idiosyncratic Sergeant Cuff and the Franklin piece together a puzzling series of events as mystifying as an opium dream and as deceptive as the nearby Shivering Sand.

On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain’s Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were 14 rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales. So begins a tale almost too bizarre to believe, following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race champions - and Detective Andy McWilliam, who’s hell bent on protecting the world’s birds of prey.

When miserly millionaire Barnaby Galen is found dead in his dilapidated mansion, two corpses are on the scene - the murder victim and the murder weapon. Staring into the skeleton face of a horror prop called Granny, Galen dies of fright, leaving only enemies and suspects behind. With echoes of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Blue Christmas is a witty, heartfelt romantic mystery that will make fans of Emma Jameson's best-selling series want to stand up and cheer.

In the sordid streets of Victorian London, unwanted desire flares between two bitter enemies brought together by a deadly secret. Crusading journalist Nathaniel Roy is determined to expose spiritualists who exploit the grief of bereaved and vulnerable people. First on his list is the so-called Seer of London, Justin Lazarus. Nathaniel expects him to be a cheap, heartless fraud.

Tom Cheke's world is turned upside down when he is kidnapped from his home by Barbary corsairs during an audacious night raid. Sold into slavery in 17th-century Algiers, Tom carves out a promising, new life only to have it shattered once more. Another twist of fate throws him into the hands of a Scottish knight of the Order of St John and into a turbulent world of ciphers, spies, and assassinations.

For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early “lady detectives," and spotlights former stars of the crime field—Austrian novelist Auguste Groner and prolific American Geraldine Bonner among them.

On the trail of an aristocrat's secret son, enquiry agent Mark Braglewicz finds his quarry in a music hall, performing as a trapeze artist with his twin sister. Graceful, beautiful, elusive, and strong, Pen Starling is like nobody Mark's ever met - and everything he's ever wanted. But the long-haired acrobat has an earldom and a fortune to claim.

Hans-Åke Lilja, founder of Lilja's Library, has compiled a brand-new anthology of horror stories to celebrate 20 years of running the number-one Stephen King news website on the web! This anthology includes both original stories like a brand new novella by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In), very rare reprints like The Blue Air Compressor by Stephen King, and at least one classic tale that inspired Lilja's love of the macabre at a very young age! Now, let's join Lilja....