Showing results by narrator "Simon Mattacks" in All Categories

No one in Heppleburn has a bad word to say about Alice Parry...but here she is, murdered in her own backyard on a bitter St. David’s Eve. When detective Stephen Ramsay starts asking questions in the village, a more ambiguous picture begins to emerge. Yes, old Mrs. Parry was loved by everyone, but sometimes her kindness had caused trouble. Yes, her two nephews were devoted to her, but they didn’t really want her interfering in their rather complicated personal lives.

It is Acting Detective Superintendent Nick Dixon’s wedding day. Gig rowers find a body floating in Bridgwater Bay and when the victim is identified as a serving police officer, executed at point blank range with a 3D printed gun, the assistant chief constable is soon knocking on Dixon’s door—wedding night or not. It is the third such killing in as many weeks, but the first two victims were drug dealers, with no apparent connection to the dead officer other than the murder weapon itself.

Said to make whoever holds it unstoppable in battle, the sword Excalibur has been coveted across the ages and thought lost for more than a thousand years. With a cryptic message to Archaeologist Nina Wilde, this may be about to change. Historian Bernd Rust believes he can locate Excalibur...and that the sword is the key to harnessing an incredible source of energy. Nina is sceptical - until she and Rust are attacked by mercenaries determined to steal his research.

When a badly decomposed body is discovered during an archaeological dig on the Sedgemoor battlefield, Avon and Somerset police are notified immediately. The remains are recent, and Detective Chief Inspector Peter Lewis knows exactly who they have found. A single stab wound from a curved blade implicates convicted serial killer Daniel Parker, who Lewis arrested fifteen years ago.

When London’s finest jazz musicians, the Dizzy Heights, are booked to play the glitzy Midsummer Ball at a country house in Oxfordshire, they expect a weekend filled with flappers and toffs having a roaring good time. But the festivities at Bilverton House take a turn for the worse when the group are stranded by a summer storm. And when a member of the Bilverton family turns up dead in a locked room in an apparent suicide, Skins, Dunn and Ellie realize this is going to be a much tougher gig than they thought.

September, 1940. The sun is shining, and in the midst of the good weather Londoners could be mistaken for forgetting their country was at war - until the familiar wail of the air-raid sirens heralds an enemy attack. The Blitz has started, and normal life has abruptly ended - but crime has not. That night a man's body is discovered in an unmarked van in the back streets of West Ham. When Detective Inspector John Jago is called to the scene, he recognises the victim: local justice of the peace Charles Villiers. The death looks suspicious, but then a German bomb obliterates all evidence.

For archaeologist Nina Wilde it's the opportunity of a lifetime. Her studies of an ancient text have convinced her that a tomb containing the remains of legendary warrior Hercules may actually exist. If she can locate it, it will be the most important historical find ever to be unearthed. As Nina and Eddie Chase, her ex-SAS bodyguard, begin their search, it's clear that others want to find the tomb - and the unimaginable riches contained within. Then Chase's attention is diverted by the reappearance of a face from his past.

Alex Reeve was Operative 66. A former special-ops soldier and one of the UK's deadliest weapons, he was a member of the secretive SC9 - an elite security service with a remit to neutralise the country's most dangerous enemies. Falsely accused of treason, Reeve was forced to hide in the shadows as the brutal assassins he once trained alongside sought to eliminate the 'rogue asset' at any cost. But tricked into revealing himself, Reeve is suddenly dragged into a lethal conspiracy involving the British state, shadowy Russian agents...and his own father.

When the body of a teenage girl is found in a London hotel, DI Patrick Lennon is mystified. Nobody saw her or her killer enter the hotel, and there is no apparent motive - until a second teenager is found and Lennon realises somebody is targeting fans of the world's biggest boy band.

Rock climbers can’t afford to make careless mistakes. But Detective Inspector Nick Dixon’s former climbing partner, Jake Fayter, died doing just that. Or so it seems. Dixon suspects foul play, but his only leads are unreliable accounts of something odd happening in Cheddar Gorge seconds before Jake fell. The more Dixon learns about Jake’s life, the more he realises that Jake hadn’t been quite the man he remembered...and a lot of people could have wanted him dead. Once Dixon gets too close to the truth, those people will emerge from the shadows and kill to protect their secrets.

Private investigator Dan Armstrong is no stranger to working with criminals, but when he’s approached for help by Bianca Moretti, he’s on high alert. Bianca is intelligent and beautiful, and Dan likes her, but he also once sent her to prison…Bianca explains that a guest has been found dead at her father’s luxurious and private retreat on the beautiful Italian Riviera. The police are sure the death is accidental, but Bianca is convinced the man’s been murdered. Dan’s sure he can get to the bottom of things…as long as Bianca is telling him the whole truth.

A terrible storm is brewing in London, and Nathan Garrett, the sorcerer known as Hellequin, is the only one who can stop it. But his enemies have other plans. Harnessing the power of an ancient stone tablet, they cast Nate and his allies into another realm, where a bloody conflict rages between creatures twisted by magic. Meanwhile, with his friends' lives in danger, Nate must put centuries of differences aside, and place his trust in one of his greatest foes.

When a woman's body is found in the grounds of a ruined priory, Detective Imogen Evans realises she is dealing with a serial killer - a killer whose victims appear to die in a state of bliss, eyes open, smiles forever frozen on their faces.

World-renowned archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, former SAS soldier Eddie Chase, now lead a quiet life—the only real danger posed by their rebellious teenage daughter. Until, on a visit to a newly discovered temple, they're suddenly engulfed in a deadly hunt for an ancient weapon which threatens the entire globe. From the bustling streets of Mexico City to the mountainous jungles of Guatemala, Nina and Eddie—with daughter Gracie in tow—are the only ones who can prevent an apocalyptic evil seizing control of an unstoppable power.

Mammals you never knew existed will enter your world. Birds hidden in treetops will shed their cloak of anonymity. With a single movement of your hand you can make reptiles appear before you. Butterflies you never saw before will bring joy to every sunny day. Creatures of the darkness will enter your consciousness. And as you take on new techniques and a little new equipment, you will discover new creatures and, with them, new areas of yourself that had gone dormant. Once put to use, they wake up and start working again.

Sorceress, Princess of Colchis, Securer of the Golden Fleece. Medea - her very name is a byword for infamy. Legend has it that she murdered her own children for revenge. But love in Ancient Greece was often a dangerous game; and legends are not always what they seem. Medea, devoted wife of Jason, was also a loving mother, a loyal friend of Herakles and a brave adventurer with the Argonauts. A woman both betrayer and betrayed, the real story of Medea is strange, sensual and heroic.

In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the wife of parliamentary candidate Tom Perry is brutally murdered in an apparent burglary gone wrong. With the by-election campaign about to start in earnest, and the festive season in full swing, torrential rain brings with it flood warnings on the Somerset Levels. Suspended on full pay and transferred to the cold case unit, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is languishing on the sidelines as the investigation into Elizabeth Perry’s murder unravels and the floodwaters rise.

In the most authoritative book ever written about Apollo, David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the mission, telling the story in the words of those who took part - based around exclusive interviews with the key players. This enthralling book takes us from the early rocket pioneers to the shock America received from the Soviets' launch of the first satellite, Sputnik; from the race to put the first person into space, through President Kennedy's enthusiasm and later doubts, to the astronauts' intense competition to leave the first footprint.

A trainee jockey has been kicked to death by an aggressive stallion at the local stables. Deemed an accidental death, the case is closed. But when the jockey’s brother returns from active service, he sparks an armed siege, demanding the investigation be re-opened and the truth uncovered.

A routine missing person enquiry takes a grisly turn when a young couple drag a box containing human remains out of a Somerset river. The victim was a surveillance expert investigating an exaggerated injury claim—a murder with an obvious motive, until a police officer is implicated and suspended. Still brooding after his recent brush with police Professional Standards, Detective Chief Inspector Nick Dixon is on extended leave, helping his pregnant fiancée, Detective Sergeant Jane Winter, fight for her place on the major investigation team.