Showing results by narrator "Helen Keeley" in All Categories

For her husband’s 40th birthday, Lily Leonard books a table at the exclusive restaurant of Hector Bolson-Woods renowned celebrity chef. It should be the perfect evening for Lily and Stig, but not even a perfect menu can heal the cracks in the marriage. So when Hector invites them to dine with him privately, Lily is thrilled. Surely this will please Stig? Hector is charming and attentive – everything Stig is not – and she finds herself drawn more and more drawn to the enigmatic Hector.

A frightened Russian woman seeks DCI Hanlon's help in finding her missing husband. Hanlon's not keen on the case. Until she hears a name she recognises only too well. Arkady Belanov, sadistic owner of an exclusive brothel in Oxford is involved. And when DCI Enver Demirel, her former partner and friend, disappears, Hanlon is determined to solve the case. Forced into an uneasy alliance with the London underworld, the race to him from the blood-stained hands of the Russian mafia is underway.

At her surprise 40th-birthday party, Kate Granger feels like the luckiest woman in the world but just hours later her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious underneath a bridge when she should have been at school. Now, Caily lies comatose in her hospital bed, and the police don’t believe it was an accident. As the investigation progresses, it soon becomes clear that not everyone in the family was where they claimed to be at the time of her fall. Caily should be safe in hospital but not everyone wants her to wake up.

On a boat heading out into the North Sea, Ellen Brooke steels herself to spend almost a month locked inside a hyperbaric chamber with five other divers. They are all being paid handsomely for this work - to be lowered each day inside a diving bell to the sea bed, taking it in turns to dive down and repair oil pipes that lie in the dark waters. It is a close knit team and it has to be: any error or loss of trust could be catastrophic. All is going to plan until one of the divers is found unresponsive in his bunk. He hadn't left the chamber.

Elizabeth I is one of England's most famous monarchs, whose story as the ‘Virgin Queen' is well known. But queenship was by no means a certain path for Henry VIII's younger daughter, who spent the majority of her early years as a girl with an uncertain future. Before she was three years old Elizabeth had been both a princess and then a bastard following the brutal execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn.

The last thing she remembers is being shot at point-blank range just as a roiling warp storm engulfed the Calaphrax Cluster. Now, she finds herself awakening on a distant Ecclesiarchy stronghold and indebted to a magos called Metik, who has brought her back from the brink of death. Shortly after her resurrection, Sabbathiel is called to an audience on the planet Hulth by a high-ranking inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, Heldren, who informs her that after being lost for so long, the members of her former conclave no longer trust her.

Anthea and her friends are on a mission. Anthea's mother has kidnapped a Coronami princess, the herd stallion and half a dozen more horses - enough to start her own herd. Suspecting that she is making a deal with the antagonistic emperor of the neighboring land, Kronenhof, Anthea and her friends race there to meet with the emperor and try to find Princess Margaret and the horses. But they don't have much time before Coronam declares war against Kronenhof, which would leave Anthea and her companions trapped in a hostile country.

VE Day 1945: as victory bells ring out across the country, war bride Ellie Burgess’ happiness is overshadowed by grief. Her charismatic Newfoundlander husband Thomas is still missing in action. Until a letter arrives explaining Thomas is back at home on the other side of the Atlantic recovering from his injuries.

Zara has always felt a little ordinary next to her spirited best friend Ivy. Even her dreams seem mundane: a boyfriend, marriage, children. Besides, who would pick her when they could choose Ivy? So when Zara meets Henry and there's an instant spark, she can't believe her luck. A wealthy CEO who wants to settle down? He's perfect...until Ivy insists he's too good to be true.

When Jude Gray and DI Binnie Khatri join a local walking group, their expectations for a peaceful outing to the Malvern Hills takes a grim turn. Arguments abound, and the hike ends in tragedy when one of the walkers is found dead in her car. Initially ruled as an accident, Jude's instincts tell her there’s more to the story. As Jude and Binnie dig deeper, they uncover tensions and secrets within the group. From hidden affairs to longstanding rivalries, it becomes clear this death was no accident.

From the author of Caligula comes a new stand-alone novel in the Damned Emperors series: Commodus. AD 162. Rome is enjoying a period of stability and prosperity. The Empire's bounds are increasing, and two sons are born into the imperial succession for the first time in nearly a century. But all is not as it appears - cracks are beginning to show. The wars have rumbled on too long, and there are whispers of a sickness in the East. Just 30 years later, the Empire will be caught up in civil war, the imperial dynasty ended and Rome burned.

While the rest of Greece mourns for the war that has taken their husbands away, Clytemnestra fears the day it will bring hers back. When her husband willingly sacrifices their eldest daughter to appease the Gods, Clytemnestra vows to do whatever it takes to protect her remaining children. But in doing so she faces losing them altogether.

Alison is more alone than she's ever been. She is convinced that her ex-husband Jack is following her. She is certain she recognises the strange woman who keeps approaching her in the canteen. She knows she has a good reason to be afraid. She just can't remember why. Then the mention of one name turns her life upside down. Alison feels like she's losing her mind...but it could just lead her to the truth. We all go a little mad sometimes....

Ellen Beckford and her sister Mary are living under their father’s shadow. Before their beloved mother died, they had dreamed of bright futures, but torn apart by grief, Harold Beckford barely lets his daughters out of his sight. Then Harold is injured during a break-in at his office at London’s docklands, and can no longer work. And with prices rising and food scarce, Ellen has no choice but to defy her father’s rules and seek employment. She finds a position at London’s renowned Foyles bookshop, and the other shop girls quickly take her under their wing.

Scholar. Sorceress. Killer. Priest. Four people divided by their secrets and lies, bound together by horror, must unite their strengths to unpick a diabolical mystery to which they have but one incomprehensible clue - a single word: Mhurghast. Glimpse what life looks like in Shyish, the Realm of Death, as an ancient family struggles with their place in the Mortal Realms. As it turns out, sometimes you must save yourselves.

Life as an ATA pilot is tough, but despite the long hours and danger, Ellie can think of nowhere she'd rather be. Not only does she love flying, but doing important war work, alongside new-found friends, provides a welcome distraction from worrying about loved ones fighting on the front line. Being an ATA girl is definitely exciting but, as Ellie soon finds out, wearing the distinctive blue uniform also means putting her life on the line every time she takes to the skies.

Volunteering at the local nursing home is Millie Westlake’s one escape from the rumours that swirl around Whitecliff about her past. But speaking with elderly resident, Ingrid, as they play board games, Millie gets chills at her strange story about a young girl being pushed from a roof, somewhere across the valley....

After a year from hell, Haf is ready to blow off steam at a Christmas party: a kind stranger, a few too many drinks and suddenly she's kissing Christopher under the mistletoe—in front of his ex-girlfriend. The next day the news is out that they're apparently a couple, coming to Oxlea to spend the festive season with Christopher's family. But Haf doesn't have better holiday plans and to save her new friend from embarrassment, she agrees to pretend to be Christopher's girlfriend for Christmas. It has the makings of a hilarious anecdote. Until Haf meets Christopher's sister....

When Emily and Ben move in next door to Dr Burman and his wife, Anita, they are keen to get to know their new neighbours. Outgoing and sociable, Emily tries to befriend the doctor’s wife, but Anita is strangely subdued, barely leaving the house, and terrified of answering the phone. When Emily goes missing a few weeks later, Ben is plunged into a panic. His wife has left him a note, but can she really have abandoned him for another man? Or has Emily’s curiosity about the couple next door led her straight into danger?

Seventeen-year-old best friends Nicola and Millie were supposed to have a summer night of fun and freedom in the local park. But when dawn comes, Millie realizes Nicola is missing. Distraught, she searches for her alone...and finds Nicola tied to a tree, her purple Converse shoes missing, her long hair cut and scattered on the ground. With no memory of what happened, terrified Nicola begs Millie never to speak of this again....