Showing results by narrator "Julia Franklin" in All Categories

Manchester, 1943. Emily is enjoying her new job as a station porter until she learns that a trusted friend at work may be involved in something underhand. Persephone's romance with Matt is blossoming - but can two people from such different walks of life really make a go of it? All is going well with wedding planning for Mabel until someone divulges a secret about Harry, which could threaten their future. As war rages around them, the railway girls must face their own battles. With the support of one another, will they make the right decisions when it comes to matters of the heart?

Eighteen-year-old Moll Chambers works her fingers to the bone doing all she can to support her family. With an ailing father and a wayward mother, Moll is the only one who can look after her siblings, Bo and Sissy. But Manchester is an increasingly dangerous place to live, overrun with a ferocious rivalry between gangs of so-called 'scuttlers': young men and women bent on a life of violence and crime. And they have her brother in their sights. Soon even Moll can't protect Bo from the lure of the criminal underworld.

A huge funeral for Windermere’s popular resident, Barbara Dodge, is taking place, and florist Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown and her new assistant, Bonnie Lawson, are busy compiling wreaths in preparation. There’s word of a series of sinister dognappings occurring in nearby Troutbeck, and whilst taking a walk up Wansfell Pike, Simmy and her father, Russell, stumble on a dog strangled to death - it’s not long before Simmy reluctantly finds herself caught up in a murder investigation.

Two days before an auction of the contents of High Gates House in Borrowdale, Christopher Henderson bumps into Jennifer Reade, the heir to the entire estate, and the expected recipient of the proceeds of the house clearance sale. She discovers a dead man in the cellar of the house but threatens and cajoles Christopher into remaining silent about it until after the auction to avoid complications and delays. The auction begins but is soon halted by the police with the news that a murder has been committed.

It's 1641, and when Midori Kumashiro, the orphaned daughter of a warlord, is told she has to leave Japan or die, she has no choice but to flee to England. Captain Nico Noordholt’s ship is her last chance, but he doesn’t really want a female passenger, especially a beautiful one. During their journey, Nico and Midori form a tentative bond, but they both have secrets that can change everything.

Jenny loves to house-sit, looking after a stranger's enviably perfect home and pretending to be someone else - just for a bit. Her latest booking is a beautiful, disheveled old rectory in the Home Counties owned by the uber-successful Lewis family. Freed of teaching duties for the summer, and her own teenagers spending time with her objectionable ex, Jenny readies herself for a life of walk-in larders and sparkling water taps.

Just back from honeymoon, the last thing Detective Inspector Joanna Piercy wants to deal with is nuisance calls from an old lady ringing the police incessantly to report seemingly trivial incidents. The woman in question is Timony Weeks, a sixties’ child star in the once-popular soap Butterfield Farm, who lives in an isolated farmhouse. Is she putting on an act and wasting police time, or is someone really trying to frighten her?

Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown's wedding day to Christopher Henderson has arrived on a glorious summer's day in the pretty Lake District village of Threlkeld. While the day passes off without undue calamity, later when most of the guests have departed, a young man is found nearby, possibly the victim of a vicious attack. The mystery of the attack is complicated by pressure on police resources. Was it an accident or something far more sinister? Speculation is rife as to what precisely happened, and a chilling suspicion develops into a theory that might be impossible to prove.

Spring has brought many new beginnings into the world of Persimmon ‘Simmy’ Brown. Not only has her baby arrived, but she and her fiancé, Christopher, have moved to the historic village of Hartsop - and their forthcoming nuptials are only a short month away. But when a former acquaintance of Christopher’s reminds him of an undertaking made a decade previously that he hasn't fulfilled, their lives soon take a sinister turn. Yet even with a young baby to consider, Simmy cannot ignore her instinct to investigate.

Simmy Brown had hoped that her autumn would be less frantic than usual to give her a chance to enjoy her pregnancy, her upcoming nuptials, and some time looking for a new house in the Patterdale area of the Lake District. But it is not to be. When one of the lodgers at her parents’ B&B dies in her arms after seemingly being poisoned, she becomes embroiled in a complex investigation, headed up by her friend DI Moxon.

Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the villainous (or perhaps just misunderstood) 'killer plant' in fiction, film and video games. Step within to marvel at Charlotte Perkins Gilman's giant wisteria and H.G. Wells' hungry orchid; hear the calls of the ethereal women of the wood and the frightful drone of the moaning lily; and do tread carefully around E. Nesbit's wandering creepers. Every strain of vegetable threat can be found within this new collection.

This will be a Christmas to remember for the railway girls. Little Max is growing day by day and Joan is adjusting to her new life. But in her heart of hearts, she is desperate to return to work on the railways. Margaret's job in the engine shed is demanding. But when a friend finds herself in crisis, she knows she must do everything she can to help her. Alison is overjoyed at the prospect of organising a Christmas wedding until a long-held secret is revealed. Knowing the truth, can she find the strength to forgive those she holds most dear?

Suffolk, 1955. Rosy Gilchrist is asked by her friend Lady Fawcett to join her on a trip to Southwold to visit Delia Dovedale, an old school chum she hasn’t seen in years. Rosy reluctantly agrees to be her companion on the reunion jaunt, but on arrival they discover that their hostess is dead - recently murdered at the local flower festival. Faced with incompetent village police officers and a stern manservant with an eyepatch, Rosy and her friends face the impossible task of finding the murderer in a town of suspicious characters - before the body count rises.

In Odour of Chrysanthemums D.H. Lawrence explores the concept of human isolation and the nature of love and relationships. This is the story of Elizabeth, a young wife and mother waiting for her alcoholic husband to return home from what she assumes is another night of drinking...

Staffordshire, 1911. Money is in short supply for Ginnie Jones’ family, and she is sent to Haddon Workhouse. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life...until tragedy strikes. Three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever, until Sam is sent to fight in the war. Can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had?

Lena just moved to Mandalay Close. She needed a new start, since her boyfriend cheated her out of the happy-ever-after she’d believed they were always going to share. But on the day Lena moves in, letters begin to arrive for all her new neighbours. Letters that promise to expose everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Every house has received one - except for Lena’s. Someone clearly wants to implicate her, to ruin her new life and turn everyone against her. She’s made an enemy, but who, and why?

Manchester, 1867. Mara longs for a peaceful life free of violence and poverty. But she has married into the O'Hara family, who have a reputation for their drunkenness and quick tempers. Her eldest stepson, Conrad, is the worst of them all - a brute and a criminal who makes Mara's life a misery. But then Conrad is accused of a crime he didn't commit, and Mara is the only one who can prove his innocence. Perhaps this is her chance to finally free her family from his toxic influence....

Manchester, 1941. Kept apart by war work, bombs and blackouts, Lorna and her beloved George cherish every precious moment together. George's vital role working for the War Office keeps him in London, while Lorna rolls up her sleeves to do her duty each day at the Manchester Salvage Depot, alongside her dearest friends, Sally and Betty. When George proposes, Lorna is happier than she could ever have imagined. But her high spirits are soon dashed when she hears that the War Office is sending George to America.

Infamous playboy Tristan Romero meets ordinary Lily at a lavish ball and arrogantly predicts that she will wake up the following morning between his designer silk sheets! Powerless to resist this wicked billionaire, Lily knows Tristan is only offering one night. But then she discovers she's pregnant, and Tristan's aristocratic duty demands he take Lily as his bride. Lily's shame over accepting a loveless proposal is heightened when she realises that, as the Spaniard's wife, she'll be expected to fulfil his every need.

Manchester, December 1940: this winter, the girls boarding at Star House - Betty, Sally and Lorna - are determined to keep a stiff upper lip. But for Lorna - who is dedicated to caring for the wounded with the Women's Voluntary Service - the past is about to come calling. Lorna is heartbroken when the devastating Christmas Blitz reunites her with her ex-fiancé George. . .As air raids and rescue missions throw George and Lorna together time and again, it becomes clear that nothing about his visit to Manchester is what it seems.