Showing results by narrator "Emma Powell" in All Categories

It's Christmas 1937 and an eclectic list of guests and staff have gathered for the grand re-opening of Maybridge castle, a newly renovated yet still crumbling hotel deep in the Cumbrian countryside. An innocent game of murder-in-the-dark will turn into a real game of life and death. And by the time the first sherries have been drunk, one of these people will be dead - and one of them the killer. Someone has changed the rules, but who?

In the moody countryside on the edge of Wales, a rambling 12th-century house is thought to be haunted. Although its new owners don't believe in ghosts, they do believe in spiritual darkness and the need for exorcism. But their approach to Merrily is oblique and guarded. No one can be told – least of all, the new bishop. Merrily's discovery of the house's links with the medieval legend of a man who resisted mortality threatens to expose the hidden history of a more modern cult and its trail of insidious abuse – a trail that may not be closed.

Birdie Greenwing has been at a loose end ever since her beloved twin sister and husband passed away. Too proud and stubborn to admit she is lonely, Birdie's world has shrunk. But then some new neighbours move in to the house next door. Jane has come to Brighton for a fresh start, away from her ferociously protective mother Min. While Jane finds it hard to stand up for herself, her daughter Frankie has no problem telling people what she does and doesn't want. Ada Kowalski has come to England to follow her dreams, but her new life is harder than she expected.

After Pearl's home is destroyed in the Exeter Blitz, so too are her dreams of performing onstage. Finding work as a bus conductress instead, a chance encounter revives her hopes once more, and soon she is singing for the troops alongside new friend Ivy. When agent Gordon Gold approaches them, Ivy jumps to sign with him and sets off for the bright lights of London. But Pearl is wary of the charming man and decides to stay, watching her friend go with a heavy heart. A year later, while Pearl is struck mute by an illness, Ivy returns - and is quick to seize the chance to fill Pearl's place.

Having done her duty as an ATS girl, Lance Corporal Ruth Cox is moving on to new challenges and has signed up to work as a gunner girl, helping to keep the skies clear of enemy planes and safe for our brave boys in blue. But on the way to her new barracks, Ruth meets handsome Sargeant Sam Johnson. Ruth isn’t looking for romance, and she knows she has a dangerous job ahead, but there is a connection between her and Sam that she can’t deny.

1924. The First World War is over and eleven-year-old Alexa is growing up on the idyllic Cornish coast with her best friend Harvey. But she soon discovers there are secrets at the heart of her family that have been hidden for years. And when her mother dies suddenly, she finds her whole life thrown into turmoil. 1931. Still reeling from the secrets she uncovered, Alexa flees to the intoxicating city of Venice. But her new glamorous life is not what she hoped for and, with dark shadows closing in, she will question everything she thought she wanted.

Recently married, Barbara should now be enjoying her life as a newlywed, but she is plagued by a secret that she must keep hidden if she wants to keep the family she loves. But no one can keep a secret forever. Barbara knows that if her new husband Alex, a Spitfire pilot, discovers her secret he would surely reject her and their marriage would be over. But when a tragedy almost rips the family apart and then Alex is posted abroad, Barbara has to learn to live without him sooner than she thought.

In an attempt to resuscitate her twenty-five-year-old marriage, aerophobic Gillian Dobson knocks down a few tranquilisers and takes a dreaded flight to the Sicilian Island of Lipari to surprise her husband, away on a business trip. But her troubles are just about to begin.

Phoebe Spencer left home a long time ago, desperate to get away from her mother's emotional manipulation. She knows her life is better away from her family, but she can’t help feeling she’s simply running away from her problems… Then Phoebe hears that her younger sister Lucy has disappeared, leaving behind her four-year old daughter, Darcy. Phoebe's certain Lucy will be back soon - she'd never leave Darcy alone - and then Phoebe can get on with her life again.

When Drew Hopgood’s brother, Frank dies whilst out climbing, it’s initially thought his death was simply a tragic accident. But when Frank’s much younger wife, Stella arrives at Hopgood Hall demanding half of Frank’s inheritance the Hopgoods and Alexi Ellis begin to suspect foul play...Stella has no claim to Frank’s legacy, but she isn’t giving up easily. And with the reputation of Hopgood Hall still fragile, Alexi can’t afford to lose any more money because of Stella’s greed. So Alexi, her partner Jack, and Cosmo of course, decide to dig deeper into Stella’s background.

My name's Devon Jinx, and, yes, I'm half warlock, half witch. But I couldn't care less about which kind of magic is better. All I want to do is keep my head down and get on with my new job as an investigator at the Hunted Witch Agency. A recent, shall we say, mistake has put me in place to inherit the leadership of the warlocks. Which means only one thing. I have a choice to make: leave behind my life of witchery to become a warlock, or lose my warlock magic forever. Complicating my choice is the fact that someone is trying to destroy the warlock coven.

The elite warriors of the Hereford-based SAS know all about pain and the enduring of it. Syd Spicer, ex-SAS trooper, has found himself back in the regiment - this time as its chaplain, responsible for the spiritual welfare of the hardest men in or out of uniform. Faced with a case which would normally be passed discreetly to Hereford diocesan exorcist Merrily Watkins, Spicer is forced, for security reasons, to try and handle it himself - and is coming close to a breakdown.

Wild and Free is the festival du jour. Everyone piles through its gates - and Cupid lies in wait. Teacher Ginnie is desperate to forget her crush on headmaster Mark and hopes glamping might do the trick. But Mark is also heading for Wild and Free to reform his college band...desperate not to be recognised. Mark's bandmate, James, dreams of a festival blowout with his son, Guy...until his wife, Victoria, kills the dream.

The ponies of Pemberley Stables have been bound by magic, and each of them is trapped in time. Can two brave girls help get them back? Sparkle the white pony has been magicked to be messy and can’t stop rolling in mud. But can Olivia and Eliza help break the spell that is binding her and give her a magical makeover in time for the royal wedding?

Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum and deliverance consultant to the Diocese of Hereford, heads for the Malvern Hills to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension to a spate of road accidents in the sleepy village of Wychehill. Merrily is called in when two people are killed in a head-on crash that is also linked to the revamped local pub which, it seems, has injected the valley with a shattering, strobing surge of inner-city nightlife...and drugs.

Spring 1940. Kitty Williams has suffered more than her fair share of tragedy, but rather than wallowing, she's more determined than ever to do her part in the battle against Hitler. Stepping up her own war effort, Kitty leaves her hometown of Coventry and joins the Auxiliary Territorial Service (Women's Army - ATS), where she finds new friends in Di, Peggy and Mary but also new obstacles to overcome in both her professional and personal lives.

Olivia Sheldon has travelled across the world to marry a man she does not love. Reluctant to leave England but coerced into the marriage, Olivia's reward is being reunited with her estranged sister, Clara. Her punishment is falling impossibly and illicitly in love with the enigmatic Captain Edward Bertram. Then one scorching day Clara is abducted from Alexandria's busiest street. Desperate to find her sister - and the truth about her disappearance - Olivia becomes embroiled in Egypt's shadowy underworld, risking both her life and future with Edward.

1891. Spindrift House, Cornwall. Talented painter, Edith Fairchild, is poised to begin a life of newlywed bliss, and artistic creation, with her charming husband Benedict. He recently inherited Spindrift House near Port Isaac, and Edith is inspired by the glorious Cornish light and the wonderful setting overlooking the sea. But then happiness turns to heartbreak. In great distress, Edith turns to an artist friend for comfort, and after a bitterly-regretted moment of madness, she finds herself pregnant with his child. Too ashamed to reveal her secret, Edith devotes herself to her art.

A man's body is found below a waterfall. It looks like suicide or an accidental drowning – until DI Frannie Bliss enters the dead man's home. What he finds there has him consulting Merrily Watkins, the Diocese of Hereford's official advisor on the paranormal.

The Parish Priest must solve the mystery of a young boy's deathly fall from the Ludlow Castle ruins, and discovers a hidden obsession with the afterlife amongst the ancient streets. In the affluent, historic town of Ludlow, a teenage boy dies in a fall from the castle ruins. Accident or suicide? No great mystery - so why does the boy's uncle, retired detective Andy Mumford, turn to Diocesan Exorcist Merrily Watkins? More people will die before Merrily uncovers a dangerous obsession with suicide, death and the afterlife hidden within these shadowed medieval streets.