Showing results by narrator "David Monteath" in All Categories

Five years ago, 14-year-old Max Wheeler disappeared from Priest's Island, an isolated but bleakly beautiful place on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. In the close-knit local community, there are no secrets - except what happened to Max. None of the police or private investigations since have shed any light on what happened the night he went missing, presumed dead. But there is one man who is yet to take on the case: The Sea Detective.

Ex-priest DI Frank Farrell has returned to his roots in Dumfries, only to be landed with a disturbing murder case. Even worse, Farrell knows the victim: Father Boyd, the man who forced him out of the priesthood 18 years earlier. With no leads, Farrell must delve into the old priest’s past, one that is inexorably linked with his own. But his attention is diverted when a pair of twin boys go missing. The Dumfries police force recover one in an abandoned church, unharmed. But where is his brother?

With a bike, a turbo trainer, and the right advice, you can beat anyone. No one but Graeme Obree has the clarity of vision to get to the heart of the "problem" of how to improve as a racing cyclist. His innovative approach took him to the top of world cycling, twice breaking the world hour record - a story picked up in his Hollywood biopic The Flying Scotsman. It can draw the same outstanding athletic performance from you.

Ex-priest DI Farrell is called on to investigate a gruesome death in rural Scotland. All evidence points to suicide, except for one loose end: every light in the cottage was switched off. Why would he kill himself in the dark? The question sparks a murder investigation that leads to the mysterious Ivy House, home of ‘The Collective’, a sinister commune of artists who will do anything to keep their twisted secrets hidden. And when the remains of a young girl are uncovered on a barren stretch of coastline, Farrell realises that there is something rotten in this tight-knit community.

Accounts of the Second World War usually involve tales of bravery in battle, or stoicism on the home front, as the British public stood together against Fascism. However, the war looks very different when seen through the eyes of the 60,000 conscientious objectors who refused to take up arms and whose stories, unlike those of the First World War, have been almost entirely forgotten.

A Thief and a Hero tells the extraordinary story of Gentle Johnny Ramensky: the son of Lithuanian immigrant parents who went on to become a household name as the foremost safe-blower in the country. His daring escapes from prison would further endear him to the public and eventually bring him to the attention of the British army. When the Second World War broke, he was hand-picked to join the Commandos and rechristened himself Ramsay.

When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion, his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable predator who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls. Online journalist Scott King, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and rake over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge.

When Isabelle McLaren is given the devastating news that her ten-year old son, Thomas, has only months to live, she decides to take him to St Andrews to see Hamish McHamish, the town's famous cat who Thomas believes can cure him, if only he gets to stroke him. But Hamish is missing, and when Thomas' health takes a sudden turn for the worse, Isabelle asks DCI Andy Gilchrist for help—find Hamish, and give her son his final wish. But in the season of goodwill to all men, will it take a cat to prove that miracles can still happen?

Behind the stage lights and word-perfect soliloquies, sinister secrets are lurking in the wings. The mysteries in this collection reveal the dark side to theatre and performing arts: a world of backstage dealings, where unscrupulous actors risk everything to land a starring role, costumed figures lead to mistaken identities, and on-stage deaths begin to look a little too convincing. This expertly curated thespian anthology features 14 stories from giants of the classic crime genre.

Bonnie Scotland, and she is Bonnie that’s for sure. A country with a rich and mysterious history. Strange land formations, ancient standing stone circles, and otherworldly scenery run from coast to coast. It is the land of the Celts and their folklore that includes stories of unicorns, shape shifting spirits, Kelpies, fairies, and monsters that swim in deep Lochs.

Newly assigned to CID, Detective Constable Elizabeth Burnet needs to prove herself more than most. In an era rife with misogynistic attitudes, some see her as little more than a pretty face hired to make the department more palatable to the public, giving her the nickname 'The Friday Girl'. So when she stumbles across evidence of a nascent serial killer - dubbed "The Werewolf" by the press - her theories are dismissed as the product of an overactive imagination, and the more she tries to persuade people of the truth, the more she's alienated from her colleagues. But the killer is out there.

A dawn raid on the home of a suspected rapist leads to a chilling discovery, a disturbing collection hidden under floorboards. Narey is terrified at the potential scale of what they've found and of what brutalities it may signal. When the photographs are ruled inadmissible as evidence and the man walks free from court, Narey knows she's let down the victim she'd promised to protect and a monster is back on the streets.

Everyone's favourite unorthodox journalist Jack Parlabane goes undercover to investigate the mysterious and lucrative world of alternative medicine - in particular, the practice of homeopathy. Are there unexplained forces that can be harnessed to heal us, or is it all a load of sugar?

The third gripping instalment in a dystopian thriller series, where modern-day recruits compete in a fight to the death in the streets of Edinburgh. Live by the rules. Die by the rules. Or break them and take your chances in the chaos that follows... The Pantheon Games are the biggest underground event in the world, with millions watching online as modern-day recruits battle to the death with weapons of the ancient world. Tyler Maitland left his life behind to search for his sister, who disappeared after joining the Pantheon's Edinburgh chapter.

Cilla Swanner has been jilted by her lover, and she is struggling with a jewelry business that's far from sparkling. She needs a getaway. Someplace like Dunroamin Castle in Scotland. But what she finds there may be more than she can handle. Centuries ago, the roguish Scots knight known as Hardwick was renowned for his swordsmanship. But a traveling bard cursed him to wander the world forever, pleasing a different woman each night with no hope of fulfillment or true love. Then Hardwick meets Cilla, who may be his only chance for salvation.

A busy practising barrister who also served as a judge, Cyril Hare also found time to publish nine detective novels and approximately 40 short stories, including Thursday’s Child, which takes the listener to the island of Cara, the west coast of Kintyre in Scotland. When a businessman from London tries to buy the island, the mysterious, lone inhabitant of the island’s interest is immediately piqued.

Glaswegian author Bill Knox brings us a chilling story of kidnap and revenge in The Alibi Man. Manny Davis is being held prisoner in a cellar with no recollection of how he got there, whilst parcel bombs and other strange things have been happening around the city linked to a man matching Manny’s description.

"Squid Game" meets "The Hunger Games" in this thriller where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient, deadly game across the streets of Edinburgh. Welcome to the Pantheon Games. Let the streets of Edinburgh run with blood...The Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first-century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.

Spinster Chastity Hamilton is the Duke of Roxburgh's heir. Her father insists she marry. She insists that the man who wins her hand must first find matches for her three younger sisters. Sir Stirling James takes up the challenge, and the sisters are shocked when he announces the engagement of their youngest sister to the Devil of Delny. Lady Chastity didn't believe a man who could make such matches in one month's time existed.

Every doctor is haunted by memories of difficult patients. People whom, despite all of their patience and persistence and the best communication, diagnostic and reasoning skills, they haven't helped. And anyone who has been a patient will tell you about encounters with difficult doctors, of relationships freighted with mutual bafflement, hostility and pain. Despite its vast resources, medicine is so often destined to fail people. Written by a practising GP, this book is told through stories of Dr Peter Dorward's hardest cases.