Showing results by narrator "Helen Duff" in All Categories

1832. The morning after her father's funeral, Prudence Merryfield wakes to the liberating thought that this is the first day of her new life. At thirty-five and unmarried, she is now mistress of her own fate. But a cruel revelation at the reading of her father's will forces Prudence to realise that taking only the most drastic action will set her free. Present day. Eliza is gifted a family heirloom by her aunt—a Georgian pocket book, belonging to her ancestor, Prudence Merryfield, whose existence reverberates through the lives of generations of Eliza's family, the Ambroses.

Sarah Sak's son, Anthony Walgate, was murdered by gay serial killer Stephen Port after they met on dating app Grindr. Stephen Port was sentenced to life imprisonment at the Old Bailey in November 2016. The case received extensive press coverage not only because of the horrific nature of the crimes but also because the police refused to investigate Anthony's death despite three more bodies being found in near identical circumstances. It was not until Scotland Yard's crime squad took over that Stephen Port was arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

When Detective Jackie Cooke is called to the murder scene, she has to choke back tears. Missing teenager Chloe Smedley has finally been found—her body left in a cold back yard, carefully posed with her bright blue eyes still open. Jackie lays a protective hand on the baby in her belly, who seems to kick out in anguish, and vows to find the brutal monster who stole Chloe’s future. Breaking the news to Chloe’s mother is heartbreaking, and Jackie is haunted by the woman’s cries. 

Do you remember the summer that changed everything? Rachel and her daughter never had secrets. Until now. Lily is somewhere she shouldn't be. With someone she shouldn't be with. Mia misses her best friend. But she let her down. In the middle of a stifling heatwave, the three of them stand on the edge of irrevocable change. By the end, one burning question will remain... how could she let things go this far?

'The Borrow-a-Bookshop Bookshop Cafe invites literature lovers to run their very own bookshop for a fortnight. Spend your days talking books with customers in your own charming bookshop and serving up delicious cream teas in the cosy cafe. Bookworms, what are you waiting for? Your holiday is going to be LIT(erary). Apply to: The Borrow-a-Bookshop Bookshop Cafe, Down-a-long, Clove Lore, Devon.' Jude Crawley should be on top of the world. She's just graduated as a mature student, so can finally go public about her relationship with Philosophy professor, Mack.

When Detective Jackie Cooke is called out to the scene, she’s expecting a routine check. The bottle of pills on the kitchen table, next to the note with the single word SORRY written in a shaky hand, make it seem obvious what’s happened. But Jackie is shocked when she recognises her old schoolfriend Claire--and she is convinced Claire would never take her own life.

Amy had it all money, brains and beauty. And then the accident happened. The Present Day: Left blind and without her family, Amy feels she needs to escape. On a trip along the Camino de Santiago - the Way of St James - she is accompanied by the mysterious and troubled Luke. Having been set up to help Amy by a mutual friend, Luke finds he is running from his past... 1314: A Templar Knight, Luc, is also running. He meets the wife of a former comrade, now blinded in a terrifying attack: Aimee.

Two lost souls. One chance at love. From battlefields to bookshelves, Captain Jane Reed is on a mission to help a world-renowned author, Veronica Cooper, reclaim her passion. Seeking solace from the hustle and bustle of Venice, the two head to a tranquil countryside villa, where Jane discovers more than just the beauty of nature. As fate would have it, Jane crosses paths with David, Veronica's mysterious and brooding son. He too carries the weight of his past, but can Jane break through his walls and find the love they deserve? Or will their scars prove to be too deep to mend?

There are two little girls in the photo. I instantly recognize myself as the small, dark-haired child in the purple dress. But who is the girl with the long, blonde hair laughing at the camera? And why is the photograph here, in a stranger’s house? When I find the tattered picture hidden away at the back of a dusty cupboard in Amy’s house, my mouth goes dry with shock. Though I haven’t known Amy for very long, I love looking after her young children, in her picture-perfect hilltop house with its sprawling wildflower garden and bright, airy kitchen. 

In a freezing, isolated farmhouse with ice on its windows, Flora is looking after her sick mother. Since she was a little girl, Flora has been frightened of her mother. And when she discovers a photo of a smiling baby girl she doesn’t recognize, hidden at the bottom of a drawer, her mother grows even more remote, and refuses to talk about it. So, when a visitor arrives from a paradise island of sapphire coves and white sand beaches, and confirms that the baby in the picture is her sister, she should feel joy. But, he also brings the news that Flora’s sister is dying. 

In the Full Light of the Sun follows the fortunes of three Berliners caught up in a devastating scandal of 1930s Germany. It tells the story of Emmeline, a wayward young art student; Julius, an anxious middle-aged art expert; and a mysterious art dealer named Rachmann, who are at the heart of Weimar Berlin at its hedonistic, politically turbulent apogee and are whipped up into excitement over the surprising discovery of 32 previously unknown paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

A fairytale ending isn’t just for fiction... The Borrow-a-Bookshop is recovering, seven months after the winter flood that destroyed all its wares. When newest resident Joy Foley arrives in Clove Lore with her daughter, five-year-old Radia Pearl, she is set to drag the Bookshop into the 21st century by virtue of her tech expertise. But Joy has a secret. She is on the run from Radia Pearl’s father. She can’t settle down here or anywhere.

On entering Sarah Hall's world, we become travellers, suddenly. Our surroundings of farms and offices, seasides and cities, Turkish forests and English moors, shade into otherness: hazed by delirium, tinged with dream, fertile with the animal codes of the wild. Our lovers, friends, and parents go about their days warped by ruptures of brain and body, alternatively predator and prey, reborn in unexpected evolutions, and haunted by drownings and dictators, agitated hearts and sprouting wings, coffins and floods.

On the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote, Helen Pankhurst - great-granddaughter of suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and a leading women's rights campaigner - charts how women's lives have changed over the last century and offers a powerful and positive argument for a new way forward.

Fresh from solving her third mystery, Gethsemane Brown is ready to relax and enjoy her summer. Her plans include nothing more dangerous than performing in the opening ceremony of the annual rose and garden show and cheering on Frankie Grennan, who has entered his hybrid rose into the competition. But when a mysterious stalker starts leaving Frankie floral bouquets as coded messages, Gethsemane fears a copycat may be planning to recreate the still-unsolved murders of the infamous Flower Shop Killer.

When an influencer-turned-bridezilla shows up at the lighthouse to capture Insta-perfect wedding photos designed to entice sponsors to fund her lavish wedding, Gethsemane has her hands full trying to keep Eamon from blasting the entire wedding party over the edge of the cliff. But those wedding bells become funeral bells when members of the bride’s entourage start turning up dead.

Christmas magic can thaw the coldest of hearts... From the author of One Winter’s Night, an uplifting, feel-good Christmas romance that will captivate readers of Holly Martin, Cathy Bramley and Milly Johnson. Sylvie Magnusson is going to be lonely this Christmas. Instead of jetting off for her honeymoon, she’s freezing at home in Cheshire. Guess that’s what happens when your fiancé dumps you a week before your wedding... Sylvie’s best friend, Nari, plans a trip to see the Northern Lights and get Sylvie’s mojo back.

Born in a honeysuckle-choked garden deep in the forest, Aphrodite - young, sensitive and beautiful - learns her true purpose in the world moments before she's cast out of the only home she's ever known. Haunted by loneliness, she begins a journey to fulfill her destiny. It is a path that will lead her into the arms of four very different men - a dreamer, a fighter, an artist, and a lost soul. All human, all flawed, and all on their own journeys of painful self-discovery. But could it be the secrets she left behind that hold the answers to the questions she's seeking?

Lucy is married, she has children, but she is haunted by the feeling that somewhere along the line her life's gone wrong. One cross, hectic day, she has a car crash, and when she wakes, she is 18 again and lying beside the man she's always loved - the one she never kissed. She wants to do it now. She thinks she's in control. But she's not, and she has far more to lose than she realised.

Three women with something to hide. A beauty clinic in a former asylum. One deadly secret. Jenny: a troubled woman who spent time at the clinic when it was an asylum. Amy: a guest at the clinic who will do anything to transform her body. Rebecca: the doctor who will stop at nothing to make the clinic successful. What happens to them at the clinic will change everything...