Showing results by narrator "Lucy Brownhill" in All Categories

Annie has been sad for so long that she's forgotten how to be any other way. She's trudging miserably through every day, sheer determination keeping her going. Until she meets Polly. Polly is everything that Annie is not. She's colourful, joyful, happy. Because if recent events have taught Polly anything, it's that your time is too short to waste a single day.

In a Shepherd's Bush bedsit, Amelia White dreams of being a reporter. The closest she's come is selling advertising in the local paper. Until the fateful day she stumbles on a truly shocking scoop. Round the corner from her home, she discovers the body of a murder victim, dumped among the rubbish. When the police and reporters descend, Amelia is horrified at the assumptions made and lies soon to be spread about this poor young woman.

When the body of 20-year-old Julie Cooper is found - her pockets stuffed full of wilting flowers - in an iron-age hill fort on the edge of the fens, Detective Tara Thorpe and her team are called in to investigate. The evidence points to an illicit affair gone wrong…but is there more to the story? As always at the Cambridge constabulary, the case turns personal. Detective Blake is exhausted after the arrival of a new baby with wayward wife Babette, and Tara is keen to put as much distance between herself and Blake as she can - both at the station and on the hunt for the killer.

When a body is pulled from the dank and dangerous fens on the outskirts of town, everybody assumes it was a tragic accident. But Detective Tara Thorpe, newly joined and determined to prove herself, suspects there’s more to the story. Tara is desperate to investigate further, but her supervisor Patrick Wilkins has other ideas. He would rather die than let this ambitious upstart show him up - even if it means some digging in Tara’s secret past to keep her under his thumb.

With no husband and two small children to care for, survival is Mary's only concern. She needs money . . . and can't be too choosy about the job. Mr. Wetherby doesn't need any more workers for his expanding business, but as a favor to an old acquaintance, he'll make an exception . . . for Mary. He wants her. She needs him. Can they build the foundations of a happy life together? Or will a web of lies and deceit be their undoing?

It's 1645. When Alice Hopkins' husband dies in a tragic accident, she returns to the small Essex town of Manningtree, where her brother Matthew still lives. But home is no longer a place of safety. Matthew has changed, and there are rumours spreading through the town: whispers of witchcraft, and of a great book, in which he is gathering women's names. To what lengths will Matthew's obsession drive him? And what choice will Alice make when she finds herself at the very heart of his plan?

A stand-up with writer's block embarks upon his last gig as a Rodney Dangerfield impersonator. Reflecting on a childhood holiday, a father is faced with the limit to which he can keep his daughters safe. These characters search without knowing what they seek. At the heart of this work is Eva, whom we meet in childhood, locked in an enigmatic relationship with her mother; as a woman stumbling from youth into middle age; and in later life as the mother to a daughter of her own. Each story lays bare the emotional and psychic damage of life, love and abandonment.

Fae enemies are gathering on all sides, forced to bend the knee to the newly crowned Alder King. Now, only Aster stands between Faolan's wrath and the humans he intends to slaughter and enslave. From the fiery depths of the Metal Court to the darkest reaches of the sinister Shadow Court, Aster and Thorne must travel the length of Faerie to seek possible allies and hunt down the objects of power they desperately need to challenge Faolan's rule.

Farm laborer Charles Jackson doesn't expect much from life. For the price of a few pints of ale and enough food on the table, he's happy to take work where he can get it. Until he finds himself at Chadwick's farm. Falling in love with the farmer's daughter wasn't part of his plans. But when they're found in an intimate embrace, his troubles are only just beginning . . .

Torn from Thorne's side, Aster finds herself bound to Faolan by the magic of a faerie bargain. To pay off her debts, he expects her to compete in the Alder Trials, a deadly competition to determine the next King or Queen of Faerie. And not only is Aster a human competing against the impossibly powerful heirs to the Fae Courts, she soon discovers that Thorne will also be competing...against her. Exposed to the cruel, cunning politics of the Fae Courts, Aster must risk everything both in and out of the trials. At the end of it all, which will she choose—a faerie kingdom or her heart?

This collection of stand-alone short stories is a treat for new listeners and dedicated fans alike. In each of these 17 stories, an ordinary person takes on an extraordinary journey to a new life, discovering facets and strengths they never knew they possessed. Across a variety of time periods and settings, these stories capture Anna Jacobs' unique style and showcase her mastery of emotional tales.

1941. It is the Second World War, and Louise Keene's small Cornish village is full of soldiers. Among them is the dashing RAF pilot Paul Bolton, who sweeps her off her feet, only to be deployed days later. Desperate not to be another girl pining for her sweetheart, Louise runs away to join the army, never imaging she would end up watching the pitch-black skies of London as a gunner girl....

A miscarriage of justice could have deadly consequences in this taut and pacey psychological thriller. She thought she knew everything about her sister. It seems she was wrong.... DC Jo Boden was 11 years old when her older sister, Sarah, was brutally murdered during her first year at university. Her boyfriend, Nathan Wade, was convicted of the killing. Now, 15 years later, Wade is being released on licence, and documentary filmmaker Briony Rowe says she can prove his innocence....

Eve knows what her colleagues had for lunch last April. She remembers everyone who passes through the care home she works at long after they've gone. Like her museum of tiny treasures, her life is small and manageable. And what if you couldn't even remember your name? 'Adam' is found wandering down the central reservation of the M25. He has no memory of how he came to be there. As Eve works with Adam to help him discover who he once was, her world begins to open up. But when Adam remembers his past, can Eve possibly be part of his future?

In our lives we'll meet something like 80,000 people. Most of them just in passing, sitting beside them on a bus, buying a latte from them, overtaking them too fast on the motorway. Others will become friends, lovers, family. Some will stay in our lives forever, and some will be swept away by the flow of life. But we touch all of these people in some way, tiny or huge, making more of a difference that any of us can imagine. Rosie is in a coma, unable to reach out to the world or communicate.

Charlene Downes was 14 years old when she went missing in the seedy underbelly of Blackpool. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had turned into a truant. Though Charlene was hanging out with a new crowd by takeaway shops and the pier, her mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home. But one day she didn't.

When her beloved father is killed in the Blitz, trainee nurse April Harvey is all alone in the world. Desperate to find the family she craves, she heads to Truro, her mother's hometown. But danger and heartbreak lurk even in Cornwall, and when the American GIs arrive, April finds her life turned upside down as she discovers that some people are not to be trusted. Especially when it comes to her budding romance with Major Crawford Dunbar. As vicious rumours emerge, April fears there will never be a future for them.

When her old agency is hacked by an elusive crime syndicate, ex-secret agent Maggie Black is enjoying the carefree life of a civilian. Then she learns that the names of the agency’s agents, past and present, are being leaked by the hackers, one by one until their notorious boss is released from prison. With the government refusing to negotiate with the blackmailers, she is forced out of retirement and dragged back into the perilous life of espionage she swore to leave behind. Her name is on that list, as well as those she cares about most.

When secret agent Maggie Black agrees to protect the Mayor of London, she thinks she’s in for a boring night of babysitting. But the simple job gets a lot more complicated when an assassin arrives and takes out the Mayor, framing Maggie as the killer. Unable to explain the evidence against her, Maggie is branded a traitor and hunted by the very people she once fought beside.

Maggie Black is settling well into life after being a government assassin. Finally content and deeply in love with her partner, Leon, she is ready to open her own secret agency where she can put her unique skills to use and help those in need - on her own terms. Getting out isn’t as simple as Maggie had hoped, however, and her past comes back to haunt her, putting a stop to any plans for a fresh start. Nina, an old colleague-turned-enemy, is out for blood and returns from hiding in the most devastating way possible.