Showing results for "DI Murphy" in Genre Fiction

'The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.' So opens Murphy, Samuel Beckett's first novel, published in 1938. Its work-shy eponymous hero, adrift in London, realises that desire can never be satisfied and withdraws from life, in search of stupor. Murphy's lovestruck fiancée, Celia, tries with tragic pathos to draw him back, but her attempts are doomed to failure. In Dublin, Murphy's friends and familiars are simulacra of him, fragmented and incomplete. They come to London in search of him.

When Gareth finds his wife, Diane, in bed with another man, the couple attempt to save their marriage by uprooting from London to the West Wales village where Gareth grew up and buying the local pub. It's a bit of a dive - the wallpaper's peeling, there are squirrels in the saloon bar and something's growing out of the pool table. But it's got potential and they're determined to make a go of it. Soon, the locals are flocking to The Druid's Rest - and as Diane discovers, her husband's old friends are an eccentric bunch.

Sisters Mary and Cathy Ward couldn’t be more different. Fiercely independent Mary is determined to leave the mean streets of Liverpool, whereas Cathy is happy with the life she has. But when both girls fall for the same man, conflict threatens to push them apart, and as they are caught up in their own troubles, Liverpool erupts in the Bloody Sunday riots.

Life changes for the Palin children when Mam dies, and it's up to 12-year-old Sally to take her place. Sally is determined that her baby sister Emily has a better life. When Emily is sent to live with rich relatives, it seems like her wish has come true. Sally and her family may face poverty in Liverpool, but love shared will help them overcome their hardships. Emily, however, wanting for nothing, might find out that happiness is harder to find.

Cathy is glad to have her husband back now the Great War is over. Struggling to keep the peace, Cathy has her work cut out for her, as the pair seem unable to see eye-to-eye. Surviving with four children on Greg’s meagre wages is hard enough without their rows. When Cathy’s sister, Mary, comes back into her life, her heart is filled with hope. But the storm clouds of war are gathering once more on the horizon....

Leah Dawson and McKenna Hawkins had a lot in common, but they had never met. They are smart, professional women living in the same neighbourhood in lovely houses with picket fences and beautiful gardens. And they were both married to successful, good-looking men who both seem bent on having ‘the perfect wife’. They don’t—ever—find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or in the coffee shop. And they don’t—ever—discuss their problems and find common ground. But they do cross paths. And they see something each recognises in the other.

From Roald Dahl, the master of the sting in the tail, a newly collected audiobook of his darkest stories, read by Juliet Stevenson, Cillian Murphy, Adrian Scarborough, Tamsin Greig, Stephanie Beacham and Andrew Scott. 'There is a pleasure sure in being mad, which none but madmen know.' Our greatest fear is of losing control - of our lives, but, most of all, of ourselves. In these 10 unsettling tales of unexpected madness master storyteller Roald Dahl explores what happens when we let go our sanity.

Having escaped capture in London, Bridget and Cormac flee to Ireland with their daughter, Emily. Their homecoming is bittersweet as they embark upon the daunting task of searching for Cormac’s family, who have been missing for over seven years. Their journey takes them back to the familiar surroundings of the Oakleigh Estate in Carlow, but their childhood home has become a different place to the one they remember. As they confront the consequences of Bridget’s embittered mother’s actions, they must also come to terms with an agonizing choice between family and duty.

On winter solstice, the birds disappeared, and the mist arrived. The inhabitants of Nebulah quickly learn not to venture out after dark. But it is hard to stay indoors: Cabin fever sets in, and the mist can be beguiling too. Eventually only six remain. Like the rest of the townspeople, Pete has nowhere else to go. After he rescues a stranded psychic from a terrible fate, he’s given a warning: He will be dead by solstice unless he leaves town - soon.

Erin is about to turn 30, and her life is definitely not where she thought it would be. She hates her job, she's jealous of her perfect flatmate - and she has just called off her wedding. A trip home to Ireland to celebrate her birthday with her beloved grandmother is exactly what Erin needs, and she's spent days preparing herself to break the news about her broken engagement.

My first crush. My first kiss. The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time. Willingly. We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway as they avoid each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year.... The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored.

The Christodora is home to Milly and Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbour, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly's and Jared's lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, the couple's adopted son, Mateo, grows to appreciate the opportunities for both self-realization and oblivion that New York offers.

Ben Schroeder, a talented young man from an East End Jewish family, has been accepted as a pupil into the Chambers of Bernard Wesley QC. But Schroeder is an outsider, not part of this privileged society, where wealth and an Oxbridge education are essentials. He encounters prejudice, intrigue and scandal.

Murphy Shepherd is a man with many secrets. He lives alone on an island, tending the grounds of a church with no parishioners, and he’s dedicated his life to rescuing those in peril. But as he mourns the loss of his mentor and friend, Murph himself may be more lost than he realizes. When he pulls a beautiful woman named Summer out of Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway, Murph’s mission to lay his mentor to rest at the end of the world takes a dangerous turn.

Spanning the breadth of the 20th century and into the post-9/11 wars and their legacy, Correspondents is a powerful novel that centres on Rita Khoury, an Irish-Lebanese woman whose life and family history mirror the story of modern America. Both sides of Rita’s family came to the United States in the golden years of immigration, and in her home north of Boston Rita grows into a stubborn, perfectionist and relentlessly bright young woman.

In a kingdom ruled by ravenous vampires, I was bred to serve and destined to bleed. When I'm chosen by an elite, I'm thrust into a deadly world of courtly intrigue and dark desires. The prince's icy exterior hides a fierce passion, but will I claim his heart or his crown? The more I unravel the twisted secrets of the vampire court, the more I realize that for my people to thrive, the king must die... and I'm the only one who can defy him. Can I find my grandfather's secret antidote and use it against the fanged tyrant—or will he kill me before I seal the deal with his immortal son?

Jake Callahan. Prince of the popular crowd. My mortal enemy. Gorgeous. All the girls want him. Quarterback. All the boys want to be his friend. He’s the most popular boy in the senior class. And he hates me. Or so I thought. What I mistook for hatred turns out to be…interest. There’s that thin line, right? It makes me crazy. I can’t stand it. Attraction, chemistry, whatever it is, I also can’t resist it. And neither can he.

Monica Murphy goes back to Lancaster Prep with a new generation of Lancasters, kicking it off with the daughter of Crew and Wren from the BookTok sensation A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime.

Karen will do anything for her eight-year-old daughter Scarlett, even holding together a marriage that is way past broken. So when she disappears from their rural home, Karen is one hundred percent focused on a single goal: finding her little girl as soon as possible. But time is of the essence, because Scarlett is profoundly deaf and would live in utter silence if it wasn’t for her high-tech hearing aids. Karen knows that within hours their batteries will run out, leaving her daughter even more isolated and vulnerable.

As a sleepy town in rural Ireland starts to wake, a road subsides, trapping an early-morning bus and five passengers inside. Rescue teams struggle, and as two are eventually saved, the bus falls deeper into the hole. Under the watchful eyes of the media, the lives of three people are teetering on the edge. And for those on the outside, from Nina, the reporter covering the story, to rescue liaison Tim, and Richie, the driver pulled from the wreckage, each are made to look at themselves under the glare of the spotlight.