Showing results by narrator "Matthew Lloyd" in All Categories

Nobody liked Gloria Wiggins, a woman who regarded anyone who did not acquiesce to her jaundiced view of the world with disdain. James Baxter, the previous vicar, had been one of those, and her scurrilous outburst in the church one Sunday had hastened his death. And now, years later, the woman was dead, hanging from a beam in her garage. Detective Inspector Tremayne and Sergeant Clare Yarwood had seen the body, interviewed the woman's acquaintances, and those who had hated her.

Mo, the wealthy dictator of a volatile Middle Eastern country, enlists a ghostwriter to tell his story to the world and enshrine him in history as a glorious ruler. Inside Mo's besieged palace, the ghost forms an unlikely friendship with a wise and seemingly innocent Italian gardener who slowly reveals that the regime isn't all it appears to be. As a violent rebellion threatens all their lives, the ghost struggles to cope with a personal secret too painful to bear.

Originally published in 1927, these short stories represent the fifth and final collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's tales featuring Sherlock Holmes. Included are stories originally published in Strand Magazine beginning in 1921 and stretching through 1927.

Faery royalty have always married for duty rather than love. Prince Chrysanths should be no different - except with a human for a father, the prince known as Puck already is different. When he is betrothed against his will to Prince Sky, Puck flees to his father in the human world, only to have Sky follow. Prince Sky Song of the Clouds isn't thrilled with the prospect of marriage either, but is bound by duty to follow through - if he can't win Puck over, the faery realm might very well dissolve into utter chaos.

Loathed by many, feared by more, Doss has spent the last 700 years alone, shunned by the Tonans on his planet. He prefers it that way until a nude female rider on a huge, black stallion, fleeing for her life, catches his eye. If left alone, both beast and human would be killed by their pursuant, an enraged Tonan warrior. When the scent of the female invades his nostrils, Doss is captivated. He must have the female human and will go to great lengths to secure her safety.

Kidnapped from dying Earth by the heinous Tonan race, Piper is locked in a small cell, deprived of light and human companionship, and tormented on a daily basis. When the door to her hell opens unexpectedly, Piper is blinded by the light and walks headlong into a massively built creature. She is tossed over a shoulder, taken on the wildest ride of her life, then placed into a healing pool.

The climactic concluding novel in the spellbinding magical contemporary fantasy Aetherial Tales trilogy. A painting, depicting haunting scenes of a ruined palace and a scarlet-haired goddess in front of a fiery city, arrives unheralded in an art gallery with a cryptic note saying, “The world needs to see this.” The painting begins to change the lives of the woman who is the gallery's curator and that of an ancient man of the fey Aetherial folk who has mysteriously risen from the depths of the ocean.

For a year, Abri and five other women have found themselves trapped on a lonely planet, after their shuttle crashes on its way to Ulsy. They have fled Earth and the fiery rubble it has become. The crash has left Abri deaf and hurting with her aloneness. When sound becomes nothing, her other senses heighten, especially when they encounter two huge, handsome aliens.

Aodhan clutched uselessly at his head, groaning. He knew it was useless, because the voice was not inside his head. It followed him, skimming across buildings and land. It had followed him since he was sixteen, and it still followed him today, like a memory too horrific to be forgotten… Aodhan is a shadow-demon, hardened and cold after years of being alone, after his love, his Entwined, was cruelly taken away from him.

A sensuous, suspenseful modern fantasy of love, betrayal, and redemption. Decades ago, in a place where the veil between our world and the world of the Aetherials - the fair folk - is too easily breached, three young people tricked their uncle by dressing as the fey. But their joke took a deadly turn when true Aetherials crossed into our world, took one of the pranksters, and literally scared their uncle to death

A group of children play. Not far away, in the ditch on the other side of the farmyard, the body of a young woman. The nearby village hides as many secrets as the community at the farm, a disparate group of people looking for an alternative to their previous torturous lives. Their leader, idealistic and benevolent, espouses love and kindness, and somebody's not following his dictate. The second death, an old woman, seems unrelated to the first, but is it? Is it part of the tangled web that connects the farm to the village?

King Edward IV did not like that Simon was thrice removed from some long-forgotten ancestor who was somehow related to the owner of the cow that gave milk to King Henry V. Or something like that, Simon was not very good at genealogy. But now, the Lancastrian lordling has fled to the far reaches of the world to brood on revenge. He's stranded in these strange waters with money-hungry Captain Aldo Mitacchione, his halfwit first mate, Neno, and a crew of starving Italians. Things are about to get stranger.

A millionaire businessman and his loving family; two young conmen and an unspoken bond; and a pair of hardened hit men - these three groups are from different worlds, but one event will bring those worlds together and change their lives forever.

Step into the world of magic and mystery as we reveal the truth about ancient stone monuments, crop circles and the mystical lore surrounding amazing phenomena. Discover the real purpose and function of stone circles and how they are linked to the crop circle and UFO phenomena.

Should we wait for a personal word from the Lord, perhaps delivered by some mysterious process? Does God have anything to say about the daily matters that concern His people? Can the Bible be involved in helping us understand the will of God for our lives, considering that it was written when so much that is familiar to us was not dreamt of yet? The dangers of personal decision and guidance without considering our relationship with others, particularly the believing community, are raised. Tim Chester addresses the issues and provides clear, thoughtful biblical answers.

Grace Ashman has lost everything: her mother five years ago, and now her father and her home just a week before Christmas. She lives on the streets until one kind man invites her inside for a meal before the holiday. What she couldn't know is that his kindness will change her life forever.

Five young, western women buy souvenirs of their delightful trek…and unknowingly smuggle heroin into Singapore. They are immediately detained and arrested by authorities upon their entrance into the country. There appears to be no escape for the tissue trail women until medical researcher and wild country photographer Edward Thurston takes video footage of a high altitude salt caravan near the tissue trail and is inexplicably detained and interrogated.

Wandering a shattered, dying Earth, Roam despises the loneliness. Alien vessels he must avoid circle overhead. When he collides with a Tonan deep in the heart of a jungle, Roam engages in a brutal battle. To his surprise, a human female comes to the Tonan's aid. The Tonan, Taz, has six females under his protection, including his mate and child. Jinx hates Castians and Tonans alike. The handsome man Taz brings home is breathtaking. He's also the only male besides Taz she has seen in four years.

John Worthington is a man who knows his place in the world and keeps to it. That is, until a letter he writes is misdirected. A simple and thoughtful reply begins a correspondence that will turn that well-ordered life upside down.

London 1888, Jack the Ripper is on the loose terrorizing the citizens of Whitechapel. The Queen of England sends a mysterious agent to uncover the truth of the vile monster hunting England's streets. The trail of blood leads to an even bigger mystery and to a darker enemy of the Crown itself. While on Mont Orgueil, Grace Flynn, a prisoner of both England and France, awaits her execution for a very long list of crimes.