Showing results by narrator "Des Powell" in All Categories

Plymouth, 1954. The future seems rosy for Plymouth schoolgirl Anna Millington, as she prepares for teacher training college. But Anna's life is not what it seems. Her family is hiding a cruel secret that resulted from the worst night of the Plymouth Blitz. Now, the devastating consequences are about to erupt again. Fearing for her life, Anna leaves her dreams behind and flees to nearby Dartmoor. It isn't long before Anna secures a position as a serving girl at Ashcroft Hall.

When we think of great events in the history of the world, we tend to think of war, revolution, political upheaval, or natural catastrophe. But throughout history there have been moments of vital importance that have taken place not on the battlefield, or in the palaces of power, or even in the violence of nature, but between the pages of a book.

Hereford's Diocesan Exorcist must encounter a legacy of evil within the crumbling walls of an old hotel along with memories of murder. A crumbling hotel on the border of England and Wales has long been linked with the possible origins of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles and his obsession with contacting the dead. Fascinating for young Jane Watkins, flushed with the freedom of her first weekend job. But the sinister side soon becomes apparent to her mother, Merrily, Diocesan Exorcist for Hereford.

The Parish Priest must solve the mystery of a young boy's deathly fall from the Ludlow Castle ruins, and discovers a hidden obsession with the afterlife amongst the ancient streets. In the affluent, historic town of Ludlow, a teenage boy dies in a fall from the castle ruins. Accident or suicide? No great mystery - so why does the boy's uncle, retired detective Andy Mumford, turn to Diocesan Exorcist Merrily Watkins? More people will die before Merrily uncovers a dangerous obsession with suicide, death and the afterlife hidden within these shadowed medieval streets.

Merrily Watkins, parish priest, single mum and deliverance consultant to the Diocese of Hereford, heads for the Malvern Hills to investigate an alleged paranormal dimension to a spate of road accidents in the sleepy village of Wychehill. Merrily is called in when two people are killed in a head-on crash that is also linked to the revamped local pub which, it seems, has injected the valley with a shattering, strobing surge of inner-city nightlife...and drugs.

In the immediate aftermath of the events of Winterkeep, Bitterblue and her entourage begin the journey back to Monsea with the only copies of the formulas for the zilphium weapon. Bitterblue must decide what she will do with her world-shaping power. But before they've even made it halfway home, storms drive their ship off course and then they wreck in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must make a harrowing trek across the ice in order to make it back to Monsea.

Popstar Matteo Stanford is eager to escape to the sunshine island to catch up with his old friend Alex and secretly film his latest music video. But within moments of landing, the location for the shoot is leaked to the press, and his island escape and video might be over before they start. Not to be defeated, Alex’s girlfriend Piper recruits her two best friends Casey and Tara, who run the Smoke and Mirrors stall at the The Cabbage Patch market. It doesn’t take Casey more than a moment to realise the perfect setting for Matteo’s video is Gorey castle.

When the castle she works in is sacked by the army of Prince Edward of England, kitchen maid Agnes Fitzgerald manages to escape north of Inverness to throw herself at the mercy of the Lord and Lady at Ravenscraig Castle. Although safe for now, the people of Scotland are fighting hard for their independence, and the threat of the English hangs heavy over the land. But when Agnes spies Cam Buchanan swimming in the loch, her mind turns away from war and towards love. Agnes even dares to dream of a happy future, until she learns that Cam must go and fight alongside Robert de Brus.

When a man's wife leaves him under suspicious circumstances, he sets off in search for her, unprepared for the guilty secrets he's about to drag back into the light. A man is tempted by a luxury apartment with a top-of-the-range kitchen. But there is a heavy price to pay for this glamorous new life. And a couple with their marriage on the rocks go on a hike through the Derbyshire countryside as another way to avoid their real problems. Mick Herron's skill for tension, humour and memorable twists are captured in his short stories, collected here for the first time.

Heather Keynes’ teenage son died in a tragic car accident. Or so she thinks. However, deep in the countryside, an ancient evil has awoken...intent on hunting local residents. No-one is safe. When Heather takes a closer look at a series of coincidental deaths, she is drawn reluctantly into the company of an odd group of elderly Guardians.

On a normal day, in a normal house, on a normal street, wife and mother Fran has had enough. She packs a case, leaves a note for her bullying husband, Pete, and one for her beloved 21-year-old son, Harry, and heads to the airport - and freedom. In another house, on another street, Helena is desperately baiting her husband, Jack, into a fight. These days it feels like the only way to get Jack to take notice of her. Passionate, volatile, increasingly fragile, Helena is fast running out of hope.

Midwife Izzy is devastated to learn that her beloved grandmother is dying. Abandoned as a baby by her own mother, her grandparents have been the only family Izzy has ever known and she wants to spend every last precious moment with them. New locum vicar, Noah, is a wonderful support—kind, considerate and always there for Izzy whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on. But secretly Noah is battling his own doubts about his faith—how can he offer Izzy comfort if he doesn’t truly believe his own words?

Welcome to your new cottage in the country - complete with grumpy vet, village gossip and a very muddy dog.... City girl Ella wants to take refuge in the country, lick her wounds and work out what she's going to do with the rest of her life. She certainly doesn't want to have a four-legged houseguest or anything to do with village life. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of Wilsgrave have other ideas.

Set on the Isle of Slingers, this novel follows the exploits of Jocelyn Pierston, a sculptor who falls in love successively with three generations of island women, seeking female perfection, just as he strives to realise the ideal woman in stone.

Elizabeth Thornton has every reason to want to escape from home - a farm in the wilds of Dartmoor. Since her father’s death, she’s been trapped in the clutches of her uncle. When a position opens up at Rosebank Hall, she jumps at the chance. She will be a domestic drudge with a cantankerous master. Elizabeth wants to be a doctor, but she’ll do anything to be free of her uncle. One night, the master’s son turns up, wounded in a conflict in a foreign country - damaged in every way. But as Elizabeth nurses him back to life, the pair grow closer and everything changes.

Midwife Jess is so used to helping other mums achieve their dreams that she’s put her own hopes of motherhood firmly on hold. After having her heart broken once before, Jess is determined to focus all she has on her small family and stepson Riley and make sure he feels safe, happy and loved. But when Jess is asked to care for a tiny baby and new mum in need of support, she’s torn. Jess wants to help, but she isn’t sure her battered heart could cope with saying goodbye to another baby she’s fallen in love with.

With its reputation in tatters, Alexi Ellis is determined to save her beloved Hopgood Hall from any more bad press. A writing course for wannabe journalists shouldn't cause too many issues and will hopefully take the heat off Hopgood Hall. But disaster strikes when one of the group is found dead in a local pub. What’s worse Alexi was the last person to see the victim alive, which makes her suspect number one. Alexi is sure she is being set up, but who would go to such deadly lengths?

World Champion boxer, national treasure, pantomime star, sidekick to Harry Carpenter, mental health campaigner. Frank Bruno is many different things to many different people. Now, in his own words, as he turns 60, Frank delivers the full, explosive story of his remarkable life so far. At times harrowing, at times hilarious, but always 100 percent honest, Frank Bruno: 60 Years a Fighter is the sporting memoir of the year which pulls no punches. In it, Frank opens up on his journey to becoming a World Champion and the fight which has come after retirement with mental ill health.

Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue and her country were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck's death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck's reign and to forget every dark event that ever happened.

A new land has been discovered to the east. Winterkeep is a land of miracles, a democratic republic run by people who like each other, where people speak to telepathic sea creatures, adopt telepathic foxes as pets, and fly across the sky in ships attached to balloons. But when Bitterblue's envoys to Winterkeep drown under suspicious circumstances, she and Giddon and her half-sister, Hava, set off to discover the truth - putting both Bitterblue's life and Giddon's heart to the test when Bitterblue is kidnapped.