Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

Campion's glorious summer in Pontisbright is blighted by death. Amidst the preparations for Minnie and Tonker Cassand's fabulous summer party a murder is discovered and it falls to Campion to unravel the intricate web of motive, suspicion, and deduction with all his imagination and skill.

The fate of Rome, and thousands of lives, rests on the shoulders of one man. After murdering his brother, and taking the position of Emperor for himself, Caracalla orders a brutal purge of the supporters of Geta. Meanwhile, Caracalla’s ally Marcellus is captured by Syrian warriors. They wish to use his son, Avitus, as a puppet emperor to affirm a new Eastern Empire. Caracalla orders Silus to track down and rescue Avitus, rumoured to be Caracalla’s child.

After the fall of Raven Rock, the Outcasts are adrift with bonds broken and warriors lost. Erroh and Lea must forge their own paths back to the front lines while in the looming shadow of Spark City, Uden's reign intensifies. Meanwhile, amidst shifting sands and seas, Magnus and Elise resurrect their legends.

Delve into the clandestine world of Group 15, the covert organization also featured in the acclaimed John Milton series. Charlie Cooper, an elite Group Fifteen agent, faces a complex mission: eliminate Igor Sidorov, a security-obsessed Russian oligarch implicated in international subterfuge. The only avenue to reach the paranoid Sidorov? Through Crispin Fairweather, the owner of a small yet influential reputation management firm.

In 1350 the people of Cambridge are struggling to overcome the effects of the Black Death - and with a high mortality rate among priests and monks, the townsfolk are vulnerable to sinister cults that have sprung up. At Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew is training new physicians when the body of a friar is found in the massive chest that the university uses to store precious documents. While investigating, Bartholomew stumbles across a derelict church being used as a meeting place for the mysterious sect he believes is at the heart of a web of blackmail.

When a tired old inmate is found dead in his cell, the prison is obligated to investigate and so DI Barton attends. The men he interviews have been convicted of some of the worst things a human being can do, but it appears that the death was due to natural causes. When the house of the dead man is burgled and that crime is followed by a suspicious fire, Barton desperately needs to speak to his widow, but she’s nowhere to be found. In the space of 24 hours, everyone he wants to talk to has vanished. Then he receives some post, which makes him believe he could be the next to disappear.

Darien is no longer a lost outpost of humanity, but the prize in an intergalactic power struggle. Hegemony forces have a stranglehold over the planet and crack troops patrol its hotspots while Earth watches, passive, rendered impotent by galactic politics. But its Darien ambassador will soon become a player in a greater conflict. There is more at stake than a turf war on a newly-discovered world. An ancient Uvovo temple hides access to a hyperspace prison, housing the greatest threat sentient life has ever known.

The new Detective Inspector Hardcastle mystery - When the body of actress Victoria Hart is found in the early hours of Christmas Day, Hardcastle and Marriotts investigations lead them to the Beaux Belles revue, where a scantily clad Victoria persuaded young men to enlist with the promise of a kiss. It seems the alluring actress had many admirers, and when the recruiting sergeant is found dead, a link to the army can no longer be ignored...

As the Masonic Lodge Ladies' Night comes to a close and the guests drift away, a man is found in the car park, garroted at his steering wheel. Murder is no laughing matter, of course, but why look a gift horse in the mouth? DI Percy Peach has always taken a special pleasure in taunting his superior, Superintendent Tucker, about the indiscretions of his fellow Masons - now he's been given a free hand to dig up any amount of dirt about the secret order.

December 1940. Down Street underground station, in the heart of London's Mayfair, is now a secret retreat for Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his cabinet from the relentless air raids overhead. In this supposedly secure location, the body of a woman is found, stabbed in the heart. The victim, fortune-teller Lady Za Za, did not see this one coming. Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are called to investigate but whispers of treason and corruption succeed in muddying the waters of the case.

1988: Thirteen-year-old Andy Miller and his friends - Carl, Brian, Johnny and Gavin - become witnesses to the vicious attack of their classmate, Poppy, and the brutal murder of her sister at a flooded railway line they call the frog ponds. They lead the police to a suspect, a vulnerable older boy whose differences single him out. But when he commits suicide, his guilt is never proven. And the crime goes unpunished, until . . .

Aydin Torkal - aka Sleeper 13 - is on the run. Hunted not only by the world's intelligence agencies but also by the elite brotherhood of insurgents he betrayed, he has lived the past year like a ghost. Until now. MI6 agent Rachel Cox knows Aydin better than anyone. The only person who believes he is an ally in the ongoing war on terror, not the enemy. So when a coded message arrives from him, warning her not to trust her own colleagues, Rachel must choose between her career and the truth.

A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn't have prevented it. Could she? In a split second, Jenna Gray's world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief, and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever. Slowly Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future.

This is the story of generations of parents, Britain's richest and grandest, who believed that being miserable at school was necessary to make a good and successful citizen. Childish suffering was a price they accepted for the preservation of their class and their entitlement. The children who were moulded by this misery and abuse went on - as they still do - to run Britain's public institutions and private companies.

James Witts is 45 years old, fatty deposits have begun to nestle on his back and he has a penchant for craft ale. He also rides a little. But not a lot. In his job as cycling journalist, however, he does have unparalleled access to the world's best riders and their expert support staff. Which got him thinking: could spending time with the pros, discovering the training, gear and nutritional tricks of the trade, transform this back-of-the-pack sportive straggler into a fit-and-fast frontrunner?

Jack knows lots about starting a new school. Since Dad left, he and his mum have moved house five times. He also knows all about fitting in. The trick is to act exactly like everyone else and make sure no one ever notices him. But it's hard work and Jack doesn't have any good friends. That is, until Tyler comes along. Tyler might be the key to getting Jack to realise the very best thing he can be is...Just Jack.

The Call of the Road reveals the epic battles of all of the racing seasons since the first Tour de France, looking beyond the results to see the drama - not just on the road but within the teams and between individuals - and the politics and scandal that continue to fascinate cycle road race fans everywhere.

September 1940. The height of the Blitz. When the Savoy advertises its series of underground shelters, a crowd of people from East London arrive at the hotel and demand entry. There they find a shelter worthy of the Savoy's clientele, but the next morning, after the air raid and when the Stepney protestors have left, it is discovered that one of the hotel's guests is dead, stabbed through the heart.

A childhood accident robbed Vinnie of his memories, making him sensitive and anxious, and his difference soon attracted bullies. If it wasn’t for his family and his brother, Frank, Vinnie wouldn’t have survived. But as the boys grow up, and after the devastating loss of their parents, Vinnie finds himself increasingly involved in violent situations whenever he’s with Frank. When Vinnie is accused of a terrible crime and looks set for a long stretch behind bars, fragments of his memory start to return and he begins to unravel his past.

There is no better hiding place for clues - or red herrings - than inside the pages of a book. With Martin Edwards as librarian and guide, delve into an irresistible stack of tales perfect for every book lover and armchair sleuth, featuring much-loved Golden Age detectives such as Nigel Strangeways, Philip Trent and Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. But listeners should be warned that the most riveting tales often conceal the deadliest of secrets.