Showing results by narrator "Julia Barrie" in All Categories

Justine thought she knew who she was until an anonymous caller seemed to know better.... After escaping London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine plans to spend her days doing as little as possible in her beautiful home in Devon. But soon after the move, her daughter, Ellen, starts to withdraw when her new best friend, George, is unfairly expelled from school.

Jean Parris was a child when her adored father was taken away by the Nazis. As she and her mother wait anxiously for news, Jean starts to question everything around her. Now, in the immediate aftermath of the liberation of Jersey in the summer of 1945, a different kind of war has been unleashed on the islands: one of suspicion, accusation and revenge.

Ghosts, witches and all kinds of creepy things seem to congregate in the town of Adder's Fork, where the world-renowned Essex Witch Museum has its home. Death stalks the pages, cats offer companionship (of sorts) and ghosts haunt a variety of characters. Where are Rosie Strange and Sam Stone when you need them?

Katy and Ben and their four closest friends are going to Spain for a week with their kids. Sun, sex and sangria? Almost certainly not. The couples think they are prepared for all the joys and trials a family holiday has to offer but they have a shock coming, and not only from the kids. Into their first day by the pool crashes Ollie, who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, and Cassie, on her hen party holiday but having serious doubts about her impending marriage. A recipe for a relaxing week abroad? Let’s wait and see....

A daughter's death. A teenage girl is found, brutally murdered in her squalid flat. A mother's love. Her mother is devastated. She gave her child up to the care system, only to lose her again, and is convinced that the drug-pusher boyfriend is to blame. Two ordinary women, one extraordinary job. DC Rachel Bailey has dragged herself up from a deprived childhood and joined the Manchester Police.

On the cobbled streets of Bradford in 1931, Lily Briggs does all she can to keep trouble at bay for her and her family. She works hard at Calvert Mill to make ends meet and take care of her parents and younger siblings. Saturday nights at the dance hall and dressmaking with her two best friends keep Lily upbeat, and now there’s a blossoming romance with childhood friend Harry Bainbridge to put an extra spring in her step, too.

When Becky steps into Jonathon Nelson’s photography studio, she is simply a journalist looking for a story. But when she puts on the beautiful Victorian dress and poses, she encounters flashbacks from a life that isn’t her own. As she and Jon begin to unravel the mystery, the attraction they have for each other continues to grow and leads them to question: Have they met not just in this life but in another?

Some moments burn in the mind for ever. The landing is dark. Light comes from a window at the far end, enough to run by. Breath comes hard. From the stairs sound heavy footfalls in pursuit. The landing ends in a last doorway. There is no more running, only the need to hide.... Imagine not knowing the father of your child. Not knowing his name. What he looks like. Or what sort of person he is. Although she is desperate for a baby, that is something that Kate Powell cannot accept.

Return to the worlds of The Craftsman and Lacey Flint in this first short-story collection from Sharon Bolton, International award-winning author of The Split. This collection is available exclusively in audio and features eight short stories, each with a new introduction written and read by the author.

After Chloe and her daughter, Freya, are rescued from disaster by a man, Chloe decides she must find him again to thank him. But instead of meeting her knight in shining armour, she comes across Nadine Caspian, who warns her to stay away from him. The man is dangerous, Nadine claims, and a compulsive liar. Alarmed, Chloe knows that the sensible choice would be to walk away. But she is too curious. What could Nadine have meant?

Why is Rosamund so paralyzed by Tyler and his secrets?The whole world was once in love with her. Now, married to the dangerously charismatic Tyler, estranged from her conservationist father, despairing of her teenage son's silences, she feels completely alone. Revisiting the almost forgotten world of her Indian childhood may help, but can her family survive the changes she must make to save herself? Ruth Padel, acclaimed for her brilliant nature writing, has set her captivating debut novel in London, Devon and the jungles of India. But at its heart is a family in crisis.

The next stunning novel from Richard and Judy pick Amanda Brooke. When Jo pretends to be asleep as her husband leaves for work the morning after an argument, she doesn't realise how deeply she will come to regret the opportunity to say good-bye. By nightfall her life has changed irrevocably. David has disappeared, and there doesn't seem to be any trace of him. But Jo is five months pregnant, and her marriage is full of secrets - not least, David's unwillingness to start a family..

When former high-powered lawyer turned PI Selma Falck is shot and her oldest friend, a junior MP, is killed in a sniper attack, everyone - including the police - assume that Selma was the prime target. But when two other people with connections to the MP are also found murdered, it becomes clear that there is a wider conspiracy at play. As Selma sets out to avenge her friend's death and discover the truth behind the conspiracy, her own life is threatened once again. Only this time, the danger may be closer to home than she could possibly have realised.

Karin Müller, sidelined from the murder squad in Berlin, jumps at the chance to be sent south to Halle-Neustadt, where a pair of infant twins have gone missing. But Müller soon finds her problems have followed her to Halle-Neustadt. She and her team are forbidden by the Stasi from publicising the disappearances, lest they tarnish the town's image. Meanwhile, in the eerily nameless streets and tower blocks, a child snatcher lurks, and the clock is ticking to rescue the twins alive....

Shirley Steadman, a 70-year-old living in a small town in the North East of England, loves her volunteer work at the local hospital radio. She likes giving back to the community, and even more so, she likes getting out of the house. Haunted by the presence of her son, a reluctant Royal Navy officer who was lost at sea, and still in the shadow of her long-dead abusive husband, she doesn't like being alone much. One day, at the radio station, she is playing around with the equipment and finds a frequency that was never there before.

Budding landscape architect Luisa MacGregor is stuck in a rut - she hates her boss, she lives with her sister, and she is still morning the loss of her fiancé many years ago. So when she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area, she sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom. Arriving in the rundown seaside town of Collaton on the north-west coast of Cumbria, she realises that her work is going to be cut out for her.

Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when a one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to ensure her husband doesn’t find out - including the unthinkable. Her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms, something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common and people are starting to ask questions.

Ellie opens the door to a man who is a stranger but instantly recognisable as the father of her housekeeper's young son. Mikey had been conceived at a party during which his mother, Vera, a schoolgirl, had been drugged and raped. Abdi hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but now he is a consultant whose wife cannot have children, and he aims to pay off Vera and adopt Mikey. Ellie discovers that Vera still thinks fondly of her then boyfriend, even though he had also rejected her.

From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come 12 never-before-published stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena. With returning characters from the Essex Witch Museum series and a weirdly wonderful tale for each day of Christmas, these spooky stories are the perfect companion for long, dark winter nights.

Glamorous GP Nicci (aka the galloping doctor), and Matt, the very handsome equine vet, have caught each other's eyes. On paper it looks like a match made in heaven. There are problems, however: Matt's jealous ex-girlfriend being one of them. But the main trouble is Nicci's determination to qualify for the Badminton horse trials. Because although Matt treats horses for a living, a tragedy in his past makes him terrified every time Nicci competes. So when Nicci has a terrible accident, a devastated Matt gives her an ultimatum: it's either him or the riding.