Showing results by narrator "Elizabeth Bower" in All Categories

Those are the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth... That someone is watching, waiting, ready to take your life in one hour. But why The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track record in hunting killers. However, this is one case where the killer seems to always be one step ahead of the police and the victims. With no motive, no leads, no clues - nothing but pure fear - an hour can last a lifetime....

It's dark in the Dales this winter.... When Mrs Shepherd arrives at the Dales Detective Agency on a December morning, quite convinced that someone is trying to kill her, Samson O'Brien dismisses her fears as the ramblings of a confused elderly lady. But after a series of disturbing incidents at Fellside Court retirement home, he begins to wonder if there is something to her claims after all.... With Christmas around the corner, Samson is thrown into a complex investigation.

Perfect for fans of Jo Nesbo and Mo Hayder, Liar Liar showcases all the hallmarks of Arlidge's taut and rapid-fire writing, including his protagonist, DI Helen Grace, and the Southampton based team. Faced with yet another ruthless serial killer, one with a penchant for pyromania, DI Helen Grace is an unwilling participant in a race against this new sadistic combatant.

Date with Poison is the brilliant fourth novel in Julia Chapman's Dales Detective Agency series and is perfect of fans of M C Beaton's Agatha Raisin series and Gervase Phinn. A young teenager has gone missing. Can Samson O'Brien and Delilah Metcalfe find him? Spring is in the air in Bruncliffe. But not everyone is filled with the joys of the season. Implicated in the murder of a man in Leeds, the Dales Detective Agency’s Samson O’Brien is facing tough questions from the police....

Helen awaits trial in a crumbling women's prison in Southampton. She has a fight on to prove her innocence from inside her prison cell, but this soon turns out to be the least of her worries. A serial killer is picking off fellow inmates, thriving in an environment where there is truly nowhere to run. Is it a criminal giving in to their dark urges or a member of the prison staff preying on the captive population? Helen must work fast to reveal this devious killer, all the time wondering if she will be next on her list....

Hiding her personal connection to the victim - and a double-life which must remain secret at all costs - Helen becomes a woman possessed, working her team around the clock to chase down every lead. As the killer strikes again, the investigation takes its toll not only on Helen but also her senior officers. Tempers flare, friendships fray and Helen faces an impossible choice. Confess her sins and lose control of the case? Or keep living a lie, protecting her darkest secrets, and risk getting trapped in this tangled web?

Detective Samson O'Brien is ready to settle down to a nice cup of tea, but it's not long before he's called on for help with a new case. In order to execute a recent will, solicitor Matty Thistlethwaite requires a copy of a death certificate for a young woman who died when Samson was a child. It should be straightforward, but things in Bruncliffe rarely are. Particularly when Matty insists that Delilah Metcalfe, with her wealth of local knowledge, works alongside Samson on the sensitive investigation.

A fatal accident at Bruncliffe’s livestock auction mart leads to a call for detectives Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe. What starts as a simple health-and-safety investigation soon takes a sinister turn when they discover evidence that suggests murder. Clive Knowles approaches them for help – his sheep are being threatened by the gang of rustlers that is plaguing the Dales. Meanwhile, poacher Pete Ferris has also decided to play his hand, setting in motion a blackmail plot which will ensure Samson is pulled back into trouble with his nemesis Rick Procter.

March 2020. Annie is alone in her house as the world shuts down, only the ghosts of her memories for company. But then she receives a phone call which plunges her deeper into the past. 1959. Annie and Rita are student nurses at Fairlie Hall mental institution. Working long gruelling hours, they soon learn that the only way to appease their terrifying matron is to follow the rules unthinkingly. But what is happening in the hospital's hidden side wards? And at what point does following the rules turn into complicity - and betrayal?

A woman in tears in the Dales Detective Agency is never the best way to start the week. But when that woman is the wife of Bernard Taylor, town mayor and eminent businessman, there is even more cause for alarm. So when Nancy Taylor asks the detectives to investigate whether her husband is having an affair, Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe know they will have to tread carefully. The case, however, proves to be more complex than even they had imagined.

Summer and her mum soon find their hands full with the arrival of her future stepsister, Frankie – a blue-haired teen firecracker who's nothing like the sweet little girl they remember. Meanwhile, local vet Ben is struggling – buried under a mountain of responsibility with trying to keep his crumbling family home Monk’s Folly standing, while supporting his reclusive mother and errant younger brother.

Hometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. In this audiobook on Yorkshire, you'll find two unique tales: an intimate account of returning to her childhood home of Snaith by Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love, and from new voice Victoria Hennison, a deeply personal memoir of growing up in the village of Holme-on-Spalding Moor.

Kat Pennyfeather knows the joys and challenges of parenthood all too well – she’s been thrown into the deep end as a single, first-time mother to adorable baby Hattie. With the unwavering support of her beloved great aunties, affectionately known as The Lavender Ladies, and the sanctuary of her cosy home above Pennyfeather's Wool Shop, Kat is holding things together…. mostly. Across town, Jonah Brewster finds himself navigating the treacherous path of single parenthood after a painful divorce and unexpected loss.

Single mum Frankie’s whole life revolves around her kids. But when your teenage daughter goes on more dates than you and your toddler has a more active social life, something has to change. Forget ‘me time’, Frankie would settle for some adult conversation, and watching something other than the Disney channel. The local playgroup may be ruled by Instagram mums with perfect husbands, but Frankie accidentally forms a splinter group of single parents. After all, Mummy really needs a playdate of her own. (Now pass the prosecco.)

She knows there's a killer on the loose. But no one believes her. Will she be next? Hannah had a normal life - a loving husband, a good job. Until she did something shocking. Now she's in a psychiatric clinic. It should be a safe place. But patients keep dying. The doctors say it's suicide. Hannah knows they're lying. Can she make anyone believe her before the killer strikes again?

When Jessica’s grandfather left for war, he promised to keep a record of each day he was apart from her grandmother. The diary was lost along with him—until now, when a mysterious, handsome Italian man named Alessandro shows up at Jessica’s door with the diary in hand. Immediately enchanted by her grandfather’s accounts of Italy’s glittering golden hours, Jess decides to spend a summer in Tuscany before she’s due to take over at her family’s farm. She hopes she can visit the places her grandfather once did—and finally find out what really happened the night he died.

Clemmie has always been a romantic at heart, even going so far as to write her own regency romance novels… not that she’d EVER let anyone read them. This year, she’s dreaming of a white Christmas, but any chance of a merry holiday is dashed when she spots her ex-boyfriend, Ross Lavender, across the frosty village green at a carol concert. Even worse, Clemmie is mortified when, in the village Christmas raffle, she picks the winning ticket. The prize? A portrait painted by Ross himself, who is a talented local artist.

Emily loves her glamorous life in London, but it’s all about to come crashing down. Her banker husband’s lost his job, their beloved townhouse is for sale, and they’re relocating to Portugal to save money. The Villa Anna is beautiful, with bougainvillea tumbling down the walls, but living on a shoestring budget is a shock. To make ends meet, they launch a B&B, and Emily’s days are soon filled with six am wake-ups, fixing dodgy plumbing, and cooking breakfasts to order.

It’s 1:23 in the morning when Kate gets the call. News at this time is never good, but this call is one of the worst. A body has been found in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Birmingham. It’s badly decomposed, but forensic psychologist Kate Hanson is sure she knows who it is. Nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Williams disappeared a year ago. She was a good student who simply vanished off the face of the earth.

New Year’s Day. A dog walker is enjoying the early morning calm in Birmingham’s Woodgate Country Park. At first he thinks it’s some old rubbish. His dogs are always digging up trouble. But it’s a mummified body. The victim is Nathan Troy, an art student who disappeared twenty years ago. Days later, a second body is found. This time it’s a fresh kill. And the ligature marks on the victim’s neck are identical. It’s been twenty years, but after all this time, forensic psychologist Kate Hanson knows that Nathan’s killer is back.