Showing results by narrator "Stephen Armstrong" in All Categories

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain. Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country. 

Michael Ryan was the author of a runaway bestseller, Space Coast, but its publication coincided with his wife's murder in a bank raid. Now he's back to face the ghosts of his past. Michael met Claire when she was dragging Paul de Luca, detective novel writer and owner of a porn shop, out of the sea after he'd lost his feet in a shark attack. Claire was living with local hard man Tommy, a Gulf War vet, at the time and Tommy was not impressed with Michael's interest in his girl.

A boy’s body is found in bogland along the Irish border: a case as cold as the earth that has hidden it for so long. DI Owen Sheen has sworn to get justice for the unnamed boy and digs up links to a covert British Army unit that was tasked with creating Satanic panic in the 1970s. But when a vicious murderer begins to stalk Belfast’s streets, it’s clear that someone refuses to let the past remain buried.

Retired PSNI cop Tom ‘Tucker’ Rodgers has a cracked ballpoint pen, one second-class stamp and no time left. The best he can do is try to get a message to DI Owen Sheen. Sheen and DC Aoife McCusker are struggling with political agendas fed to them from the Chief Constable, and now the single note from the missing Tucker is preying on Sheen’s mind. A list of four dates and a cryptic message. Tucker says that they killed his friend and now they’re coming for him.

After being reforged, Lord-Relictor Ramus of the Hallowed Knights is sent by Sigmar to capture the betrayer, Mannfred von Carstein. The quest brings Ramus to the Carthic Oldwoods of Ghur, where he comes to the aid of the Astral Templars against a massive ogor horde. Victorious, but at great cost, Ramus discovers Mannfred is finally close at hand. Only with the help of the Astral Templars will the Lord-Relictor catch his quarry, but there are deadlier things in the woods than ogors, a fact the Stormcast Eternals soon discover.

The hunt for Mannfred von Carstein takes the Hallowed Knights and Astral Templars far into the hazardous Sea of Bones. It is here that Ramus of the Shadowed Soul and Vandalus, the 'King of Dust', meet a worthy foe: the Ironjawz. Led by the fearsome Great Red, this orruk tribe sees the intrusion of the Stormcasts as a challenge.

Wedding bells are chiming in the idyllic, coastal town of Stonebridge. For Sam and Emily, it should be the happiest day of their lives. But, on the morning of the ceremony, the best man is found dead. The police quickly write his death off as a tragic accident, but something doesn’t seem right to wedding guest and groomsman Adam Whyte.

After a gruelling journey, the warriors of the Hallowed Knights and Astral Templars have found their quarry in the Sea of Bones. During the hunt, Mannfred the vampire lord has raised a mighty undead host to protect the realmgate he has claimed. While Ramus of the Hallowed Knights seeks the vampire's head and Vandalus of the Astral Templars wants to reclaim the realmgate, both must fight as one and alongside their orruk allies if they are to triumph.

If you found the person who brutally murdered a loved one, what would you do? Forgive and forget? Or take the law into your own hands? Detective Martin Murphy is the law and he's back with a vengeance.... Someone has started killing the killers - who just happen to have been under the surveillance of 'Confront', a support group for relatives of murder victims who believe that therapy conies through empowerment. Suspecting the group of revenge killings, Murphy goes undercover and joins them.

The Stonebridge Regatta is looming. The town's annual face-off against neighbouring Meadowfield is usually a weekend filled with sunshine, laughter and camaraderie. This year is different. A week before the race, the body of Stonebridge team captain Matthew Henderson is found dead in the water. The police file his passing as a tragic accident; however, his grieving widow disagrees and suspects foul play is involved. She enlists the help of Adam and Colin, the town's amateur (self-proclaimed) private detectives, to unearth the truth.

McNulty's Meats, one of Stonebridge's oldest businesses, is about to be taken over in a lucrative deal that would make brothers Ron and Kevin very rich men indeed. Unfortunately for them, local activist Tyler Love has other ideas. Convinced that the deal would be bad for the town, he burns the business to the ground and inadvertently kills himself in the process. As least, that's what the police think.

The notoriously hard-drinking, backstabbing Stonebridge Radio crew are having their Hallowe'en party on Winkle Island, rumoured to be the most haunted place in Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, Adam and Colin are there, too, having accepted an easy pay day from Colin's event-organising mother. At dinner, a shocking announcement is followed by an even more shocking murder, and the theft of a priceless Firefly necklace. To top it all, thanks to a raging storm, everyone is trapped on the island.

Adam and Colin are aboard The Elysian, cruising towards Italy to see Adam get hitched, and are determined to stay out of trouble. On the first night, a priceless piece of art is stolen from an eccentric old lady. Adam and Colin offer to help recover it, and are convince the thief was one of their fellow dinner guests from earlier in the evening. Can the amateur sleuths reunite the painting with its owner before they dock in Venice? And, with danger lurking around every porthole, will Adam even make it to the altar?

This exciting collaborative by the Private Eye Writers of America and Sisters in Crime contains short stories by well-known mystery writers including Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. The stories are presented in pairs, each linked to the other by a common theme or topic.

It's Christmas! A year since their last case, and Adam and Colin are called out of semi-retirement when Stonebridge legend and regular town Santa, Gerald Agnew, is found dead in the snow. The police believe his death to be a drunken accident, but evidence that our amateur detectives uncover points to something more sinister. When DI Whitelaw dismisses their claims, Adam and Colin must navigate drug dealers, deception and department store Santas to get to the truth.