Showing results by narrator "Gordon Griffin" in All Categories

When David Sterne went up to London to seek his fortune, Adolf Hitler was rampant and the shadow of impending conflict lay forebodingly over Europe. He was still struggling to make a living when war broke out and he was swept into it. Six years of his life were to be spent in the King's uniform. And so began his dramatic climb to success - with a little help from Frederica Lathwell. Then, of course, there was Angela Street...

A short story from British Library Crime Classic Deep Waters. Four amateur yachtsmen are toasting the completion of a trip from Falmouth to Spain in adverse weather conditions with a well-earned glass of cognac. But with just one mouthful, one of the friends drops dead. Who could be behind the poisoning, and why?

James Pattinson was best known for his novels of adventure on the high seas, and this short story follows his maritime theme. When a man goes overboard on the M.V. Southern Star with just one witness, Captain Perry and his old friend Barton Rice must investigate.

The Gift of the Emperor features Hornung’s most famous character, gentleman thief A. J. Raffles. When his friend and struggling journalist Bunny Manders tells Raffles of his recent article detailing a priceless pearl gifted to Queen Victoria by a European emperor, Raffles quickly sees an opportunity to get his hands on it and invites Bunny to accompany him on a sea voyage to Italy.

Smuggler Guy Lunt is missing his former companions who were caught by the law on their last job. Not only that, he is struggling to make the payments on his smart new motor cruiser, Seasprite. But then he meets a stranger who has the perfect plan....

This story recounts Sherlock Holmes’ very first case. Having previously treated his deduction skills as a hobby at college, he must quickly turn detective to help a friend in need. An old acquaintance has paid Victor Trevor’s father a visit and seems to be blackmailing him. Holmes must decode a mystery letter to understand why.

New faces don’t go unnoticed in small Cornish fishing villages, but when two strangers turn up in Pendennick, they soon make their presence known when they attempt to steal a boat, holding a local at gunpoint....

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. In this lighthearted short story, a farm labourer observes the land girls going about their work and wondering what the future might hold for the farming industry.

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. In 'In the Orange Grove', the author takes us to India and describes his experience of fighting overseas.

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. 'According to the Directive' opens in a displaced persons camp at the end of the war. Journalist Lisa Wilson is writing a feature and is met with mixed emotions as the camp prepares to disband.

Howard Pyle's heroic version of Robin Hood begins after a conflict with some foresters leads to Robin of Locksley becoming the outlaw famous for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Each chapter tells a different tale of Robin as he recruits Merry Men, resists the authorities, and aids his fellow man. Pyle's version includes the popular stories of Little John and Robin's staff fight, Friar Tuck's besting of Robin, Robin's collusion with Allan-a-Dale, and several of his conflicts with the Sheriff of Nottingham.

Retired teacher Lewis Sullivan always imagined living by the sea. He lives instead in the Midlands village in which he was born. His grown-up daughter visits every day, bringing soup. He does not want soup. He frequents his second-favourite pub, where he can get half a shandy and a speciality sausage. When a childhood friend appears on the scene, Lewis finds his life and comfortable routine shaken up.

In the long, hot summer of 1969, two young men are involved in the accidental killing of their foreman on a Shropshire building site. Traumatized, they conceal his body and vow to never mention the horrific incident again. Four decades later, DI Frank Kavanagh and DC Jane Salt’s relationship is in trouble and she escapes to a friend’s home in that same Shropshire town. Here, whilst trying to avoid her own relationship problems, Salt gets herself embroiled in her friend’s love life and finds herself in serious danger.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic Deep Waters. The character that made Bailey’s name is the medically trained detective Reggie Fortune, and he’s at his best in this short story investigating a murder and the disappearance of a nurse at a mysterious stately home.

At the age of 90, Stanley Underhill ended years of secrecy and silence with the publication of his extraordinary memoir, Coming Out of The Black Country. Cathartic and courageous, the book vividly recounts Underhill’s lifelong struggle to reconcile his faith and sexuality – a struggle that began in extreme poverty in the industrial Midlands and continued with ever-increasing drama through his time as a naval nurse in the Royal Navy, as an accountant, as a Franciscan Brother and nearly 40 years as a priest in the Church of England.