Showing results by narrator "Diana Bishop" in All Categories

Lina Townend is making a name for herself as an antiques dealer, in partnership with her old friend, Griff Tripp. When she is accused of stealing an item she is selling for her father, the disreputable Lord Elham, her plight attracts the attention of Piers, a handsome fellow dealer. But is Piers all he seems? And what about the kindly policeman investigating the case? There’s only one person she can really trust – Griff. But when violence threatens him, Lina has a difficult decision to make.

In The Pattern in the Carpet, Margaret Drabble tells the history of the jigsaw, a uniquely British form of meditation, from its earliest incarnation as a teaching tool to the extraordinary variety of cut-outs that have continued to amuse children and adults until the present.

Alice Baxter knows the best things in life are free. But the approach of her 40th wedding anniversary and 60th birthday surely warrants a proper celebration. With visions of a glorious family gathering complete with a marquee, champagne and sunshine, Alice has big plans for the big day. Her husband David isn't so enthused. He seems to have lost his lust for life since retiring from his job. And he's not the only one who isn't in the mood to celebrate. Each of Alice and David's four grown-up children has their own problems to contend with.

Hired to trace Anna Ball, who has vanished, Miss Maud Silver encounters an eccentric art colony, bank robberies, and counterfeiting. As with other Miss Silver mysteries, the story relies on character development. Nadia May reads clearly and distinguishes individuals well; her British voice is ideal for this genteel period thriller (1951). Agatha Christie fans will enjoy this one.

Sophie Rivers thinks she’s fallen on her feet when a temporary research post takes her to George Muntz College, just yards from her Birmingham home. Her new employer offers pleasant, even lavish, facilities and state-of-the-art equipment. Perhaps, though, all is not as comfortable as it seems, as Melina, a computer technician, may have been about to explain. For once Sophie doesn’t have time to listen. But when Melina is found dead, it’s soon clear that other people are keen to hear what Sophie herself has to say .

Sophie Rivers can't wait to settle into married life now that Mike is back from touring Pakistan and Sri Lanka with the England cricket team. So when she's offered a temporary job at his home ground, archiving a collection of memorabilia that has been left to Warwickshire County Cricket Club, she jumps at the chance, envisaging companionable journeys into work and cosy lunches in the Tom Dollery bar. But the reality is a far cry from her romantic dream.

Morning service in the quiet village church. Josie Welford, licensee of the White Hart, is daydreaming during Father Tim Martin’s sermon. The peace is shattered when a filthy Chinese youth flings himself into the church demanding sanctuary. The Church must decide whether to accede to a request that no long has legal standing or to hand Tang over to the authorities. Josie’s friend and long-term lodger, Nick Thomas, fears for the boy’s life.

Antiques dealer Lina Townend – bright, sharp, and pretty ���� is making a name for herself as a restorer, with a national reputation for honesty. So when she spots a dead body in a field, she calls the police – only for it to promptly vanish. And it seems that her luck has entirely deserted her when she’s accused of stealing two Anglo-Saxon rings, and no one seems to believe she’s innocent. So when her love life looks up, Lina’s delighted – and unprepared when things take a frightening turn for the worse…

When Josie Welford settles in the idyllic West Country village of Kings Duncombe, she honestly believes she can bury her past. The widow of one of Britain’s most wanted criminals, she knows what it’s like to be an outsider and fervently wishes for a fresh start in life. But she soon finds herself on the wrong side of the locals and she begins to wonder just how far their threats will go... A feisty and highly likeable character, Josie leads the listener through a tantalizingly twisted murder mystery to a deliciously rich ending.

From the moment Lina Townend and Griff Tripp, set up their antiques stall at the weekend fair, Lina knows they’ve made a mistake. But Lina’s day is brightened when local director Emilia Cosworth begs Griff to take part in her latest play. Lina’s own good luck seems in short supply. Griff’s frequent rehearsals put strain on her relationship with DI Morris; a new antiques centre threatens their business; and Lina is visited by a man who wants her to work for him and seems disinclined to take no for an answer.

DCS Fran Harman's relationship with Assistant Chief Constable Mark Turner is going well and they are buying a house together. At work, a former protégé, Simon Gates, has just become her new boss. But there are complications with Simon and with Mark's daughter. Even the environment is hostile, the water in Fran's village tainted by something in the local reservoir. Some good old-fashioned detective work seems a useful antidote.

The last way antiques dealer Lina Townend wants to spend a summer’s afternoon is helping at a church fete. However, the vicar is an old friend so Lina ends up selling bric-a-brac. A harmless event turns into a crisis when someone tries to steal a tatty old snuff box from under her nose. Tatty it might be, but its valuable enough for the would-be thief to attack Griff, her business partner, to frame Lina for a crime she didn’t commit, and to kill and old friend. And maybe other people too.

When a middle-aged woman enters Lina Townend's antiques shop wanting to sell a white Beswick china horse which she claims is a cherished heirloom, Lina's instincts tell her to avoid the sale. Suddenly, wherever she goes, Lina sees the supposedly rare white horses. Something strange is afoot. As she looks further into the matter, it turns out the horses are merely the tip of the iceberg. But Lina's investigations are attracting unwelcome attention.

When a child goes missing at the local tennis club on the same day that several skeletons are unearthed on a building site, Fran Harman’s caseload is heavier than ever. Enjoying a game of tennis when the girl disappeared, Fran's partner Mark blames himself for not keeping an eye on her. Sucked into the kind of desperate police search he thought he'd left behind on retirement, Mark enlists the help of his fellow Golden Oldies to find young Livvie before it's too late. Meanwhile, a further shocking discovery suggests that a serial killer may be lurking.

In 1951 London thrills to the Festival of Britain, but not Evie Smith. Mistress to Ted Hopkins, marriage is still just a dream. Ted is resigned to caring for his bed-ridden wife, only ever briefly seeing Evie and their two girls. Then, just as Evie finds she is pregnant, Ted takes his wife abroad for new treatment. After five years with no word, Evie selflessly brings up her daughters. But she may yet find her chance of lasting happiness.

Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned to investigate the case of a woman beaten into a coma. Elise has been in a coma for two years, and if the hospital switches off her life support now, her attacker will be guilty of murder. Fran faces overload as she takes on more responsibilities – her elderly parents, Elise, a child abduction, the disappearance of her only witness, and the growing affection that she and her long-time colleague Mark Turner seem to share for one another.

Brought to you by Penguin. Let bestselling author Judy Astley sweep you away with this insightful and uplifting gem of a novel about the important things in life. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Milly Johnson and Trisha Ashley. "Astley writes with humour and insight about the stresses and...

Antonia Weston has come to the sleepy market town of Amberwood in search of peace and anonymity after a shattering and all-too public tragedy in her life. Shortly after her arrival, a series of disturbing incidents occur eerily echoing the past she is trying to forget. She becomes fascinated by the macabre local history surrounding the disused watermill, Twygrist, and the now vanished Latchkill Asylum.

Sophie Rivers is rightly proud of her cousin Andy, a famous rock’n’roll star. Andy has just renounced the excesses of the music business for a life of campaigning for good causes. So why would anyone want him dead? It all starts harmlessly enough: vandalism, graffiti…But when one of Andy’s roadies plunges to his death after swigging the singer’s drink, Sophie begins to fear for her cousin’s life. And then the killer, tired of being thwarted, turns his attentions to Sophie.

Sophie Rivers has left the turmoil of her inner-city college to take an MEd course at the University of the West Midlands. But she's getting nowhere with the group of South-East Asian students she's supposed to be helping. She confides in the excellent lecturer Carla Pentowski, but there's something strange about Carla's past - or lack of it. When some of her students start behaving oddly, Sophie talks to her old friend, Superintendent Chris Groom.