Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

In 1358 the fledging college of Michaelhouse in Cambridge is in need of extra funds. A legacy from the Archbishop of York of a parish close to that city promises a welcome source of income. However, there has been another claim to its ownership, and it seems the only way to settle the dispute is for a deputation from Michaelhouse to travel north. Soon Matthew Bartholomew and his colleagues learn that many of the Archbishop's executors have died in unexplained circumstances.

August, 1940. On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city’s skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime - until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson.

Set against the enchanting background of post war Vienna, with its beautiful palaces and gardens, its disenchanted residents and scars of war, E.C.R. Lorac constructs a characteristic detective story, sure to puzzle and excite. This exceedingly rare mystery, first published in 1956, makes its triumphant return for the first time since its original appearance.

Set in an alternative Edwardian England, this is a comedy of manners, manor houses, and hedge mazes: including a magic-infused murder mystery and a delightful queer romance. 'Lush historical fantasy . . . A delightful book, with richly developed characters' – New York Times ‘Mystery! Magic!...

It is the juiciest piece of gossip the citizens of Norwich have heard for a long time. The ruthless Richard de Fontenel is himself the victim of robbery. In addition to two priceless golden elephants that he was using to lure the beautiful lady Adelaide into marriage, his steward Hermer is also missing. Onto the scene arrive soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret who are meant to adjudicate on a land dispute, but they also become involved in the hunt for the thief. But is Hermer the steward really missing or has something altogether more sinister happened?

On this day of ill omen, plague makes its entrance. Within weeks, swathes of England will be darkened by death's shadow. While panic and suspicion flood the land, a small band of travelers comes together to outrun the breakdown in law and order. But when one of their number is found hanging from a tree, the chilling discovery confirms that something more sinister than plague is in their midst.

Henri Koskinen firmly believes in the power of common sense and order. That is until he moves in with Laura Helanto and her daughter. As Henri realises he has inadvertently become part of a group of local dads, a competing adventure park is seeking to expand their operations, not always sticking to the law in the process. Is it possible to combine the increasingly dangerous world of the adventure-park business with the unpredictability of life in a blended family? At first glance, the two appear to have only one thing in common: neither deals particularly well with a mounting body count.

For elderly churchwarden Arthur Calderbank, there's no place like home. His home just so happens to be a graveyard. He keeps himself to himself, gets on with his job, and visits his wife everyday for a chat. When one day he finds someone else has been to see his wife - and has left flowers on her grave - he is determined to solve the mystery of who and why. 

An intense novel of war at the Roman frontier. On the Empire's Northern border trouble is stirring. For decades the barbarians have been at the gates. Now, facing threats from within as well as outside, the Emperor is provoking war. When his friend Atius goes missing in Germania, Imperial Assassin Silus is sent into the heart of the battle-torn region.

Congratulations! You're the proud owner of the most complex information processing device in the known universe. The human brain comes equipped with all sorts of useful design features, but also many bugs and weaknesses. Problem is you don't get an owner's manual. You have to just plug and play. As a result, most of us never properly understand how our brains work and what they're truly capable of. We fail get the best out of them, ignore some of their most useful features and struggle to overcome their design faults. 

Isabella Rose, the Angel, is used to surprises, but being abducted is an unwelcome novelty. She’s relying on Michael Pope, the head of the top-secret Group Fifteen, to get her back. When ISIS get involved, the situation becomes even bleaker. Isabella’s abductors are in turn abducted, and she finds herself trapped in Raqqa, the capital of the self-styled caliphate.

A jam-fuelled week of disaster starts with a single doughnut! Roman Garstang is obsessed with food - particularly Squidgy Splodge doughnuts - but things are not always as sugar-coated as they seem. Because of his Monday-morning jam doughnut, Roman's week takes a sticky turn. By Friday he has been banned from eating for 24 hours, accidentally shoplifted, had a lift in a getaway van, styled his teacher's guinea pig with a blue Mohawk, started a riot...and barely managed a single doughnut.

In Hide My Eyes, Campion finds himself hunting down a serial killer. A spate of murders leaves him and his friend and colleague Inspector Luke, with only the baffling clues of a left-hand glove and a lizard-skin lettercase. However a chain of strange events leads them to an odd museum of curiosities hidden in a quiet London neighbourhood where there is more going on than meets the eye.

Just returned from years overseas on a secret mission, Albert Campion is relaxing in his bath when his servant Lugg and a lady of unmistakably aristocratic bearing appear in his flat carrying the corpse of a woman. At first Campion is unwilling to get involved, but he is forced to bring his powers of protection to bear on the case, and to solve not only the mystery of the murdered woman but also the alarming disappearance of some well-known art treasures.

After my beautiful daughter Annabelle died in a tragic accident, I thought I would never recover. With my world in pieces, my husband Matthew did what he could to support me and our son, Noah. He hired a young woman, Reka, to help us at home, to be the mother for Noah that I couldn’t be. She cares for him like he’s her own.

After one win in 17 by the start of the summer of 2022, England needed something new. For 145 years, Test cricket was played mainly in one way: batters laid a foundation before daring to attack – and, even then, only if circumstances were favourable. Bowlers tried to bowl maidens, calculating that they would eventually force an error. But the old ways weren’t working. Then came ‘Bazball’, driven by new head coach in Brendon (‘Baz’) McCullum and captain Ben Stokes.

Group Fifteen operative and ex-MI6 officer Charlie Cooper is working undercover as a political negotiator. Attending a conference surrounded by diplomats, businessmen and lobbyists, nobody would suspect what he really does for a living. Also in their midst is Aisha, a Saudi activist whose protests against human rights abuses have made her an enemy of her country's regime.

In 1358, over a century after its foundation in Cambridge, the college of Michael House is facing a serious shortfall of funds and competition from upstarts rivals such as Zachary Hostel. Their problems are made no easier by the hostility of the town's inhabitants, who favour the university moving away to the Fens. This simmering tension threatens to break into violence when a well-known tradesman is found dead in one of the colleges.

When George Abbershaw is invited to Black Dudley Manor for the weekend, he has only one thing on his mind - proposing to Meggie Oliphant. Unfortunately for George, things don't quite go according to plan. A harmless game turns decidedly deadly and suspicions of murder take precedence over matrimony. Trapped in a remote country house with a murderer, George can see no way out. But Albert Campion can.

On a foggy night in Hampstead, London, a party has gathered in an artist's studio to weather the wartime blackout. A civil servant and a government scientist match wits in a game of chess while Bruce Manaton paints the portrait. In the kitchen, Rosanne Manaton prepares tea for the charlady of Mr Folliner. When the murder of 'Old Mr. F' is discovered by his Canadian infantryman nephew, it's not long before Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is called to the scene.