Showing results by narrator "David Monteath" in All Categories

When Isabelle McLaren is given the devastating news that her ten-year old son, Thomas, has only months to live, she decides to take him to St Andrews to see Hamish McHamish, the town's famous cat who Thomas believes can cure him, if only he gets to stroke him. But Hamish is missing, and when...

Behind the stage lights and word-perfect soliloquies, sinister secrets are lurking in the wings. The mysteries in this collection reveal the dark side to theatre and performing arts: a world of backstage dealings, where unscrupulous actors risk everything to land a starring role, costumed figures lead to mistaken identities, and on-stage deaths begin to look a little too convincing. This expertly curated thespian anthology features 14 stories from giants of the classic crime genre.

It’s December 1968. Having cheated Sandy Hoynes out of a rowing race and navigation certificate when they were young, Dreich MacCallum makes an unexpected return to Kinloch. With the Girl Maggie up on the slip awaiting urgent repairs, Hoynes takes to his bed, the memory of it all too much. When first mate Hamish persuades his skipper to get up and put the fishing boat back into the water, there are unexpected consequences that put Hoynes’ liberty and reputation at risk. Has Dreich won the day again? But the spirits of the past have yet to have their say.

After an incident makes remaining in Glasgow impossible, Police Sergeant Don Colyear is sent to work in a remote Highlands town. His new Inspector wants him gone and the locals wonder why he’s even there. Still, Don makes a go of things, striking up a good working relationship with rookie officer Rowan Forbes. As Don starts to investigate petty crimes, it soon becomes clear that there is something off about the town. A string of teenage disappearances has not been given due attention.

It is the summer of 1880, and DI Sam McQueen has been called away from the gray, damp streets of Edinburgh to investigate a case on the oppressively hot Mediterranean island of Malta. The local police chief is distinctly unwelcoming toward the interloper—but has no choice in the matter, since Admiral Collingwood's wealthy widow insists that her husband's fatal fall from the roof of their villa was no accident.

Five walkers set out to climb Ben Lomond on a fine October day. Within hours the weather has taken a turn for the worst. The group find themselves lost on the mountain. Two of the climbers manage to make it back down and call for help. The following day a body is found. One of the female climbers has been strangled, and another man is missing without a trace. DCI Dani Bevan is called to the Loch Lomond town of Ardyle to lead the case.

In a remote corner of Scotland, something momentous is underway. When Effie's father receives a government notice to quit Kirk Farm, the lives of the Ross family and those of the whole community are utterly disrupted. But for Effie - irrepressible, beautiful, vital - wartime changes bring her close to Toni, an Italian prisoner of war sent to work on the farm. Before long, the young couple are planning a future together when the war is finally over. It’s a future that's under threat from the start. For there are those among them who cannot quite be trusted. 

Bloomsbury presents Dark Patterns, Deceptive Design, and the Law: AI’s Hidden Influence on Our Digital Experience by MR Leiser read by David Monteath This book provides essential insights on dark patterns and AI-powered deceptive design for anyone who wants to understand and challenge the...

From the best-selling author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, a ghost story, a psychological thriller and a tale of love rediscovered. Elizabeth has been married to Michael for ten years. She has adjusted to a fairly monotonous routine with her wealthy, decent but boring husband. Part of this routine involves occasional visits to Beinn Caorrun, the dank and gloomy house in a Scottish glen that Michael inherited. There are memories there that Michael will not share with her. But then Michael begins to change. It starts when he thinks he sees, in a picture, the figure of a girl on a landing.

Helen Adams has a knack for finding lost objects, but the Simon McAllister she finds isn't what she expected. The missing California teen is now a grown man - a kilted, sword wielding, Highland warrior. A mysterious Druid book and Helen's sixth sense send her to Scotland in search of a missing boy. After being attacked by strange men dressed in medieval garb, a handsome, desirable hero answering to the boy's name rescues her. No one is more surprised than she to find herself in sixteenth century Scotland.

Stevie 'Minto' Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city. How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission?

DI Jack Knox's Edinburgh team are busy dealing with a series of violent rapes when a man is found murdered on a residential street. The detective splits the under-resourced squad and follows up the murder himself, quickly establishing that there is no shortage of individuals who would have wanted the man dead. The victim had secured private investments for NewTech, a video games company that fell foul of copyright law. A lot of serious people lost serious money. Whilst Knox treads on eggshells and traces the finances, the rest of the team focus on the rape.

Bonnie Scotland, and she is Bonnie that’s for sure. A country with a rich and mysterious history. Strange land formations, ancient standing stone circles, and otherworldly scenery run from coast to coast. It is the land of the Celts and their folklore that includes stories of unicorns, shape shifting spirits, Kelpies, fairies, and monsters that swim in deep Lochs.

After wrangling with his conscience, a priest approaches Edinburgh police and reports that a man confessed to killing a young woman. During a passionate petting session with the girl, he flipped and strangled her. Following a hunch that the victim could be a missing Canadian tourist, DI Jack Knox scrambles his team to track him down. Yet their only lead is the confession, and they have little other information to go on.

Newly assigned to CID, Detective Constable Elizabeth Burnet needs to prove herself more than most. In an era rife with misogynistic attitudes, some see her as little more than a pretty face hired to make the department more palatable to the public, giving her the nickname 'The Friday Girl'. So...

First published in 1885, Markheim blends crime, horror and the supernatural. The titular character, Markheim, visits an antiques dealer on Christmas Day to find a present for his beloved, but when the dealer’s back is turned, he stabs him to death and begins to ransack the shop for money. But he is disturbed by a spirit who knows all about Markheim’s life and forces him to consider his choices and the nature of good and evil.

Luck runs out for three poker players when a gunman calmly shoots them dead. DI Jack Knox quickly establishes that the intended target, the leader of a bank heist many years before, has slipped the net. But his team has to split up when a young woman, the daughter of a prominent figure, goes missing from the city centre. Suspecting she has been kidnapped, the search heads from Edinburgh to the Scottish Borders. Will the detectives find her abductor in time?

"Squid Game" meets "The Hunger Games" in this thriller where modern-day recruits compete in an ancient, deadly game across the streets of Edinburgh. Welcome to the Pantheon Games. Let the streets of Edinburgh run with blood...The Games are the biggest underground event in the world, followed by millions online. New recruits must leave behind their twenty-first-century lives and vie for dominance in a gruelling battle to the death armed only with ancient weapons – and their wits.

Married couple Jack and Ali Gardiner move to a self-sufficient spiritual commune in the English Fens, desperate for fresh start. The local village is known for the witches who once resided there, and Rosalind House, where the commune has been established, is a former psychiatric home, with a disturbing history. When Jack and Ali arrive, a chain of unexpected and unexplained events is set off, and it becomes clear that they are not all that they seem. As the residents become twitchy, and the villagers suspicious, events from the past come back to haunt them, and someone is seeking retribution....

From the founder of Mary’s Meals and the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Shed That Fed a Million Children, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow travels the world encountering startling acts of charity and the power of generosity. Few people in the world are better placed to understand the role of...