Showing results by narrator "Shazia Nicholls" in All Categories

In rural India, Geeta is believed to have killed her vanished husband—but she hasn't wasted too much time trying to correct the record, because as a single woman her new reputation has been the one thing keeping her safe all these years. Still, she's paid a price. She's an outcast in her town, estranged from her childhood best friend, Saloni, and from the rest of the women in her microloan group. But that all changes when another member of the group approaches Geeta with a problem of her own. and absurdity of life.

An unforgettable story of past love and family secrets, set in sunny Seville Holly loves making marmalade. Now she has a chance to leave her stressful city job and pursue her dream - of returning to the Dorset landscape of her childhood to open Bitter Orange, a shop celebrating the fruit that...

‘As fast flowing and threatening as the Thames itself’ Daily Mail 'Packed with danger and suspense … Loved it!' Sam Holland 'Breathlessly compelling and relentlessly entertaining.' BP Walter 'Simon Toyne is one of the best storytellers writing today' M. W. Craven A brutal murder When a...

**Don't miss out on the gripping new thriller featuring Laughton Rees and Tannahill Khan, BLOOD TRACES – OUT NOW** ‘An intense, compelling page-turner’ STEVE CAVANAGH ‘I doubt I’ll read a better book this year’ M.W. CRAVEN ‘Count to three,’ her mother told her, the last words she...

It's an invitation Steph can't refuse when she's handpicked to compete at the prestigious National Trust property Coleton Fishacre. With the country's top garden designers as rivals and a stunning historic estate for inspiration, it feels like a dream come true. But things quickly turn thorny when the youngest competitor falls mysteriously ill and Steph suspects foul play. Her fears are confirmed when a scream echoes through the gardens, leading her to the horrific sight of a dead body at the foot of the cliff.

Steph Williams is excited to get her hands stuck into her latest gardening project. This time, she's been commissioned by Lady Clara of Ashford Manor to restore the stately gardens to their former glory. But the estate is suddenly thrown into chaos when a dead body is discovered in one of the rooms. The police rule it as suicide, though Steph's convinced they're barking up the wrong tree. For she knows the deceased better than they do and it could only be one thing: murder. And if the police won't listen to her, then Steph will have to investigate the case herself.

'A deeply evocative, highly descriptive and thoroughly enjoyable plunge into Britain's urban wildlife with an authentically hopeful message' Geographical Magazine City-dwellers, it's time to meet your neighbours. In Wild City Florence Wilkinson takes us on a fascinating journey into why we...

Steph Williams has arrived at the wealthy gated community of Beaulieu Heights ready to start her new position as head gardener. Surrounded by mansions and acres of land, it's worlds apart from the life she knows, but she's determined to give it her best shot. If she happens to accidentally overhear private conversations while trimming the bushes, or is refused access to a locked shed, she knows not to question it - after all, gardeners should be seen and not heard. Until notes start turning up, threatening to reveal the deepest secrets of the residents.

*First published as THE CLEARING in 2023* A chilling new serial killer thriller from the author of the Sanctus series ‘The ending is genuinely one of the most jaw-dropping ones I’ve read in a long time. Absolutely superb.’ M.W. Craven ‘Unnerved me to my core’ Sam Holland ‘Scared the...

Able to cherry pick her gardening projects after all her recent success, Steph Williams arrives at a luxury hotel in the Yorkshire moors with her beloved dog Mouse. She has been tasked with bringing the outdated gardens into line with the hotel's sleek and glassy new guise, and can't wait to dig in. But, before Steph can enjoy the fruits of her labour, she makes a shocking discovery in the hotel's pool: a body, fanned by a beautiful evening dress, floating beneath the stars. As she rushes into the scene, Steph realises this is no common-or-garden accident.

Brought to you by Penguin. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION Raw and radical, strange and beguiling - a love letter to Britain's breathtaking flatlands, from Orford Ness to Orkney, and a reckoning with the painful, hidden histories they contain For readers of W. G. Sebald's Rings...

'Essential reading ... An incisive and urgently needed book' Tim Harford '[An] entertaining introduction to the uses (and misuses) of data ... a penetrating analysis of why statistical literacy matters to our politics and our daily lives' Professor Jonathan Portes Our politicians make vital...

Steph Williams and her inimitable dog Mouse are in picture-perfect Greenhaven, Essex - an Art Deco village built for factory workers in the 1920s. Tasked with designing a Centenary Garden, Steph is about to dig up more history than she bargained for. Because Greenhaven's charm hides more than a few tangled roots. From the poison pen of the Green Raven to the prickly Heritage Society, village gossip, rivalries and resentments run as wild as the weeds Steph's here to tame.

These Impossible Things charts the dreams and disappointments of a group of British Muslim women; Jenna, Kees and Malak. They have been friends for years: the three of them together against the world. Yet one night changes everything between them, and they are left adrift, marooned from each other as their lives take different paths. Without the support of each other, nothing seems to go quite right, and in the wake of heartbreaks, marriages, new careers and new beginnings, they need each other more than ever. Will they be able to forgive each other in time?

When Arifa Akbar discovered that her sister had fallen seriously ill, she assumed there would be a brief spell in hospital and then she'd be home. This was not to be. It was not until the day before she died that the family discovered she was suffering from tuberculosis. Consumed is a story of sisterhood, grief, the redemptive power of art and the strange mythologies that surround tuberculosis. It takes us from Keats' deathbed and the tubercular women of opera to the resurgence of TB in modern Britain today.

The night is a time of darkness and nightmares, fear and vulnerability, especially for women. And, yet, it is another world, full of beauty and possibility, too. After the sun goes down, insomnia and sleep paralysis do threaten. But some have always walked the nocturnal landscapes, with more or less confidence. Others have worked, night shifts and hidden night work: nurses, security guards, sex workers. And some have found solace in the darkness, from queer rave culture to religious pre-dawn traditions.

In a village in rural Pakistan, Tara is waiting and watching. The smell of dung and dust hangs over her world. She is desperate to leave the petty life of the village and escape the iron grip of her violent, unpredictable brother. Marrying a middle-class accountant allows her to escape to the capital, but she soon finds that life as a respectable housewife is not sufficient either. She wants what the rich mothers at her children’s school have. She wants what their husbands have. Her desire for wealth and freedom becomes an obsession. But can she truly shake her past?

An irresistible new volume of affectionate missives about our man's best friend from the author of the bestselling Letters of Note collections. In Letters of Note: Dogs, Shaun Usher brings together a delightful collection of correspondence about our canine friends, featuring affectionate...

An irresistible new volume of missives about outer space, from the author of the bestselling Letters of Note collections In Letters of Note: Outer Space, Shaun Usher brings together fascinating correspondence about the universe beyond our planet, containing hopeful thoughts about the future of...

This is a thoughtfully curated anthology of classic stories. The collection is designed to help listeners unwind and drift off to sleep. Based on the popular selections from the Just Sleep podcast, one of the top Mental Health podcasts in the UK, listeners will enjoy stories from famous authors.