Showing results by narrator "Sarah Barron" in All Categories

Verity is embarking on a better-late-than-never gap year now that her sons have flown the nest, and dreams of turning a lifetime's hobby of knitting and crocheting into a profitable new enterprise at Lerwick Manor's gallery. Nessie has returned to Shetland after two years spent retraining as a blacksmith on the Scottish mainland. She's determined to do whatever it takes to reignite the traditional craft and prove that gender is no obstacle taking on her family's heritage.

Martha Parker runs a small private detective agency in Glasgow with her two sisters, Helen and Geri, specialising in catching cheating partners playing away from home. The Parkers have been hired by the reclusive wife of a wealthy banker she suspects is having an affair - but when he shows up murdered, it's up to Martha, Helen, and Geri to prove the wife's innocence in a case unlike any they have tackled before.

When the badly beaten body of Henry Donaldson is found locked in the old jail at the Telford Bridge in Dunkeld, Forensic Psychologist Dr Chrissy Ferguson is relieved. Now he’s been found, she can continue her downward spiral in peace. Determined to walk away from the case and put some distance between herself and lead investigator, DCI Ross Fraser, Chrissy battles to suppress the gnawing suspicion that Henry's assault conceals darker truths. When the forensic team uncover long buried remains in the old jail, Chrissy can’t ignore her instincts.

Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from philautia (self-love) to agape (love for humanity) and from storge (a natural affection for family) to mania (a frenzied, obsessive love).

When Jenna Palmer agrees to the new position of mobile librarian on the tiny Arrandale peninsular of the Isle of Skye, she knows she’s signing up for difficult working conditions and mediocre wages. But Jenna needs to get away.... However, whilst Jenna can get to grips with foggy island roads, local mermaid legends and even big purple monsters, she never expected to have to contend with a boss as grumpy as Daniel McGregor, or a young book lover as enthusiastic as his niece, Katrina.

Spanning a generation, the story begins in 1914 when Donny Nicolson and Angus MacLeod leave their homes on the Kilbackie Estate, Isle of Skye to join the British army and fight in France; a decision that would change their lives forever with tragic consequences.

Martha, Helen and Geri Parker are back. With their success bringing them newfound fame, they're invited to be guests of honour at SteinerFest - a crime convention run by American celebrity P.I. couple Murray and Roberta Steiner. Like everything else in their lives, nothing goes to plan. When Murray Steiner is found dead, tongues start to wag and soon rumours spread that his death might not be simply an innocent tragedy. With Geri implicated in the potential skulduggery, it's up to Martha and Helen to clear her name and get to the bottom of what has really happened.

Robertson Bennet returns to Edinburgh after a 25-year absence in search of his parents and his inheritance. But both have disappeared. A quick, routine police check should be enough - and Detective Inspector Helen Birch has enough on her plate trying to help her brother, Charlie, after an assault in prison. But all her instincts tell her not to let this case go. And so she digs. George and Phamie Bennet were together for a long time. No one can ever really know the secrets kept between husband and wife.

Teenagers Corey Alloway and Bree Dovemuir are best friends. They live on an island where people still pray to ancient Greek gods, and the Underworld is rumoured to be visible from the top of a certain hill. They're closer than sisters—until Bree betrays Corey, and steals her boyfriend, Ali. Corey is consumed by hatred. She goes so far as to vehemently wish Bree dead. At the annual Thesmophoria Festival, Corey kisses a stranger, a boy with golden lips, to show Bree and Ali she's over them both. And later that night, Bree is found floating in the lake—dead.

The Skelf women are recovering from the cataclysmic events that nearly claimed their lives. Their funeral-director and private-investigation businesses are back on track, and their cases are as perplexing as ever. Matriarch Dorothy looks into a suspicious fire at a travellers' site, and takes a grieving, homeless man under her wing. Daughter Jenny is searching for her missing sister-in-law, who disappeared in tragic circumstances, while granddaughter Hannah is asked to investigate increasingly dangerous conspiracy theorists targeting a retired female astronaut...putting her own life at risk.

The history of the Alardyce family is fraught with scandal and intrigue. But after her eldest son Robert leaves the country, finally Amy Alardyce can enjoy some peace. Robert is wanted by the police for some unspeakable crimes, and his family hope he has run far enough and never looks back. A decade after his disappearance, Robert has forged a successful life for himself, making his fortune from the diamond and gold mines of Africa. But when he sees a death notice in the newspaper, the call to go home to Scotland grows ever louder.

Maya has to escape. She's on the run in a country she doesn't know and has no idea who to trust. Raul is escaping too - travelling back to his home where a terrible tragedy happened, ready to stir up trouble. When their paths collide in the middle of the jungle, the sparks begin to fly. As modern world corruption meets the magic and legends of ancient times, can Maya draw on her hidden light to find the way through to the truth?

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson gleans life lessons learned by inspirational women from around the world in a personal and inspirational book. In Ruth Davidson's YES SHE CAN we meet world-beating women from fields as diverse as science, politics, the military, business and...

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection The Edinburgh Mystery. Published in 1955, this is a domestic tale which sees a family member commit the ultimate crime when they’ve had enough of their miserly aunt’s frugal ways.

A practical call to arms that challenges the persistent inequality of power between men and women. Why is gender inequality so stubbornly persistent? Power. Even today, power remains concentrated in the hands of men right across the worlds of business, politics and culture. Decisions taken by those with power tend to perpetuate gender inequality rather than accelerate solutions. And those who see the problem often feel powerless: ingrained sexism and gender inequality can seem too huge to solve. Equal Power holds a mirror up to society, showing the stark extent of gender inequality.

Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach, and the crofters tell her that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl has disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the spirits of the unforgiven dead. 

Julia Sutherland isn’t too sure about her new colleague. Ellis Kirkbride is friendly, charismatic and handsome, but there’s just something about him – a bit too slick, a bit too confident, and he stands a bit too close. Normally she'd share her concerns with her husband Rob, but he’s been distant lately and Julia has a secret he mustn’t find out. Ellis Kirkbride thought he had found the right woman. She was everything he could want but she didn't want him. And that was unacceptable...

Edinburgh, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend Clessidro are the stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Clessidro sings opera and Isobel sings famously dark Scottish ballads, despite being incapable of holding a tune. They roam the streets of Edinburgh, enjoying an opulent lifestyle. One night a note arrives from the mysterious Cecilia Abercorn, asking if Isobel's most notorious song, The Fiddler's Wrath, might be included in a book. It's the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued.

Kate is a successful interior designer with two wonderful kids. Kate is also a recent widow, a grieving daughter and worrying about how to pay the bills. Her life might look perfect from the outside, but making things look better than they are is just how Kate copes. Her mother, Jean, worries about her - but she has her own problems. A mystery from the past has come back to haunt her, and she decides now is the time to put the pieces together. When romance makes an appearance in both their lives, can mother and daughter lay the past to rest - and begin again?

Physician Cathy Moreland needs time to heal, having recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder while struggling with a painkiller habit. The little village of Kinnaven promises respite, but after Cathy attempts to get an opiate prescription, things don't go well. When she discovers the body of the local Dr Cosgrove, her sanctuary is shattered. Before long, Cathy is swept up in local gossip about the death.