Showing results by narrator "Jilly Bond" in All Categories

The Great War may be over, but for many, there are still obstacles on the home front. Reconciling with her estranged husband makes Verity sympathetic to her friend Ada's marital difficulties. Bourgeois-bred Ada, recently married to the Marquess of Rockham, is overwhelmed trying to navigate the ways of the aristocracy. And when Lord Rockham is discovered shot through the heart with a bullet from Ada's revolver, Verity fears her friend has made a fatal blunder. While striving to prove Ada's innocence, Verity is called upon for another favour.

When a body washes up on the rocks below, everyone assumes it must be brutish Edward Parker. Weeks ago, he slipped over the cliff’s edge, never to be seen again. But on closer inspection, it’s not him. The dead man is Pat Duggan, son of a wealthy nightclub owner, and it’s not the sea that killed him—it’s a gunshot wound.

'Fascinating, poignant and beautifully written. A story of love and the sorrow of war' CAROL MCGRATH 'An enthralling insight into the Wars of the Roses seen through the eyes of two powerful women. A superb read' CLARE MARCHANT 'A fascinating story of two powerful women on opposing sides of the...

In 20 meals The Hungry Empire tells the story of how the British created a global network of trade in foodstuffs that moved people and plants from one continent to another, reshaping landscapes and culinary tastes. To be British was to eat the world. The empire allowed Britain to harness the globe’s edible resources from salt beef to sugar. By the 20th century the wheat to make the working man’s loaf of bread was supplied by Canada, and his Sunday leg of lamb had been fattened on New Zealand’s grasslands. Lizzie Collingham takes us on a wide-ranging culinary journey, revealing how virtually every meal we eat still contains a taste of empire.

Newly retired Sarah Vane is completely settled in Merstairs, enjoying the quirky, quaint feel of her new home. With some time on her hands, she decides to surprise her friend Daphne by cleaning her dusty, cluttered seafront shop. But when she arrives there early one morning, Sarah is shocked to find a dying woman on the doorstep, who utters one word before she takes her last breath: ‘Wits…’ The victim is Abi Moffat—a much loved schoolteacher. Who could want her dead, and what could ‘wits’ possibly mean? Could the answer to Abi’s death be in Whitstable—the posher town along the coast?

It was meant to be the start of quiet season in the sleepy Cornish village of Seal Bay, but not for sexagenarian librarian and wild swimming enthusiast Morwenna Mutton. Because when a local businessman is found on the beach with a bread knife is his back, bungling police officer DI Rick Tremayne is soon out of his depth. Morwenna knows it’s going to be down to her to crack the case.

When Victoria and Joe return to their Spanish mountain village, they are still reeling from their year in the Middle East. Sighing with relief, they prepare to settle down to a peaceful life with the familiar characters of the village.

It's August in the Barsetshire village of Worsted, and Richard Tebben, just down from Oxford, is contemplating the gloomy prospect of a long summer in the parental home. But the numerous and impossibly glamorous Dean family - exquisite Rachel, her capable husband and six of their nine brilliant children - have come for the holidays, and their hostess, Mrs. Palmer, plans to rope everyone into performing in her disastrous annual play.

A spellbinding collection of 15 stories from multi-million copy internationally best-selling author Rosamunde Pilcher, published posthumously two years after her death. Each of the 15 stories is a perfect slice of romance written with warmth and passion, featuring some wonderfully memorable, smart and feisty female characters that will transport listeners to another time and place.

When Juno Browne returns to the picturesque Dartmoor town of Ashburton after a brief holiday, she’s relieved to find that no one has been murdered while she was away. Though uncharitable friends suggest the quiet was simply due to her absence. Just as she’s settling back into her routine at the antiques shop and as domestic helper and dog walker, the brutal killing of local journalist Sandy Thomas shocks the town.

'Beautiful written and elegiac . . . a masterpiece' Damien Lewis, author of multiple Sunday Times Bestsellers 'Riveting, original and scrupulously researched' Richard J Aldrich, author of GCHQ 'Phenomenal . . . genuinely pioneering, undoubtedly necessary and a great read' Rory Cormac, author of...

'An enthralling, layered triumph' SUNDAY TIMES, Thriller of the Month 'A richly enjoyable thriller' THE TIMES, Thriller of the Year 'An elegant, provocative, twisting thriller… hugely entertaining and beautifully written' CHRIS WHITAKER 'So brilliant I stayed up into the early hours to finish...

Sitting on a California beach at summer's end, Jane Marsh thinks back to her childhood at the estate called Elvie in a remote corner of Scotland. She remembers not only the heather-covered hills and the lonesome loch but her grandmother...and, of course, Sinclair. She has secretly dreamed of marrying rakishly handsome Sinclair and settling at Elvie forever. Then an urgent visit from her grandmother's lawyer becomes the catalyst for her return to Scotland, where waiting for her is passion, not gentle love....

England, 1919. Verity Kent's grief over the loss of her husband pierces anew when she receives a cryptic letter, suggesting her beloved Sidney may have committed treason before his untimely death. Lured to Umbersea Island to attend the engagement party of one of Sidney's fellow officers, Verity mingles among the men her husband once fought beside, discovering dark secrets and the shattering possibility that her husband may not have been the man she thought he was....

When Juno Browne purchased a car for her lover, Daniel Thorncroft, she was not expecting that the previous owner would lock a dead body in the boot. Who the dead man could be is a persistent question, as is the whereabouts of the seller, Amber Horrell. While Inspector Ford and the Ashburton police are on the case, Juno's insatiable curiosity and concern for the missing Amber lead her to start sleuthing on her own.

Arlington Park is an ordinary English suburb. Over the course of a single day, the novel moves from one household to another, revealing its characters: Juliet, enraged at the victory of men over women in family life; Amanda, warding off thoughts of death with obsessive housework; Solly, about to give birth to her fourth child; Maisie, struggling to accept provincial life; and Christine, the optimist and host of a dinner party where the neighbours come together.

For the first time in audio, a collection of Carys Davies’ iconic novel West and her award-winning short story collection The Redemption of Galen Pike. West: Cy Bellman, American settler and widowed father of Bess, reads in the newspaper that huge ancient bones have been discovered in a Kentucky swamp. He leaves his small Pennsylvania farm and young daughter to find out if the rumours are true: that the giant monsters are still alive and roam the uncharted wilderness beyond the Mississippi River.

As winter begins to bite at Sunset Hall, Agnes Sharp is grudgingly pleased to discover that one of her fellow OAP housemates has won a luxury holiday to a secluded Cornish hotel called the Eden. The incredible menu, spa treatments and an unexpected boa constrictor aside, Agnes and her geriatric companions will soon discover that the hotel is a long way from paradise. They have barely checked in when Agnes sees a disturbing incident on the clifftop: could she have witnessed a murder? A storm cuts the hotel off from the outside world and the body count starts to rise.

A MATTER OF MURDER is the seventh Cotswold village crime novel in Ann Granger's Campbell and Carter series. Sure to appeal to fans of Midsomer Murders and M. C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin mysteries. Two years ago, Miff Ferguson chose to opt out of the rat race. Since then he's been living rough and...

Anne Glenconner invites both old friends and new acquaintances to join her in The Picnic Papers. Featuring contributions from Bryan Adams, Graham Norton, Lorraine, Rupert Everett, Tina Brown, Freya Stark and many more, they explore the curious British obsession with dining alfresco, despite our famously unpredictable weather. Picnics, it turns out, spark strong opinions. HRH Princess Margaret insisted on having hers at a proper table, while the indefatigable John Julius Norwich enjoyed 147 picnics over seven weeks in the Sahara. In stark contrast, writer James Lees-Milne simply loathed them.