Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Crime Fiction

Counterfeiters, spies, murderers...and Isaac Newton must use his brilliant mind to defeat them all in this pair of full-cast historical crime dramas. In Master of the Mint, a new figure of justice is walking the streets of 17th-century London—Isaac Newton, scientific genius. After thirty years as a Cambridge academic, Newton takes up a new post at the Royal Mint in the Tower of London. In Nemesis, Isaac Newton must contend not only with opponents to his currency plans, but also with a French secret agent who is aiding the theft of England's entire supply of silver.

Inspired by the real-life memoirs of Edinburgh's first detective, James McLevy, here are more fantastic fictional adventures featuring the tenacious Victorian crime-solver. Once again, McLevy and his faithful sidekick Constable Mulholland patrol the dark wynds and back alleys of 1840s Leith tracking down evildoers—aided by a surprising ally: the beautiful and resourceful brothel-keeper Jean Brash.

Life is good for Charles Paris. He's moved back in with his estranged wife, and has landed a plum stage role as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. But it can't last. First his attempts to woo Frances fall flat, then the play's director is taken ill with gastric trouble. His replacement, Romanian wunderkind Alex Radelescu, is determined to take the play in a radical new direction—with or without Charles.

Michael Feydeau, alias TV's much-loved Inspector Niblett, and crime expert David Pershore (the best-selling author of A Nice Sit Down with Some Horrific Murders) go on a thrilling journey through the gruesome history of crime, digging deep into the vaults of villainy to exhume dastardly cases of theft, intrigue, deception, fraud, murder, murder and a touch more murder.

1839, and Bow Street Runner Pip Shepherd is out of a job. The Runners have been disbanded, merged with Sir Robert Peel's new Metropolitan Police - and there's no way Pip's signing up with them. But when he befriends 'Peeler' Thomas Tedman, and hears about an upcoming detective division, he has second thoughts, and soon the duo are investigating their first cases together.

1951. With the Festival of Britain in full swing, the country is looking forward to a brighter, more prosperous future. But young Brian Oldman cannot forget the past. Traumatised by a murder he witnessed when he was just six, he holds a terrible secret, but there is a more devastating secret he has yet to discover. Falling under the spell of his mother, Cath, he is drawn into London's criminal underworld, where territory battles are raging between the old guard and the new.

1991. Britain and the US are waging war in Iraq, the Soviet Union is breaking up - and Brian Oldman is banged up in Parkhurst, his 30-year sentence restarted. Set on proving his innocence, he studies law from his cell in a bid to win justice at last. But will he ever be released from prison? Joseph Olinska, meanwhile, seems unstoppable. Now ennobled and on the board of Lehman Brothers, he plans to extend his business interests into Russia - with a little help from Boris Yeltsin and his cronies.

1971. As Ted Heath's government presides over the collapse of Rolls Royce, and Britain goes over to decimalisation, Brian Oldman is locked up in Brixton Prison. Joseph Oldman pulls every corrupt string in a desperate attempt to get him released; yet no sooner is Brian out than he finds himself back inside. Joseph, however, is on the up: expanding his business through dodgy deals with a Colombian drug cartel and making friends in high places, including Lord Goodman and Margaret Thatcher. Entering the murky world of politics, he becomes an MP and reverts to his old surname, Olinska.

When Bullet Head, Fingers and the other B Block cons meet Prisoners' Aid society members Charles Forbes and George Evans, trouble ensues. Soon, they are embroiled in daring escapades involving an upmarket department store, the Tower of London and the Bank of England.

Roger West is a home-loving, hard-hitting and very human policeman. Nicknamed 'Handsome' West, he's more than just a pretty face—he's also Scotland Yard's youngest, smartest detective and a crime-solving supremo. Six of his adventures were dramatised for radio between 1967 and 1971, but only three survived, all of which are included in this box set.

Acclaimed as 'the most thoroughly European of British crime writers' (Guardian), Nicolas Freeling was well known for his novels featuring Dutch sleuth Van der Valk and French policeman Henri Castang. Included in this collection are six stories showcasing both detectives, as well as a bonus programme exploring Van der Valk and his creator.

Alison Steadman and Sue Johnston star as world-weary hack Dee T. Mitchell in these two mystery thrillers set in South Wales. These two gripping crime dramas follow the dogged, imaginative and impressive investigations of Dee T. Mitchell, a reporter on a local Swansea newspaper, as she attempts to uncover the murders of two individuals and in the process exposes deep secrets and cover-ups across the Gower peninsula and beyond.

Returning to his home town of Middlesborough on a six-month attachment to the Teesside police, criminal psychologist Joe Aston is called in for seven unusual and baffling cases. As a specialist in the controversial field of 'recovered memory', his skills are crucial: only he can uncover the truth by persuading victims, witnesses and suspects to remember what they'd rather forget.

Locked down with his semi-detached wife, Frances, Charles has thrown himself into a new career as a handyman, becoming quite the DIY expert. He's developed muscles, stopped smoking and even cut back on the booze. Then his agent, Maurice, offers him the chance to get back on stage - and in a West End play, no less. The star, Justin Grover, asked for him specifically, but Charles has reservations. Grover was cocky enough when they were both young hopefuls; now, he's the star of a massive TV fantasy series, and the play - a verbatim piece set in a monastery - is dire.

After shooting a teenage boy in an undercover operation, DS Sue Manson is taken off the front line and transferred to a desk job in Missing Persons. But no sooner has she arrived than she's in the thick of the action once more, tasked with tracking down a trio of twisted criminals.

Norman Birkett KC (1883-1962) was a real-life Rumpole - a distinguished and highly skilled lawyer who had numerous successes in the courtroom during his long career. This collection covers some of his most famous cases of the inter-war years, including the dramatic trial of Buck Ruxton; the notorious Dennistoun affair; and the peculiar events surrounding the mysterious cyclist Ronald Light.

This series of puzzles is explored in a six-part thriller starring David Ashton, Stella Forge, Vivienne Dixon and Ian Stewart. From Edward Boyd, the author of The Same River Twice, The Candle of Darkness and Castles in Spain.

Gordon Jackson stars in this classic noir thriller, with the music of Miles Davis. A man named Johnny Maxen reluctantly walks through the Gare du Nord on his way back to a life he thought he'd left behind. Summoned by a letter from his sometime mother-in-law, Helen Duncan, he returns to Glasgow and the news that his estranged wife has been missing for three months. As far as Johnny's concerned, his dealings with Julia ended five years ago. He's paid his dues and knows he should cut and run. But for Helen's sake, he agrees to find her - alive or dead.

Terry Prince is an ex-SAS professional occasionally hired by the Secret Services to do special 'jobs'. His latest mission seems straightforward enough: find and retrieve a top secret file, belonging to the Department of Internal Security, that has been leaked to a left-wing magazine. Arriving at the offices of Socialist Attack, he discovers the editor dead - and he himself suspected of murder. Falsely accused, he goes on the run from both the Internal Security Department and gangsters from London’s underworld.

September 1791. Newly promoted Lieutenant General Jacques Lacroix is transferred from Paris to Amiens, tasked to solve crimes and arrest criminals. But in these days of revolution, it’s increasingly tricky for him to identify the criminals amongst all the agitators, rabble-rousers and counter-revolutionaries. And his job is about to get even harder as he finds himself investigating a slew of grisly murders....