Showing results by narrator "Esther" in All Categories

When Detective Inspector Bridget Hart returns to her old Oxford college for a reunion dinner, she's hoping for a fun weekend catching up with old friends. But the reunion takes a macabre turn when body parts are served up at the college feast, and one of her friends is found murdered. With Bridget's arch rival Inspector Baxter leading the murder inquiry, and herself a potential suspect, Bridget is forbidden from taking part in the investigation. But that doesn't stop her from carrying out her own private inquiries. Bridget soon realizes that the murderer is someone known to her.

At 27 years old, Emma Banks has big plans for her life. After graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, she's ready to take her place as head chef at one of her family's resort restaurants. Her first assignment is to serve Pierce Davenport, an infuriatingly arrogant writer with a palate that's about as adventurous as a plain boiled potato. Pierce Davenport's living every author's dream: His critically-acclaimed Clash of Crowns books have been turned into one of the world's most-watched television series. The only problem is, he has no idea how to end the epic tale.

Welcome to Malory Towers, where there's more to life than lessons! Summer at Malory Towers means picnics, swimming and horse-riding. There are also the usual tricks to play and secrets to keep, but no one was expecting a mystery to solve. So when a horse is stolen from the riding school run by...

Solve the mystery with the Secret Seven - everyone's favourite detective club! These timeless stories are perfect for young fans of mystery, adventure or detective series. In book eight, Peter and Jack go looking for their lost model aeroplane in an old abandoned house and find a lit fire in one...

Rachel lives a quiet life in the peaceful countryside, content with her perfect man and her lovely dog. But when she stumbles upon a body in the woods one day, all that shatters. She knows what she has to do: run. Don’t get accused of murder. But when this victim is identified as her boyfriend’s estranged wife, Rachel realises she’s already the prime suspect. With mounting evidence against her, Rachel’s only hope is to keep her past well hidden.

Twenty-six-year-old single mum Brianna Lewis (a.k.a. Bree) doesn't believe in fairy tales - not after being abandoned by the father of daughter, Isabelle. Suddenly finding herself in dire straits, she converts her garden shed into a rental suite in hopes of climbing out of the financial hole she's in. But when the only person interested in renting the suite turns out to be to Leopold Davenport, the ridiculously good-looking co-worker she loves to hate, she knows she must choose between being happy and being broke.

It's nearly Christmas in Oxford, and Detective Inspector Bridget Hart is enjoying a rare day off at Oxford's Christmas Market. A ghost tour seems like a fun way to round off the day. Until, that is, a brutal murder brings the evening to a tragic close. Torn between work and family commitments over the festive season, Bridget soon discovers that the ghost of Christmas past is reaching out to the present with fatal consequences.

Duke Jasper DeVere left London to grieve his grandfather's death privately, away from the prying eyes and gossips of the ton. Seeking solitude at a friend's country manor, he's surprised he finds himself drawn to the company of the shy beauty determined to present the epitome of proper behavior. That is, until the mysterious woman makes an indecent proposal....

There's an underground black market for arcane things. Akin to the trade in rhino horns or tiger bones, this network traffics in remains of gryphons, faeries, goblins, and other fantastic creatures. When her fiance Vince goes missing, Angela Gough, an American criminology student, discovers he was a part of this secretive trade. It's a big-money business-shadowy, brutal, and sometimes fatal. As the trail leads her deeper into London's dark side, she crosses paths with a crime lord whose life is dedicated to collecting such relics.

When two childhood best friends blow up their respective romantic relationships, they make a time-sensitive pact: serial-cheater Chuck cannot sleep with anyone as she attends a three-month-long recovery group for cheaters, while sex-deprived Sofia vows to hook up with as many people as possible before recommitting to monogamy and tying the knot with her long-time fiancé. To keep things interesting, Chuck and Sofia decide to revive a past tradition from their summer camp days—also known as the dawning of sluthood.

Who doesn't worry sometimes that smart phones, the Internet, and TV are robbing us of time and preventing us from having a life? How can we make the most of our time on earth? In the first century AD, the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger offered one of the most famous answers to that question in his essay "On the Shortness of Life"—a work that has more to teach us today than ever before.

Lorelei did what she was supposed to do: cut the King's throat, liberate a kingdom, and then fade into the darkness once more. But this time, she can't leave. The rebellion wants to use her as a figurehead in their mad plan to steal a kingdom from a bloodline, and Lore has other more pressing matters at hand. The King survived, and within his clutches are the last dragon eggs in all of Umbra.

Solve the mystery with the Secret Seven - everyone's favourite detective club! These timeless stories are perfect for young fans of mystery, adventure or detective series. In book three, the Secret Seven have a new meeting place - a treehouse! But someone else is using it too. The gang are...

After running from her mother's seaside cottage ten years ago following a devastating loss, Sarah returns to the village of Dovecote to fulfil her father's dying wish. As she opens the gate of her childhood home, long-buried emotions rise to the surface. Having drifted from the close-knit community, she can't bear to face those she hurt when she left.

When the much-loved lord of the manor, Henry Burton, passes away, the villagers of Hambledon-on-Thames gather to pay their respects at his funeral. But the day is marred when the churchwarden is found brutally battered to death in the north transept of the church. Called to investigate, Detective Inspector Bridget Hart soon unearths a tangled web of old grudges and simmering feuds beneath the tranquil idyll of this sleepy South Oxfordshire village.

The Oxford Literary Festival is in full swing, but Detective Inspector Bridget Hart isn't there to learn about books. Instead, she's been given the task of protecting Diane Gilbert, a controversial author who has received a death threat. Diane doesn't seem to think she needs Bridget's protection, but when the worst happens, Bridget's role switches to running a murder enquiry.

Miss Jane Quayle excels at invention. How else could the sheltered daughter of an English gentleman create lurid Gothic novels so infamous someone wants their author silenced forever? Fortunately, Jane has taken steps to protect herself: first, by assuming a pen name, and second, by taking up residence at remote Dunnock Castle, surrounded by rugged scenery that might have been ripped from the pages of one of her books. Her true identity remains a secret...until one dark and stormy night.

Will, Viscount Wingrave, whiles away his time gambling and bedding married women, thwarted in his wish to serve his country by his controlling father. News that his errant son has fought a duel with a jealous husband is the last straw for the Earl of Marstone. He decrees that Will must marry. The earl's eye lights upon Connie Charters, unpaid housekeeper and drudge for a poor but socially ambitious father who cares only for the advantage her marriage could bring him. 

Ein geheimnisvoller Brief, ein verfallenes Schloss, eine unerfüllte Liebe. Es beginnt mit einem verloren geglaubten Brief. Ein halbes Jahrhundert hat er darauf gewartet, gelesen zu werden. Die Suche nach dem Absender führt die junge Edie nach Millderhurst Castle, wo seit Jahrzehnten die exzentrischen Blythe-Schwestern leben. Als Edie das verfallene Schloss betritt, beginnt sie zu ahnen, dass hinter den alten Mauern der Schlüssel zur rätselhaften Vergangenheit ihrer Mutter liegt.

When Dr. Nathan Frost, a lecturer in German literature at Oxford University, is invited to a lavish party at the country house of a wealthy businessman, he knows there'll be a price to pay. After all, as an expert on the legend of Faust and Mephistopheles, he can recognize a deal with the devil easily enough. But even he's not expecting such a sinister end to the evening.