Showing results by narrator "Jenny Funnell" in All Categories

On paper, Iris Atkins is an estate agent, but she has a gift: Iris is able to see into people's lives and understand exactly what is missing and what they need - and not just in bricks-and-mortar terms, either. Of course this doesn't leave much time for examining her own problems, and while she may know what's best for everyone else, she doesn't necessarily know what's best for herself - and what she finds out could make her happier than she ever dreamed of.

Hettie Bagshot has bitten off more than any cat could chew. As soon as she launches her No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, she's bucketed into a case: Furcross, a home for slightly older cats, has a nasty spate of bodysnatching, and three of the residents have been stolen from their graves. Hettie and her sidekick, Tilly, set out to reveal the terrible truth. In a haze of catnip and pastry, Hettie steers the Furcross Case to its conclusion, but will she get there before the body count rises - and the pies sell out?

1939. War has broken out - hundreds of children are evacuated to the countryside to keep them safe from the bombs raining down on London. Wrenched from her family in the East End and sent more than a hundred miles away, seven-year-old Pearl Posner must adapt to a new life away from everything familiar. Vivienne didn’t ask for an evacuee child. In fact, she’s not sure her heart can take it. So many years, so many disappointments....

In her apron and rubber gloves, the woman of the Fifties has become a cultural symbol of all that we are most grateful to have sloughed off. But what if there was another side to the story? In Her Brilliant Career, Rachel Cooke tells the story of ten extraordinary women whose pioneering professional lives - and complicated private lives - paved the way for future generations.

Will and Flo Sutherland have found themselves, and each other, in colonial India, but as the war and the age of empire draws to a close, they make their way back to England. There, they and their young family attempt to fashion a new life for themselves in rural Devon, but managing a farm proves harsher than anticipated. Through all the misunderstandings and heartache, this less-than-perfect family remain committed to one another above all things.

Madison Albi is a scientist with a very special talent - for reading minds. When she stumbles across a homeless man with whom she feels an inexplicable connection, she can't resist the dangerous impulse to use her skills to help him. But as she delves deeper into J’s mind, it becomes clear that some secrets are better off staying hidden. Is J really the man Madison believes him to be?

When Janine and Dougie fell in love they thought it would be forever. Fifteen years later their daughter, Stevie, is their one remaining connection. At 16, Stevie’s not quite a child, not quite grown up: a dangerous age. But it's only during a birthday celebration in Spain, when she gets too close to one of Dougie's best friends, that her parents realise just how dangerous.

A Richard and Judy recommendation for the 2012 Summer Book Club, this is a brilliant Gothic novel in the vein of Daphne du Maurier. A chance encounter: When Sarah meets dark, brooding Alex, she grasps his offer of a new life miles away from her own. They've both recently escaped broken...

Meet Nell Wingfield, a gutsy young print-maker supplying satirical pamphlets to 1820s London. Distraught after her mother's death, Nell is duped into working at one of the 'Houses of the Quality', the brothels on St James's, where she finds herself turning tricks with men at the heart of the English establishment. But when one of them is murdered in his bed, it is time for Nell to flee.

As the Easter weekend approaches, feline detectives Hettie Bagshot and Tilly Jenkins are called to investigate the murder of local radio DJ Hartley Battenberg. Bowled over by the prospect of a bake-off competition, a cricket match and an outdoor screening of The Sound of Music, Hettie and Tilly struggle through a sea of trifle to catch out a killer.

The fifteenth title in Mandy Morton's delightful No. 2 Feline Detective Agency series.

During a routine welfare check, the police find local shop owner Mr. Fitzgerald at the foot of his stairs, dead. As the town mourns Mr. Fitzgerald's death as an unfortunate accident, Margery and Clementine cannot shake the sense that there is something suspicious about the scene. They are convinced this was no accident. But why would anybody want to harm an elderly shopkeeper? And with the culprit still at large, and determined to cover their tracks, can they get to the bottom of the case before there is another victim?

Faced with an increasing body count, our feline detectives sharpen their claws and set out to catch a serial killer. Did Pomadora Moseley really murder her family on the rollercoaster at Butlins? Is Clara Toddlebury's Country Dance Class under threat? And why does Mr Whisker lock himself in his headmaster's study?

‘Fabulous’ – Daily Mail ‘Beautifully written, dark, twisted and often funny’ – Charlotte Levin ‘Dark and twisted, comic and toxic. I loved it!’ – Jenny Colgan ‘A witty exploration of humanity’ – People's Friend Ruth and Muriel are best friends. And often, worst enemies...

Brought to you by Penguin. Discover the uplifting story with a uniquely loveable protagonist, perfect for fans of The List of Suspicious Things, Elizabeth is Missing, and Dear Mrs Bird. Florence Butterfield has a secret. She's kept it for 70 years. She's travelled the world, fallen in love, and...

The truth isn't the only thing that's dead and buried... Following recent changes to Dewstow's local police force, The Dinner Lady Detectives, Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker have been warned off interfering in investigations. When a body is found under the school playground during building renovations, they have no intention of getting involved. In need of money for their new website, the pair agrees to help Mrs Redburn, who suspects her husband of infidelity. But when their investigation sends them stumbling into the middle of the playground mystery, it becomes impossible for them to stay out of the police's way.

When dinner ladies and amateur sleuths Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker embark on an evening walk after another busy half-term at Summerview Secondary School, they discover the body of missing maths teacher Mr Weaver.

In Regency England, twenty-seven-year-old Leonora Appleby is considered by many – herself included – to be beyond her most eligible marrying years. With her childhood home, Hasterleigh Manor, soon to be taken over by the heir to the land, George Lockwood, Leonora has happily resigned herself to a quiet life as a country Miss. But life has a way of springing surprises and the return of the brooding war hero Earl Rokeby, presumed dead on the French battlefields, to the magnificent neighbouring Rokeby Abbey has the village atwitter with speculation.

July 1948: As Britain recovers from WWII, Annie Royal is looking to the future. Recently married to Henry, and with a baby on the way, she and her new husband are happily settled in the seaside town of Worthing. But a knock at the door brings Annie's world crashing down. On her doorstep stands Sarah and her two young children. As they talk, Sarah reveals that she is Henry's wife - and she has been searching for him since he walked out on their family a year ago.

When the Titanic sank, so did the Edwardian age that created it. In this brilliantly original history, Gareth Russell recasts a tragedy we think we know to explore an era of seismic change. With new research and previously unseen first-hand accounts, Gareth Russell peers through the most famous...