Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Homeless Bodies and Other Stories is an original fiction podcast featuring audio-exclusive short stories from award-winning authors and Sunday Times best-sellers, inspired by objects & artefacts from Wellcome Collection's permanent exhibition, 'Medicine Man', in London.

For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.

Holding the letter in trembling hands, Daisy’s future crumbled before her – the words engraved on her heart forever. The village of Little Creek, the long winter of 1867. The first flakes of snow are falling when Daisy Marshall, secretly engaged to her master's son, finds herself jilted at the altar. Heartbroken, Daisy flees to the small village of Little Creek, nestled on the coast of Essex. There she is warmly welcomed – but the village is poverty-stricken, suffering under a cruel lord of the manor. And when cholera hits, the villagers are truly in dire straits.

New Horizons for the Woolworths Girls is the emotional and hopeful finale to the beloved Woolworths Girls series by bestselling author Elaine Everest. There are fresh challenges and new beginnings on the horizon for the girls at Woolworths . . . When the Bexleyheath branch of F. W. Woolworths is...

Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'. She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was 'vanished' to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.

Jack Warr is a young DC with the Metropolitan Police. Charming but aimless, Jack can't seem to find his place in the world - until he's drawn into an investigation that turns his life upside down. In the aftermath of a fire at a derelict cottage, a badly charred body is discovered, along with the burnt remnants of millions of stolen, untraceable bank notes - the hidden legacy of Dolly Rawlins and her gang of Widows. Jack's assignment to the case coincides with an investigation into his own past.

When 73-year-old Jen announces that she is going to marry Eddie, a man she met just a few months previously on a beach on Boxing Day, her four best friends from aqua aerobics are flabbergasted. The wedding is booked and, when the groom decides to have a stag trip to Las Vegas, the ladies arrange a hen party to beat all others - a week in the city of love, Paris.

Billy Murphy built his empire on loyalty, strategy, and power, while Jesse Murphy built his career by enforcing the law. Two brothers, two sides, one war, from which neither can escape. Kenny Ruck is out of prison and out for revenge. His target? Cas Ferrier, Billy’s closest ally. But the real threat isn’t Ruck. It’s the Shipley family. They need Jesse to bury evidence in a murder case, and yet they know he can’t be bought. There is one Shipley who Dottie could never forget–Candice. Now she’s back...and she’s the head of the hydra.

Orphaned at a young age, Rose Hamilton can barely remember a mother’s warmth or a father’s protection. Instead, she has endured the cold, loveless rule of her embittered Aunt Win, a woman who seems to take pleasure in making Rose’s life as difficult as possible. The only comfort Rose has ever known comes from the loyal household staff—Jackson, the butler, Mary, the cook, and Katy, the housemaid—who have become the family she never had.

Georgie Deacon thinks nothing of it when a gang of girls led by Yasmin, a member of the notorious Marx family, knock at her door and threaten to hurt her daughter—that is until her daughter doesn't return home. Detective Clark Kims ignores Georgie's plea to have the gang of girls brought in for questioning. He insists it is the work of the Kent serial killer, until Georgie realizes that the detective's daughter is part of the gang.

Samantha Reynold and Seb Stoker are looking forward to the future together. With all the recent trials and tribulations from the past seemingly over, their new life together looks brighter than ever…or does it? Because unbeknownst to them both, danger is circling. Marina Devlin wants to destroy her sister Samantha once and for all and will stop at nothing to have her revenge. And judgement day is looming. In this final encounter…only one can survive.

London, 1941. Keen to do her bit in the war, Connie Allinson joins the WRNS and is posted as a letter censor. Her task: to read and alter correspondence to ensure no sensitive information crosses enemy lines. At first, she is not sure she's up to it, but is soon drawn in by the letters she reads, and their secret... Doncaster, 1967. Bored of her domestic life, Connie wants a job, but her controlling husband Arthur won't hear of it. Looking for an escape and plagued by memories of letters she read during the war, she makes a bid for freedom and starts secretly tracking down their authors.

After the brutal gangland murder of her husband Terry, Tracey Tempest just wants to move on. She’ll never get over Terry’s betrayal, but she’s determined his shady past won’t spoil life for her and her beloved boys Ricky and Jamie. Max Hardcastle just wants a quiet life and to maybe see how things go between him and Tracey. He knows she’s been hurt in the past, but he’s nothing like Terry and he’ll do anything to keep Tracey happy and safe. But some people have other ideas.

Born into poverty and hardship, Ruby Skinner's decision to approach the unscrupulous East End villain, Donald McCoy, for help, ends in disaster. In a desperate bid to move her ailing mother to the fresh air of the countryside, she realises that she has made a huge mistake, which will shape the rest of her life. Robert Thornton, a wealthy business man, also had the misfortune of suffering from the under hand dealings with McCoy, and when curiosity forces him to pursue Ruby Skinner, the barriers which divide the social classes of the 19th century are put to test by the power of love.

Everything has finally fallen into place for Renee. So when vicar Roger asks her to support a new dance hall, it should be a great way to give back to the community. Except Renee has a terrible secret she is holding onto. One that Roger can never know about. Nancy will keep Renee's secret. But she's got her own problems: handsome GI Jack has turned her head, and the American soldiers are causing a stir. Temperance has made a new friend - but now that she has someone who can understand the challenges she faces, will her relationship with Archie survive?

When 12 year-old Jared Johnson’s little sister dies, just hours after his mother breathes her last after wasting away so her children could eat, he knows he is on own. Desperate to avoid the workhouse, he does everything he can to survive the inhospitable streets of Birmingham. Jared is blessed with the gift of the gab and soon attracts the attention of the King of the Tatters, Toby McGuire. Recognising a kindred spirit, Toby soon has Jared out on a cart hustling for rags.

Interior designer Kat is broke and desperately needs this commission restoring the Edwardian mansion of Fownhope Priors, but her employer Scott's wife and mother-in-law are a nightmare. Yet when they are killed in suspicious circumstances, and she is the last person to see him, she can't help but be drawn in to the family's feuds. Where has Scott Hawkesmoor vanished to? Is it back to Yorkshire where his wife and mother-in-law died? Or is it somewhere far stranger? And how can she ever explain it to anyone–especially the police–let alone how she knows?

When genealogist Cleo is asked to investigate the family of Upper Moore House as a favor to her estate agent friend, it's a different commission to the ones she's used to. And right from the start she feels there's something not quite right about Mrs. Darcy D'Eath Wytcombe. What is Mrs. Wytcome's real motive for digging so deep into her late husband's family? What secrets does she think Cleo will uncover? And is she prepared for what else might be revealed?

With his once thriving casino business now in ruins, Seb Stoker is certain about two things: One – he will rebuild bigger and better than ever. And two – someone will pay for torching his club. But until that day comes, Seb has bigger things to worry about and a business deal that could make or break them all. Sam Reynold knows Seb is out for revenge, and she’ll do anything she can to help him. But Sam has her own enemies and battles to fight – ones much closer to home. With pressure mounting for both of them, tensions run high.

Clara Fitzroy refuses to conform to convention. Her reckless behaviour has devastating consequences and an ill-judged liaison threatens to destroy everything she's hoped for. Clara has to make a decision that will change her life. Will she make the right one? She asks Daisy Carter, the hotel housekeeper, for help, but Daisy has problems of her own. A family relationship brings grief and heartache and a well meaning action ends in disaster. A life-changing moment, a heartbreaking choice.