Showing results by narrator "Diana Bishop" in All Categories

Katherine comes to the court of Edward III at the age of 15. The naïve convent-educated orphan of a penniless knight is dazzled by the jousts and the entertainments of court. Nevertheless, Katherine is beautiful, and she turns the head of the King's favourite son John of Gaunt. But he is married, and she is soon to be betrothed. A few years later their paths cross again and this time their passion for each other cannot be denied or suppressed.

The first of the classic mysteries featuring governess-turned-detective Miss Silver, who investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring. Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.

Tilling Green was a charming little village nestling in the Ledshire countryside. Not at all the sort of place you would expect to find an anonymous letter writer. And when one of the recipients, a young woman, was found drowned in the lake belonging to the Manor House, Miss Silver was persuaded to go and investigate. Valentine Grey was marrying one Gilbert Earle, but on the night of Valentine's pre-wedding party Jason Leigh, Valentine's former love, returned after months without a word.

Edward Random returns to Deeping a forgotten man. Although raised in the village's manor house, he is no longer wealthy - the result of a quarrel with an uncle, which left him out of the old man's will. For years Edward's name has not been spoken in the town, save for wild rumors that he had gone to prison for dueling, decamped to the Orient, or simply died of mysterious circumstances. In fact he is in good health, ready to start life where he left off, money or no money.

Bill Waring went to America with a bright future ahead of him. In London, he had a promising career and the love of a young beauty, Lila Dryden, and there were plans for marriage when he returned from overseas. But then a freak train accident puts their happiness on hold. Bill spends a month in the hospital, and when he finally makes it back to London, there is a still bigger shock awaiting him. Under pressure from a domineering aunt, Lila has become engaged to another.

The citizens of Melling are perfectly ordinary—exactly the sort one finds in just about every cozy English village—and to a certain person they might even appear boring. But to Miss Silver, people are always interesting. It has been some years since she gave up work as a governess to become a detective, and her interest in people has served her well. She comes to Melling on vacation—a long postponed visit to an old school chum—but Miss Silver’s business is murder, and her vacations never last long.

James and Carmona Hardwick are spending the summer playing host to numerous friends and relatives in an old Hardwick family residence by the sea. The arrival of Alan Field, a devastatingly handsome though shady figure from Carmona's past, destroys the holiday atmosphere in the old house and replaces it with a mounting tension, culminating in murder. Fortunately, Miss Silver is present to unravel the complex mystery and seek out the murderer amongst them.

Althea Graham's hypochondriac mother seldom visits the gazebo - yet she is found dead in it one morning. The Graham estate had once enjoyed a rural view, but now the grounds are part of suburban London and the gazebo is an anachronistic summerhouse. Scotland Yard becomes suspicious of Althea and her fiancé, the dashing foreign correspondent Nicholas Carey, because the death of her mother frees them to be married at last.

Who was William Smith? And why was Mavis Jones so horrified to see him? For seven years William had worked as a woodcarver for the local toyshop, ignorant of his true identity. The war had robbed him of his memory, and no one expected him to ever find the answer. So when he took his work to Evesleys Ltd, why was his life instantly in danger? When William makes the frightening discovery that there are people determined not to let his memory return whatever the cost, Miss Silver is called in to investigate.

The Everton murder case has long been closed. The culprit has been charged with the murder of his uncle and has served a year of his sentence already. Or has he? The evidence against Geoffrey Grey is convincing but his wife believes in his innocence. And so does her young cousin, Hilary, who decides to solve the mystery herself. But when Hilary herself is nearly murdered she turns in desperation to her ex-fiancé for help. He calls upon the services of Miss Silver to help solve another mystery, which she does in her own original style.

The New York Times–bestselling author delivers the third red-hot novel starring the Crystal women. “Full of drama, scandal … Readers will be hooked.”—RT Book Reviews Now that she’s happily married-for-security, there’s nothing Mercedes Crystal won’t do to hold on to what she’s...

When Josie Welford settles in the idyllic West Country village of Kings Duncombe, she honestly believes she can bury her past. The widow of one of Britain’s most wanted criminals, she knows what it’s like to be an outsider and fervently wishes for a fresh start in life. But she soon finds herself on the wrong side of the locals and she begins to wonder just how far their threats will go... A feisty and highly likeable character, Josie leads the listener through a tantalizingly twisted murder mystery to a deliciously rich ending.

Rachel Traherne does not want to meet Maud Silver. She does not want to tell her that someone has threatened her life, because she does not want that dreadful fact to be true. But see Miss Silver she must, for the stout, old-fashioned detective is the only person in London who may be able to keep her safe. Rachel has been receiving threatening letters about her deceased father's fortune. The first two letters were vague; the third said simply, "Get ready to die."

Antonia Weston has come to the sleepy market town of Amberwood in search of peace and anonymity after a shattering and all-too public tragedy in her life. Shortly after her arrival, a series of disturbing incidents occur eerily echoing the past she is trying to forget. She becomes fascinated by the macabre local history surrounding the disused watermill, Twygrist, and the now vanished Latchkill Asylum.

The collected BBC Radio 4 crime dramas featuring Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor Like his actor namesake, Ronald Coleman is a suave, well-spoken English gentleman. But although he's a movie buff, Coleman is no film star - he's a copper, and a Detective Inspector to boot. Together with his...

Mr and Mrs Bigsby of the Pig and Whistle, Stoke Newington, already look after 10 children. When Constable O'Drowd brings them an 11th orphan found on the streets, Ma Bigsby is reluctant to take her. But there's something about Elfie, it's the first day of a new century and Ma loves a mystery. Just why does Elifie possess a little watercolour of the Pig and Whistle? As the mystery unfolds, Elfie's world will change completely.

Alice Baxter knows the best things in life are free. But the approach of her 40th wedding anniversary and 60th birthday surely warrants a proper celebration. With visions of a glorious family gathering complete with a marquee, champagne and sunshine, Alice has big plans for the big day. Her husband David isn't so enthused. He seems to have lost his lust for life since retiring from his job. And he's not the only one who isn't in the mood to celebrate. Each of Alice and David's four grown-up children has their own problems to contend with.

In The Pattern in the Carpet, Margaret Drabble tells the history of the jigsaw, a uniquely British form of meditation, from its earliest incarnation as a teaching tool to the extraordinary variety of cut-outs that have continued to amuse children and adults until the present.

DCS Fran Harman's relationship with Assistant Chief Constable Mark Turner is going well and they are buying a house together. At work, a former protégé, Simon Gates, has just become her new boss. But there are complications with Simon and with Mark's daughter. Even the environment is hostile, the water in Fran's village tainted by something in the local reservoir. Some good old-fashioned detective work seems a useful antidote.

When a colleague becomes seriously ill, Chief Superintendent Frances Harman delays her retirement to oversee an investigation into a recent spate of "happy slappings". Initially, she takes a back seat, but it is not long before she is close to the action again.