Showing results by narrator "Julia Barrie" in All Categories

Childhood sweethearts Matthew and Katy agree they must never see each other again after they end up in bed together following a school re-union. So all is forgotten... until eight months later when a shock meeting at an antenatal class forces them to confront the fact that Matthew could be the father of Katy's baby…

A man lies dying in a hospital in upstate Vermont. The nurses know only that he is an academic at a nearby university, but they have been instructed to call the FBI should anyone visit their patient. News of this suspected Russian illegal soon reaches MI5, where Liz Carlyle has been contacted by Mischa, a top secret source who is requesting a clandestine rendezvous in Berlin.

Dante D'Arezzo is the last person famous songwriter Justina Perry wants to see at her best friend's wedding. The wickedly sexy Italian is ruthless to the core. He broke her heart once; she won't surrender to his insatiable desire again. But when Justina's pregnancy hits the front page, Dante knows he's the father. This Italian will claim his heir and - if he wants her - a wife!

Karin Müller of the German Democratic Republic's People's Police is called to a factory in the east of the country. A man has been murdered - bound and trapped as a fire burned nearby, slowly suffocating him. Could his murderer simply be someone with a grudge against the factory's nationalisation, as Müller's Stasi colleagues insist? Why too is her deputy Werner Tilsner behaving so strangely? As more victims surface, it becomes clear that there is a cold-blooded killer out there taking their revenge.

East Berlin, 1975: When Oberleutnant Karin Müller is called to investigate a girl's body at the foot of the wall, she realises this is a death like no other. It seems the girl was trying to escape - but from the West. The Stasi want her to discover the identity of the girl but assure Müller the case is otherwise closed. This is not a regime that tolerates a curious mind, and Müller doesn't realise that the trail she's following will lead her dangerously close to home.

The body of a teenage boy is found weighted down in a lake. Karin Müller, newly appointed Major of the People's Police, is called to investigate. But her power will stretch only so far, when every move she makes is under the watchful eye of the Stasi. Then, when the son of Müller's team member goes missing, it quickly becomes clear that there is a terrifying conspiracy at the heart of this case.

Karin Müller, sidelined from the murder squad in Berlin, jumps at the chance to be sent south to Halle-Neustadt, where a pair of infant twins have gone missing. But Müller soon finds her problems have followed her to Halle-Neustadt. She and her team are forbidden by the Stasi from publicising the disappearances, lest they tarnish the town's image. Meanwhile, in the eerily nameless streets and tower blocks, a child snatcher lurks, and the clock is ticking to rescue the twins alive....

Ellie opens the door to a man who is a stranger but instantly recognisable as the father of her housekeeper's young son. Mikey had been conceived at a party during which his mother, Vera, a schoolgirl, had been drugged and raped. Abdi hadn't wanted anything to do with her, but now he is a consultant whose wife cannot have children, and he aims to pay off Vera and adopt Mikey. Ellie discovers that Vera still thinks fondly of her then boyfriend, even though he had also rejected her.

When Ellie Quicke's friend, Felicity, witnesses a Pitbull savage a young mother in the park, she goes into shock and calls on Ellie for help. Ellie's enquiries indicate that the dog and its owner are strangers to the neighbourhood, but soon there are other attacks...and after each one, the dog vanishes.

John Emmerson was a lonely man. He had a wife, a son, friends, but he was isolated from all the people and events around him by the tragedy of his past. Then he met Cissie, and for the first time his loneliness eased a little. Cissie was everything that his wife Ann was not. She was warm, compassionate and generous. And she was quick to sense the needs of a desolate unhappy man. But Cissie was also a young widow: poor, and with a young son to support. And John Emmerson was one of the town's leading solicitors - a man of importance whose every move was watched by the local dignitaries. . .

Teenager Sally has just run away from a clinic where she to be treated for anorexia. She's furious with everything and everyone, and wants to be left in peace. Liss is in her 40s, living alone on a large farm that she runs single-handedly. She has little contact with the outside world, and no need for other people. From their first meeting, Sally realises that Liss isn't like other adults: she expects nothing of Sally and simply accepts who she is, offering her a bed for the night with no questions asked.

1945. War has ended, but for sisters Isobel and Flora, the struggles still continue. They've lost their father, had their home destroyed in a bombing raid and now they must go to live with their aunt and her awful husband, Mr Godfrey, in their ancestral home of Splint Hall. From the moment of their arrival, it seems that this is a place shrouded in mysteries and secrets. Who are the strange men who arrive with packages at night? What is the source of the strange blue sparks coming from the ground? And why do the locals seem to hate their family so much?

Susan has been trying for a baby for years, and when a one-night stand makes her dream come true, she’ll do anything to ensure her husband doesn’t find out - including the unthinkable. Her secret is safe. For now. But as governments embark on a genetic arms race and children around the globe start experiencing a host of distressing symptoms, something truly horrendous is unleashed. Because those children have only one thing in common and people are starting to ask questions.

From the twice CWA Dagger shortlisted author of The Twelve Strange Days of Christmas come 12 never-before-published stories to transport you to the macabre world of inexplicable phenomena. With returning characters from the Essex Witch Museum series and a weirdly wonderful tale for each day of Christmas, these spooky stories are the perfect companion for long, dark winter nights.

When former high-powered lawyer turned PI Selma Falck is shot and her oldest friend, a junior MP, is killed in a sniper attack, everyone - including the police - assume that Selma was the prime target. But when two other people with connections to the MP are also found murdered, it becomes clear that there is a wider conspiracy at play. As Selma sets out to avenge her friend's death and discover the truth behind the conspiracy, her own life is threatened once again. Only this time, the danger may be closer to home than she could possibly have realised.

Secretly Rosie Strange has always thought herself a little bit more interesting than most people - the legacy her family has bequeathed her is definitely so, she's long believed. But then life takes a peculiar turn when the Strange legacy turns out not just to be the Essex Witch Museum, but perhaps some otherworldly gifts that Rosie finds difficult to fathom.

Flo and Max are stuck in the hugely popular Critter Clash, where teams of creatures battle to become champions in epic arenas. The two need their own players that they can coach to victory, but the game is about to start - and their options are limited. Will they be able to find a team powerful enough to defeat an impressive range of opponents and send the friends back to the real world?

Videogame-obsessed Flo and her best friend Max get more than they bargained for when they find themselves inside their favourite games! Crammed in a plane flying over the dramatic landscape of Last to Leave, Flo and Max get a shock as they are suddenly parachuted out. The game has begun! As they navigate challenging terrain and highly skilled players, they come face to face with an old enemy. With time running out, the friends have to decide who they can trust if they're going to make it to the end. Can they complete the game and get back home?

When her childhood best friend shows Ella that you can't always believe what you see, Ella finds herself thrown into the world of the German Resistance. On a dark night in 1941, Claudia is taken by the Gestapo, likely never to be seen again, unless Ella can save her. With the help of the man she loves, Ella must undertake her most dangerous mission yet and infiltrate the Nazi Party.

When 12-year-old Rhianna and her younger sister, Eleri, are thrown out of their home by their cruel stepmother, they must find food and shelter. Appealing to King Prasutagus in the name of the goddess Morrigan, they are rejected - but then Queen Boudica takes them into her household. As Rhianna settles into this new life, she learns that there's not only kindness in Boudica - there's a darkness waiting to be unleashed, and the Romans will suffer for their crimes against her. A great battle is looming....