Showing results by narrator "Clare Clare" in All Categories

On a sullen, cloudy July day ten years since 7/7, the happy, confident and optimistic British Prime Minister is visiting a charity in East London. It's just two months after the general election which saw John Campbell's government returned to power with a clear majority, the economy is on the mend and the coalition is fast becoming a bad memory. Suddenly, a man appears out of the crowd and shoots him three times in the chest.

Detective Lauren Pengelly has only been part of the Penzance police force for less than two years, but that’s enough time to know that the sleepy Cornish town doesn’t see many murders. So, when the bones of a woman with a hole in her skull are discovered behind a derelict cottage, she immediately assumes the worst. Rallying her team, Lauren is flooded with a strange sense of relief when the bones turn out to be almost twenty years old, not a recent victim. But it quickly turns to dread when she receives her second heart-stopping call of the day–a little girl, Isla, has been kidnapped.

Detective Lauren Pengelly and her partner Matt Price are called to investigate a grisly murder outside Penzance. They quickly identify the victim as Carmel Driscoll, a former police officer, and find a cryptic note reading “Ten Green Bottles” next to her body–words from an old English nursery rhyme. When a second former officer is found murdered with the note “Nine Green Bottles” nearby, Lauren and Matt realise they could be dealing with a serial killer.

Every day I walk up the driveway to this gorgeous house and through the window I see the picture-perfect family: a husband and wife playing with their two adorable children. They think I’m just the delivery driver–a woman who is only here to drop the expensive packages that Sadie Hunt orders. They have no idea who I really am… Sadie pretends to be the perfect wife and mother, but the truth is that her life is spiralling out of control. I notice the cold stares she gives her husband and the way he always tries to make her smile.

Is your husband so horrible that you’d ask your best friend to kill him? Penny: I know my husband has cheated on me. But I can’t believe what I just found in the bedside drawer. Are my children safe... ? Lisa: The first time he did it was on our wedding anniversary. He broke down in tears afterwards. That’s the thing about Simon. He’s always sorry... until the next time. Holly: My husband is useless. He just loafs around the house all day and spends my money. But now I think he’s done something far worse.

DS Whitney Walker wants a promotion, but it’s hard when she’s trying to balance motherhood with a career. When a newborn baby is kidnapped from the local hospital, she draws on her skills as a mother to help. Despite being ordered not to, and when the leads are going nowhere, Walker enlists the help of a local journalist who’s convinced it’s the work of an international baby smuggling ring. Walker’s plan backfires and she fears they’re running out of time.

It started out as a party: six little girls gliding and giggling at the ice rink to celebrate Natalie’s daughter’s eighth birthday. But by Natalie’s next head count, it’s turned into a crime scene. Six children went onto the ice—and now there are just five. Nobody saw her niece, Elle, being taken. Nobody saw the person in a cartoon costume lure her quietly away. Traumatised by what happened on her watch, Natalie spends the next decade supporting her sister, Jo, as the years since Elle’s abduction tick by.

Meet Lady Toad, Mistress Badger, Miss Water Rat and Mrs Mole as they go about their adventures, messing around on the river, gallivanting in Lady Toad’s shiny new toy and fighting valiantly to save Toad Hall from unruly squatters. In this retelling by Dina Gregory, The Wind in the Willows becomes a story about a group of female animals to be admired for their close sisterhood and fierce independence. Featuring original music and songs by Rosabella Gregory and sound effects captured on location, put your headphones on, sit back and lose yourself in the British countryside.

In the picturesque seaside town of St Ives, Detective Sergeant Sophie Keane is a pillar of the community. Between the occasional collar and lazy weekends spent on the beach, it seems a perfect life. But for Sophie, the golden sands and crystal waters hide a dark secret, one that’s lain buried for twenty years. When a body turns up on the opening night of a glittering new art gallery on the seafront, the town is left shaken—especially Sophie, who recognises the killer’s style but knows that what she fears just couldn’t be possible.

Marnie Blue returns for another exciting year at Lady Sealia Foam's Mermaid School! This time, Marnie and her friends are gearing up to compete in the Golden Glory Day competition - a series of events that includes a fishball tournament, an obstacle course and a seahorse race. In the past, the winner would receive the Golden Days Crown - but the crown went missing years ago, back when Marnie's aunt Christabel was still in school. But Marnie is determined to find the crown and swim to the rescue!

As the sun rises over a picturesque Cornish beach, Detective Lauren Pengelly makes a grim discovery while walking her border collies. A newly engaged couple lie dead in the sand. At first glance, it appears to be a tragic double suicide. But something doesn’t add up. The victims—popular university students Jasmine and Finley—seemed to have it all. But as Lauren digs deeper, she and her partner Matt Price unravel a complex web of secrets and lies. Finley’s gambling addiction was threatening to ruin everything, and Jasmine had an unwanted admirer.

As the sun sets into the sea over the pretty Cornish town of St Ives, a young woman, Freya Kempston, hasn’t returned home after a day out in the mall at St Austell. Panicking, her husband begs Detective Lauren Pengelly and her team to find her. Has Freya run out on her stable, loving marriage, or has something more sinister taken place? Grainy security footage from the mall provides the first break in the case—capturing Freya talking intently with a well-known local mechanic on the day she disappeared. But when cornered, the mechanic denies even knowing her.

Jack loves his childhood toy Dur Pig. DP has always been there for him, through good and bad. Until one Christmas Eve something terrible happens - DP is lost. But Christmas Eve is a night for miracles and lost causes, a night when all things can come to life...even toys. And Jack’s newest toy - the Christmas Pig (DP’s annoying replacement) - has a daring plan: Together they’ll embark on a magical journey to seek something lost and to save the best friend Jack has ever known....

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A lasting work of social history’ THE TIMES ‘A genuinely new history of our nation’ DAN JONES ‘This celebration of women is a triumph of popular history’ SPECTATOR FROM THE MULTI-MILLION BESTSELLING HISTORICAL NOVELIST COMES THE CULMINATION OF HER...

I stare at the photograph. It was taken on an ordinary day at the park. The four of us look so happy–our smiles wide and cheeks rosy. But just a month after this image was taken, I lost everything. I’m watching them now, walking in the park together: my handsome husband, my beautiful daughter and my adorable son. They’re with her. She’s playing happy families with my loved ones. She stole them from me. She thinks she’s got rid of me. But I’m going to get my family back. And I’m going to get revenge…

When an esteemed criminology professor is found lifeless at an international conference, it's up to DCI Whitney Walker and forensic psychologist Dr. Georgina Cavendish to unravel the mystery. The professor had unveiled Death's Shadow—a ground-breaking but unsettling theory that could redefine the understanding of serial killers. The theory captivated yet unnerved scholars, leaving a lingering air of dread within the conference halls. When another delegate meets a gruesome end, it becomes horrifyingly clear: the conference has become a hunting ground.

Puffin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop, written and read by Clare Balding. Charlie Bass is a horse-mad nine-year-old who dreams of owning her own pony. So when her eccentric parents announce that they are going to buy a racehorse...

‘A new Lucy Diamond book is one of the happiest highlights of my calendar’ Katie Fforde It’s a beautiful day in Manchester and four friends are meeting for a birthday lunch. But then they witness a shocking accident just metres away, which acts as a catalyst for each of them. For Laura...

THE THIRD AND FINAL THRILLING BOOK IN THE BESTSELLING AND AWARD-WINNING A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER TRILOGY. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is The New York Times No.1 bestselling YA crime thriller Pip Fitz-Amobi is haunted by the way her last investigation ended. Soon she’ll be leaving for...

An Amazon Best Books of 2026 So Far Pick! Five passengers. Five minutes until the next train … five minutes until someone dies. ‘Will have you glued to the page … guaranteed to shock and entertain’ The Times ‘Ridiculously good … darkly thrilling and unforgettable’ Chris Whitaker...