Showing results by narrator "Polly Edsell" in All Categories

When seemingly fragile Miss Ivy Cavendale takes the headmistress position in an orphanage, it is her chance to stay anonymous in society. But not all is what it seems with Miss Ivy. When an intruder breaks in one night, she’s quick to draw her weapon, and while fear—her constant companion—has mysteriously disappeared, one thing is very clear: she and her charges are the next target of The Devil’s Sons.

Lizzie has been in love with her colleague Dean for three years but he’s never given her a second glance. When a job offer in London promises to launch her art career, she finally feels ready to upend her life in pursuit of her dream…until the night of the office Christmas party when Dean confesses his love for someone else—Rebecca, one of Lizzie’s closest friends. A few days later, the police show up on her doorstep. Rebecca is missing.

Don't miss the sixth instalment in the Maisie Cooper Mystery Series, Murder at the Wedding, available to pre-order now! Maisie Cooper is ready to tie the knot... but first she needs to untangle one last mystery... Amateur sleuth Maisie Cooper is busy planning her wedding to police officer Jack...

Caught between spells and savage beasts, Cordelia Levine must unravel the secrets of her dual heritage—half witch, half werewolf—and face her desire for the one creature who holds her future in his hands. Cordelia Levine, a twenty-three-year-old witch hidden in the human world, leads a quiet...

Maisie Cooper is looking for peace and quiet. But the arrival of a troupe of actors for a new production at the local theatre turn her best laid plans upside down. Among them is the young French actress, Adélaïde Amour, who appeals to Maisie for help as she struggles to prepare for her new role. As opening night approaches, a terrible crime is committed, and a body is found concealed behind the scenes in the theatre. Can Maisie unravel a real-life plot worth of a great play? Or will the killer strike again?

1469. For almost ten years, Edward IV has ruled with the Earl of Warwick's support, but now rebellion threatens the fragile peace. Heiress Isobel Fenton is determined not to be separated from her beloved manor of Beaumancote. But as unseen witness to a summary execution, she is propelled into the world of personal feud and national politics. She's left in the protection of the formidable Earl, who has begun to foment rebellion, but is set to marry his enemy's heir, Thomas Lacey.

July 1923 - Iris Woodmore travels to Devon with her friends Percy Baverstock and Millicent Nightingale for her father’s wedding to Katherine Keats. But when Millicent uncovers skeletal remains hidden on the private beach of Katherine’s former home, Iris begins to suspect her future stepmother is not what she seems. The police reveal the dead man is a smuggler who went missing in 1918, and when a new murder occurs, they realise a killer is in their midst. The link between both murders is Katherine. Could Iris’s own father be in danger?

Rome, 1938. As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife. On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante's young daughter. Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past - secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.

Reporter Iris Woodmore plans to move to London to avoid a shocking hometown scandal. Longtime enemy Archie Powell has been threatening to reveal her darkest secret – and she’s desperate to flee before he does. But when he’s found murdered after a violent argument with her, there’s no escape. Iris must stay and clear her name even though the truth could ruin her reputation. With the police closing in, Iris has to find the real killer if she’s to keep her secret. Can she prove her innocence without revealing the identity of the one man who can provide her with an alibi?

With Mulberry Lane's favourite pub, The Pig & Whistle undergoing renovation, proprietors Peggy and Able Ronoscki leave the chaos behind and head off on a trip of a lifetime to America. But disaster hits and Peggy finds herself in a critical condition in hospital. Meanwhile, business is booming for young entrepreneurs Fay Ronoscki and Maggie Rowan with their new restaurant and catering empire. Neither has time for love. But when fate throws a famous global singing sensation and glamourous racing car driver into their paths, falling in love with Jace and Greg seems beyond their control.

London 1958. Life has moved on since the war, and the youngsters of Mulberry Lane are growing up fast. Peggy’s Ronaski’s family is struggling with growing pains, but she is always there, strong, reliable and ready to help whenever a crisis hits. Meanwhile, Maureen Hart has family problems of her own to contend with. Together they will work hard to conquer all of what life has to throw at them.

Brussels, April 1915. A beautiful young woman finds herself on the run from the enemy. Also being pursued is Ned Scott, a British army major who has been badly injured. The pair find themselves at a hospital run by the famous Edith Cavell, who agrees to treat the major while offering them both refuge and a false identity - she names the young girl Anna.

It’s 1922, and after spending a year travelling through Europe, Iris Woodmore returns home to find a changed Walden. Wealthy businesswoman Constance Timpson has introduced equal pay in her factories and allows women to retain their jobs after they marry. But these radical new working practices have made her deadly enemies. A mysterious sniper fires a single shot at Constance – is it a warning, or did they shoot to kill? When one of her female employees is murdered, it’s clear the threat is all too real – and it’s not just Constance in danger.

As a daughter of the notorious Wyverne family, Lady Amelia is used to being the subject of gossip. But while she has accepted her marred reputation – however unfair it is – she hates the horrible men it attracts. Amelia decides she needs a suitor of impeccable repute to save her from the attentions of ungentlemanly gentlemen, and who better than the handsome and famously moral Lord Thornfalcon? Since coming into his title, ‘Thorn’ has been besieged by women who want to marry him, or have an affair with him, or both – so perhaps a pretend relationship might suit him too?

In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner, Marianne, moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers. Her smile is bright and sparkling, her welcome cordial. Nobody would guess the hatred she hides in her heart. That night, the restaurant closes its doors for the final time.

'Pemberley, murder, hilarity and a romance to span the ages . . . This is the perfect book to unwind with' – Rachel Wolf, author of Five Nights Cosy, quirky and utterly enthralling, A Crime Through Time is the debut from Amelia Blackwell – the start of a series where crime, time travel and...

Paris, 1720. The Hospice of La Salpêtrière is overrun with 'difficult' women. Halfway around the world, on the American frontier, French settlers are in want of wives. At the asylum, a list is drawn up: eighty-eight women of childbearing age to be shipped to New Orleans. Among them are Charlotte, Geneviève and Pétronille - a sharp-tongued orphan, an accused abortionist and a rumoured madwoman. They make the voyage over the ocean, knowing nothing of the harsh and extraordinary lives that await them, or how they will come to love and betray each other time and again in this wild land.

When Iris Woodmore visits Winchester for their annual pantomime, murder is the last thing she expects to find. And there seems to be no valid reason as to why anyone would want to hurt lead actress, Rachel Lacey – kind and philanthropic, she organized the Christmas performance to raise funds for the Winchester Cathedral Great War Fund. Determined to uncover the sinister forces at play, Iris and her dear friend Percy embark on a perilous journey through the snow-lined streets of Winchester, where secrets lurk around every corner and danger looms in the shadows.

When the young, beautiful Mademoiselle de Chartres comes to court, her primary objective is to find herself a husband. Upon her mother's recommendation, she accepts the advances of the Prince de Clèves, a rather average sort of a man. Unfortunately, soon after the wedding she finds herself to be in love with the dashing Duc de Nemours.... Against a backdrop of labyrinthine court politics, the naïve Madame de Clèves' pursuit of true love is a riveting and timelessly tragic tale.

Rebecca hasn't seen her father, Leo, since she was six. Her family never talk about him, and she has long since pushed him firmly to the back of her mind. All she knows is that once upon a time, he was a well-loved children's TV star. But when a journalist turns up uninvited at her office, asking questions about her once-famous father, Rebecca starts to wonder whether there is more to Leo's absence than she realised. Then, looking for answers, she unearths a book of fairy tales written by Leo and dedicated to her - but what use are children's stories to her now, all these years later.