Showing results by narrator "Diana Bishop" in All Categories

Sophie Rivers thinks she’s fallen on her feet when a temporary research post takes her to George Muntz College, just yards from her Birmingham home. Her new employer offers pleasant, even lavish, facilities and state-of-the-art equipment. Perhaps, though, all is not as comfortable as it seems, as Melina, a computer technician, may have been about to explain. For once Sophie doesn’t have time to listen. But when Melina is found dead, it’s soon clear that other people are keen to hear what Sophie herself has to say .

Sophie Rivers has left the turmoil of her inner-city college to take an MEd course at the University of the West Midlands. But she's getting nowhere with the group of South-East Asian students she's supposed to be helping. She confides in the excellent lecturer Carla Pentowski, but there's something strange about Carla's past - or lack of it. When some of her students start behaving oddly, Sophie talks to her old friend, Superintendent Chris Groom.

When a middle-aged woman enters Lina Townend's antiques shop wanting to sell a white Beswick china horse which she claims is a cherished heirloom, Lina's instincts tell her to avoid the sale. Suddenly, wherever she goes, Lina sees the supposedly rare white horses. Something strange is afoot. As she looks further into the matter, it turns out the horses are merely the tip of the iceberg. But Lina's investigations are attracting unwelcome attention.

Anna Farrier learns the hard way that in some careers, high-powered connections mean far more than actual talent. So, she becomes assistant to Cassandra Knight, an author of scorching blockbusters whose real forte is social climbing. Unfortunately, the ad Anna answered is Cassandra’s latest plan to bamboozle someone into becoming nanny to her son, Zak - a post no one in his or her right mind would want.

Meet Buffy. With three ex-wives, a failing career and only his dog, George, for company, Buffy's bachelorhood is looking worryingly confirmed. Until he meets Celeste. Dazzled by love, Buffy has no idea that Celeste is systematically researching his ex-wives, children, and step-children, and unearthing secrets that will change all their lives.

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.

Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned to investigate the case of a woman beaten into a coma. Elise has been in a coma for two years, and if the hospital switches off her life support now, her attacker will be guilty of murder. Fran faces overload as she takes on more responsibilities – her elderly parents, Elise, a child abduction, the disappearance of her only witness, and the growing affection that she and her long-time colleague Mark Turner seem to share for one another.

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.

Antiques dealer Lina Townend – bright, sharp, and pretty ���� is making a name for herself as a restorer, with a national reputation for honesty. So when she spots a dead body in a field, she calls the police – only for it to promptly vanish. And it seems that her luck has entirely deserted her when she’s accused of stealing two Anglo-Saxon rings, and no one seems to believe she’s innocent. So when her love life looks up, Lina’s delighted – and unprepared when things take a frightening turn for the worse…

When a child goes missing at the local tennis club on the same day that several skeletons are unearthed on a building site, Fran Harman’s caseload is heavier than ever. Enjoying a game of tennis when the girl disappeared, Fran's partner Mark blames himself for not keeping an eye on her. Sucked into the kind of desperate police search he thought he'd left behind on retirement, Mark enlists the help of his fellow Golden Oldies to find young Livvie before it's too late. Meanwhile, a further shocking discovery suggests that a serial killer may be lurking.

From the moment Lina Townend and Griff Tripp, set up their antiques stall at the weekend fair, Lina knows they’ve made a mistake. But Lina’s day is brightened when local director Emilia Cosworth begs Griff to take part in her latest play. Lina’s own good luck seems in short supply. Griff’s frequent rehearsals put strain on her relationship with DI Morris; a new antiques centre threatens their business; and Lina is visited by a man who wants her to work for him and seems disinclined to take no for an answer.

Lina Townend is making a name for herself as an antiques dealer, in partnership with her old friend, Griff Tripp. When she is accused of stealing an item she is selling for her father, the disreputable Lord Elham, her plight attracts the attention of Piers, a handsome fellow dealer. But is Piers all he seems? And what about the kindly policeman investigating the case? There’s only one person she can really trust – Griff. But when violence threatens him, Lina has a difficult decision to make.

Morning service in the quiet village church. Josie Welford, licensee of the White Hart, is daydreaming during Father Tim Martin’s sermon. The peace is shattered when a filthy Chinese youth flings himself into the church demanding sanctuary. The Church must decide whether to accede to a request that no long has legal standing or to hand Tang over to the authorities. Josie’s friend and long-term lodger, Nick Thomas, fears for the boy’s life.

Sophie Rivers is rightly proud of her cousin Andy, a famous rock’n’roll star. Andy has just renounced the excesses of the music business for a life of campaigning for good causes. So why would anyone want him dead? It all starts harmlessly enough: vandalism, graffiti…But when one of Andy’s roadies plunges to his death after swigging the singer’s drink, Sophie begins to fear for her cousin’s life. And then the killer, tired of being thwarted, turns his attentions to Sophie.

The last way antiques dealer Lina Townend wants to spend a summer’s afternoon is helping at a church fete. However, the vicar is an old friend so Lina ends up selling bric-a-brac. A harmless event turns into a crisis when someone tries to steal a tatty old snuff box from under her nose. Tatty it might be, but its valuable enough for the would-be thief to attack Griff, her business partner, to frame Lina for a crime she didn’t commit, and to kill and old friend. And maybe other people too.

For Sophie Rivers, tackling newly imposed profit margins and a disruptive Fundamentalist movement means that teaching comes low on the agenda. And when a young teacher dies, victim of a series of arson attacks at William Murdock College of Further Education, another teacher is attacked, and a women's safe hostel is razed to the ground, Sophie has more than school politics on her mind. Could these events be connected to the group of muggers she witnessed in action?