Showing results by narrator "Patricia Gallimore" in All Categories

For the record, the word "parlour" is not used, nor is the relatively recent insidious "lounge", except about airports, hotels and liners.' 'Boys should be taught at a very early age - six or seven - to say "Sir" to an older man.' 'When there are servants, the plates for the first course are never put on the table until everyone is seated.''I cannot stress too often that on every formal occasion, whether it is Luncheon, a Bazaar or a Meeting, a hat should be worn.'

One should never meddle in the affairs of dragons, but someone has been doing just that. They've been making imitation dragon scale baubles that are nothing short of lethal, and kidnapping delivery drivers all over the Yorkshire Dales. They've also been leaving behind some distinctly dragon-ish traces. Beaufort Scales, High Lord of the Cloverly Dragons, is hot on the trail—or would be, if he wasn't having political problems at home.

1933. Tessa and Frederica Nicolson enjoy one last idyllic summer at the beautiful Villa Millefiore, overlooking Florence. Four years later, Italy is a distant memory and Tessa is revelling in the glamour and excitement of modelling in London, until a passionate affair with married author Milo Rycroft leads to tragic consequences. Tessa returns to Florence, and, missing her sister desperately, Freddie, too, travels to Italy, where she is swept up in adventure, danger and romance and makes a chance encounter that will change her life.

For the past 13 years, as England became an increasingly unhappy and fearful place, Prince Charles has been living quietly on a bleak council estate with his wife and love of his life, Camilla. He enjoys gardening and poultry keeping while Camilla spends her days doing as little as possible. But life is about to change.

Warring staff. 'Accidental' poisonings. Topiary of dubious intent. Throw in the full complement of the Toot Hansell Women's Institute and dragons doing yoga, and DI Adams is starting to wonder if she might have made a small misjudgement signing up for this particular spa weekend. And that's before the dead body in the sauna and the storm that cuts them off from the rest of the world. Now she's dealing with a houseful of guests (and staff) who're looking more suspicious by the moment, fending off protesters, and trying to keep everyone safe as the storm closes in.

Lizzie Kershaw is an independent spirit; ever since her father's death she has had to be a survivor. Home life is harsh, though, and desperate to escape it, she makes an ill-advised marriage. But she discovers that she's married a selfish and violent man. His beatings never seem to stop, and, with the help of some suffragettes, she escapes to Manchester, where she finds work in a munitions factory - she is finally the independent woman she has always longed to be. But her husband, whose cruelty knows no bounds, tracks her down and drags her back home to more beatings than ever....

It’s the late 1960s and Nico Gachet is a young French student on the run in England. After making some terrible mistakes he must take drastic measures if he is to save his life and the lives of those he loves. Hoping to make amends for a terrible crime, Nico plans a dangerous liaison in the heart of the city.

Cambridge, 1952. When Ellen Kingsley embarks upon an exciting career in scientific research she soon finds herself caught in a bitter world of rivalry and ambition. Resisting the advances of charismatic Mark Pharaoh, who will stop at nothing in his pursuit of success, she moves to London and falls in love with dashing Alec Hunter. Then a chance encounter introduces Pharaoh to Ellen's old school friend, the captivating India Mayhew, and they embark upon a passionate love affair that leaves destruction in its wake.

Gina Marconi was a beautiful young barrister with everything to live for - a loving fiancé, a young son and a successful career. So why did she leave her home in the middle of the night and drive her car into a stone wall? Soon afterwards, Patrick Elson, a clever 12-year-old schoolboy, jumps off a bridge on to the A5. The victims are unrelated, but neither suicide makes sense. Then there's a third unexplained death: DI Alex Randall's wife, Erica.

It's 1915 when young Bess Ravenhart, recently widowed, leaves her baby son, Frazer, with her mother-in-law, Cora, while she sails from India to Britain to set up a home. But Cora has no intention of returning Frazer to his mother's care. Though Bess makes a new life in Edinburgh and knows the joy - and pain - of motherhood with further children, her heart always aches for the little boy she left behind. When Frazer travels to Scotland 20 years later, it seems Bess' dreams of a reconciliation will come true.

Ellen Dawson is glad when the Great War ends but sad that Lady Bingram's aides are to be disbanded. She can't bear to go back into service again after working as a driver and mechanic in London. But she is forced by her mother's illness to accept her old position as housemaid in order to stay in the small Lancashire town, and her stepfather will stop at nothing to get her under his control again. Meanwhile, Seth Talbot is also facing difficulties when he takes over as local policeman in a town where the law has been flouted for years....

A head teacher's work is never done, especially if, like Jane Cowan, you're a victim of your own success. Her responsibilities are compounded by an influx of children, most of whom do not speak English, following their families supplying cheap labour. Jane can't turn a blind eye to the conditions in which many of these families are living, even more so when some children simply disappear. When everything points to the shadowy dealings of people smugglers in the area, she has her work cut out.

The murder of Richard Daws, 14th Earl of Hartwood and a senior official at the National Crime Agency at his home - the highly secure Hartwood Castle - has sent shock waves through MI5, MI6 and the Met. Patrick Gillard and his wife, Ingrid Langley, face their most formidable task to date when Patrick vows to find his killer.

If you like Poldark, you'll love Gloria Cook! In the small mining village of Meryen, a dark secret lurks.... Amy Lewarne finds her life changed forever when she finds her brother, Toby, dead. And troubles follow when Titus Kivell, the head of a powerful yet belligerent family, puts his son, Sol, in Toby's place. Despite his wild and formidable nature, Amy is inexplicably drawn to Sol, as he is to her. But will his family ties be the ruin of her?

Folkestone, 1921. Newly-wed Maude Brent couldn't be happier. When her much-loved elderly housekeeper Aunt Biddy starts to grow forgetful, her husband Lionel suggests that Maude hire a companion - and he knows just the girl. Initially reluctant, Maude trials the young Alice, and soon it's as if she'd always been part of the family. But when Lionel takes Maude on holiday to Hastings, tragedy strikes and he disappears.

Jane Cowan's abusive ex-husband has always tracked her down whichever town she lives in, whichever job she takes, whichever name she uses. However, now he is in prison for a long stretch, she feels brave enough to accept a promotion: she is to be head teacher of the Wrayford Primary School in Gloucestershire. While facing everyday battles from a lack of resources to teachers who are set in their ways, Jane encounters a persistent intruder on the school grounds.

Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, herding reindeer across the tundra with Lapps and shadowing the Trans-Alaskan pipeline with truckers, Sara Wheeler discovers a complex and ambiguous land belonging both to ancient myth and modern controversy. A fascinating combination of history, science and reflection in which Wheeler meditates on the role of the Arctic and how it has been changed by man.

Currently on leave, Patrick Gillard is considering whether to carry on in his hazardous job as "adviser" to the National Crime Agency when his father, the local rector, asks for his help. A parishioner, Mrs Anne Peters, has paid him a visit, convinced that the wrong body was cremated at her late husband’s recent funeral. Patrick promises to investigate with the help of his wife and working partner, Ingrid Langley.

A Cornish saga, perfect for fans of Poldark. In the Cornish mining village of Meryen, a secret never stays a secret for very long.... No one knows this more than Tara Nankervis. Beautiful yet pained, she is forced to share a devastating secret with her much older and destructive husband Joshua. Out of options, she plans to leave once and for all, taking her daughter, Rosa Grace, with her. But will she have the courage to leave everything behind, or is home truly where the heart is?

When several shots are fired into the bistro where husband and wife crime-fighting duo Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley are meeting their boss, they discuss the shooting with their friend, Detective Chief Inspector James Carrick. Several years previously Carrick was also targeted by a criminal, Benny Cooper, who was eventually convicted of involvement in child pornography. Benny and his accomplice are now out of prison, and soon the intimidation of Carrick and his family returns.