Showing results by narrator "Sheila Daly Payson" in All Categories

A self-labeled enigma, Detective Inspector Jack Austin is at once miserable and amusing, melancholy, and motivated. Running the Community Police Unit from his deck chair, DI Austin is known for his ability to solve crimes out of the blue. Trying to work cases while struggling with his mental issues, Austin deals with a variety of major crimes, including bicycle theft.

A mesmerizing true story of a fierce iron age queen.... It's 47 CE, Britannia. Boudica, the daughter of a tribal chief, wants nothing more than to be a warrior, though duty mandates she wed and have sons for her tribe. But when the mighty Roman Empire betrays her people, she must make a choice. Avoid bloodshed for the sake of peace, or stand up to the most powerful enemy in the known world.

What if, to save thousands of lives, you had to trigger the destruction of the only person you’d ever loved? In Afghanistan, British secret servicewoman Marcie Brown, posing as the third wife of one of ISAF’s most trusted operatives, is killed in a drone strike. Or at least, that’s what the official report states. Deep inside enemy territory, what remains of her body is deemed irrecoverable. Seven thousand miles away, her grieving husband, MI7 officer Nicholas Fleming, joins a police investigation which stumbles onto an Islamist plot to bomb central London - and he uncovers evidence that one of the bombers is his wife.

When she finds a wounded member of British Intelligence in her bedroom, Patricia really isn’t that surprised. I mean, it happens all the time, doesn’t it? However, she is surprised, and really not delighted, to hear that he has a secret task for her. Find his contact, hand over a harmless looking data storage device that just happens to have the details of a superweapon on it, and save the world from certain disaster. Her country needs her. Well, that’s just perfect. 

Shoki Malook has never really found his place in Istan. And investigating bizarre supernatural events in a remote town with an irritating magic inquisitor certainly doesn't inspire his excitement. But when the Sultan dies and a brutal battle for the throne ensues, Shoki's meandering days turn into a fight for his life.

Chelsea, 1547. At 10 years old, Lady Jane Grey arrives at Old Manor to begin her education with the Dowager Queen Katherine: Widow of the late Henry VIII. Jane is a bright, scholarly girl, but destined to reach early maturity and be manipulated and groomed by over-ambitious men. After being forced to marry Guildford Dudley - son of the Duke of Northumberland - the country is divided and Jane struggles to come to terms with her situation.

A bumbling city guard. A ghastly murder. Terror in the sultan's realm. A grisly crime and a grieving widow plunge Shoki, a lowly city guard - who never wanted the job (thanks mother and father) and is described by his superiors, in their kinder moments, as blundering - into an investigation that involves no less than one who claimed himself a sultan of the realm. Shoki is sure he’s got it right. He knows who the killer is. But does he have the courage to defy his commanders, buck a system that hasn’t the least leeway for independent initiative, and bring a killer to justice?

It was love at first sight between Maryn Medrovovich and Crown Prince Stephan. He didn't care that she was a commoner, working multiple jobs to make ends meet after her father left the family in dire straits. He only knew he loved her and wanted to make her a princess. But that's where the fairy tale ends and real life begins. Being a member of the royal family isn't everything it's cracked up to be. The mounting pressure to maintain a royal image and perform her royal duties become too much as Maryn realizes Stephan is not the white knight she once thought him to be.

Lady Elfrida is queen of England, her husband enamored of her, and her supporters many and varied. But the queen finds herself caught up in terse political intrigues, as England is threatened both from external Viking attack and internally from restless factionalism at Court, aggravated by questions about who will rule after the king. Even when she has accomplished all she can for the king, a tragedy robs her of her joy and influence, and once more, she must toil to retain her position as the first queen of England and mother to the king’s heir.