Showing results by narrator "Patricia Gallimore" in All Categories

On a bright spring morning, John Hyde opens the gates to the grounds of Moreton Corbet Castle, a local medieval ruin, and discovers the body of a homeless man with his throat slashed. Detective Inspector Alex Randall and his team soon face some disturbing questions: was this a random attack, or does someone have a vendetta against the homeless? For coroner Martha Gunn, establishing the man's identity is essential, but there are no clues.

When Toot Hansell’s water supply turns murky, it's easy to blame the notoriously soggy Yorkshire weather. But this winter, the rain's endless, the water's undrinkable, and the village is slowly turning into a marsh. The local water sprite, Nellie, could probably sort it all out—if she hadn't mysteriously vanished, leaving behind a battalion of furious geese, which are only adding to the problems. Now the only clean water in town is arriving in pricey bottles from Toot Hansell's new wellness guru, Lachlan Jameson. But the rising water isn't the only problem. People are disappearing.

March 1942. As the war continues, wedding bells are ringing for the factory girls. Sarah is happily settling into married life, whilst Fran is busy planning her upcoming wedding. Meanwhile, Beth hasn’t heard from her husband, Bob, since he returned to the navy, and she’s starting to fear the worst. And new friend Viola is still recovering from a nasty accident. Life on the home front can be challenging, but the factory girls can get through anything.

October 1942. Viola loves her new job away from the factory and hopes that her romance with the handsome Ralph might have a happy ending. Meanwhile, married life is proving tough for Fran and Davey. Following her husband's shocking confession, Beth finally feels as though she's regaining control of her life. Christmas is a time for family and friends, and the factory girls will do everything they can to ensure this year's celebration is one to remember.

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.

Something peculiar is going on at the Group Medical Practice in Taviscombe and old Dr MacDonald seems very uneasy. Sheila Malory can’t help but feel that it may have something to do with the unexpected arrival from London of a new GP, Dr Morrison, an arrogant, cold-mannered man, whose alleged misdiagnosis of a local patient has made him the focus of the village rumour mill.

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...

'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...

This journey through the changing seasons at Rowfoot Farm - tupping time in the autumn, winters as wet, bleak and cold here in Cumbria as elsewhere, lambing and the glories of spring, a bucolic, bee-filled Eden Valley summer with its many shows and fairs - will reveal much that you need to know about the countryside, its quirky customs and ways, and most likely a great deal that you don't.

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.

Benjamin Disraeli’s powerful, polemical story of love across the class divide Chosen by The Guardian as one of the best 100 novels of all time, Disraeli’s classic 1845 ‘condition-of-England’ novel exposes the inequality and exploitation endemic in 19th century Britain, and the vast gulf...

When Sheila Malory reluctantly agrees to help out in a charity shop for a few weeks, her friend warns her about the "control freak" manager Desmond Barlow. It is not without some trepidation that she begins her volunteer work. Before too long, she begins to get the measure of her fellow volunteers, including the bossy Norma Stanley; no-nonsense Jean; and Desmond’s mousey wife, Wendy. When Desmond’s lifeless body is discovered after an apparent botched robbery, Sheila finds herself at the heart of the investigation as Inspector Bob Morris seeks her help.

Annie Doyle's husband, Vince, is in a care home with final-stage dementia. And after decades of deeply unhappy marriage, Annie can barely bring herself to care. But as the family gathers to see out Vince's final days, he utters a single word that will change the entire family forever: 'Martha'. Who is Martha? And why is Annie so quick to dismiss the mention of her name?

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. 

It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom, her often-absent airline pilot husband and father of their two teenage children. It was for her first marriage - a wildly romantic, secret affair, when she and Iain - 12 years older than her and the heir to a Scottish baronetcy - had eloped immediately after her final school speech day. She was just 16 at the time.

Modern notions were all well and good – but where did one find a man to share them? Though Frederica chafes at the restricted life she lives as the adopted daughter of an infamous bluestocking, she does agree with the philosophy: until men learn to appreciate women as intellectual equals...

Newly retired, ex-chief superintendent Fran Harman and her partner, Mark, have volunteered to assist West Mercia police in reinvestigating an unsolved crime. Twenty years ago a car was found abandoned on an isolated forest road running, its hazard lights still flashing, the passenger door open. In the back were two child seats. One was empty; in the other lay a desperately ill baby. Neither the baby's mother nor the elder child were ever seen again.

1949: one year in the childhood of Candida Lycett Green in the remote village of Farnborough in Berkshire. Here she lives with her father John Betjeman and her mother Penelope Chetwode, in one of the bleakest and highest spots on the windswept downland.Candida runs wild with the 'gang' of...

1942, and the war is not going well. As part of the war effort the Ashworth Grammar School for Girls signs up for the Merchant Navy's Ship Adoption Scheme. The headmistress, who lost her lover in the First World War, believes the project will broaden the horizons of her girls, especially Polly and Jen, bright sixth formers eager to live and love despite it all. Then Josh Percival, captain of the adopted ship, the SS Treverran, comes with his men to visit Ashworth.

Dorset, 1917: If it’s not enough that a girl from a good background is forced to work as a maid, Livia Carr is then violated by the master of the house and becomes pregnant. Her only course is to marry the son of the house, Richard Sangster, a World War One hero who has returned home an invalid. He is not expected to live, and he offers Livia and the child legitimacy, as well as his name and estate. Livia grows to love Richard, and his death comes as a great blow to her. Into the breach steps Livia’s frist love, and Richard’s friend, Denton Elliot. But will he desert her when the secret of the child’s parentage is revealed to him?