Showing results by narrator "Gordon Griffin" in All Categories

The Second World War sparked the writing of hundreds of short stories by servicemen and women as well as civilians. They appeared in magazines and collections during and after the war and addressed all areas of the conflict, from the home front to service abroad. Short stories offer a wonderful insight into everyday concerns on the various front lines and illustrate the humour that kept up morale as well as the despair and confusion felt by so many.

It is 1896. In an alternative history where Babbage’s difference engines have become commonplace, Captain Charles Maddox, wrongly convicted of a murder and newly arrested for treason, is rescued from execution by a covert agency called the Map Room. Maddox is given the choice of taking his chances with the authorities or joining the Map Room as an agent and helping them uncover a possible conspiracy surrounding the 1888 Ripper murders. Seeing little choice, Maddox accepts the offer and joins the team of fellow agents Church and Green.

On a hot summer morning, Miles Law cycles into the village of Millington in the Vale of York, on his way to a few hours' work as an under-gardener at The Grange. But when he arrives, he finds his employer slumped in an armchair in the drawing room, a bullet wound on his forehead. Miles' employer was a secretive and reclusive man who kept his employees and neighbours at a distance. Who was Anthony Garrett, and who are the three young, identical-looking blonde women who called at the house a few days before his body was discovered?

1894. Mr Simeon Crosby, a retired executioner, comes to Wigan with his wife and brother to give a talk on his life’s work. Whilst he has an eager following, there are also many people who strongly object to Crosby’s profession and do not wish his melancholy shadow to be cast over their town. Protests have been organised and threats have been made. Detective Sergeant Brennan is tasked with overseeing the security of the controversial visitor and all seems to be going to plan...until a murder is committed on the night of Crosby’s talk.

With a single daring leap from an Italian train carrying prisoners of war, John Miller jumped out of the war of soldiers and into the war as lived by Italian civilians - many of whom risked their lives to help him. The year was 1943 and Captain Miller had been in captivity for over a year. Italian anti-fascists harboured and fed him, first in a remote mountain village, then in Rome itself.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic Deep Waters. Four amateur yachtsmen are toasting the completion of a trip from Falmouth to Spain in adverse weather conditions with a well-earned glass of cognac. But with just one mouthful, one of the friends drops dead. Who could be behind the poisoning, and why?

When a deep grave containing five skeletons is discovered in the corner of a field, DCI Hennessey and his team of officers from the Vale of York Police are called in to investigate. The burial site had lain undiscovered for over 20 years and was only found after a chance conversation between two old friends revealed the possibly sinister reason for the area of disturbed soil that they had both noticed during their last summer of innocence. The resulting police inquiry soon uncovers a multiple murder that seems to have its roots in a legal dispute between two families which can be traced back to the aftermath of the English Civil War.

A police officer finds a badly injured man lying in a street in the centre of York in the early hours of the morning. The man subsequently succumbs to his injures without regaining consciousness. Hennessey and Yellich are brought in to investigate, along with the other members of the team, Ventnor and Pharoah.

Detective Inspector Michael Angel and his team of regulars are searching for a serial killer on the loose in the Yorkshire town of Bromersley. The available clues are as sparse as they are puzzling: A character in early Roman attire is observed at every murder and a laurel leaf is left on every corpse. DNA evidence links a woman of oriental origin to the murders but this profile doesn’t fit any of the suspects. The investigations become more mystifying as Inspector Angel races against the clock to find the killer.

Lawyers who write books are not, as a rule, popular with their confrères, but Archibald Lenton, the most brilliant of prosecuting attorneys, was an exception. Alphonse Riebiera was a man who had a way with women, women who would fall under his spell and then regret it. But this time it seems he may have picked the wrong woman.

A collection of Peter Fleming’s essays written for The Spectator.

This classic novel takes place in Lantern Yard, a slum street in an unnamed city in Northern England, during the early 19th century. There, Silas Marner, a weaver and a member of a small Calvinist congregation, is falsely accused of stealing the congregation's funds while watching over their very ill deacon. Two pieces of evidence are against Silas: his possession of a pocket knife and the bag that formerly contained the money.

When the body of a middle-aged woman is found frozen beside a canal towpath, it looks like a simple case of death by misadventure. But marks on her neck and a carefully-hidden piece of paper point towards foul play. George Hennessey and Somerled Yellich assemble their team, and quickly begin their investigation into this unusual murder. But as the case progresses they discover that the victim, who was originally from Canada, may not have been all she seemed.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. When the Russian Royal Family Jewels are put on display at Orbin’s department store in the fortnight leading up to Christmas, Mr Rossiter Payne can’t resist a present to himself. An inconspicuous London bookseller by day, an experienced jewel thief by night - can he pull off this latest festive heist?

July 1829. When a female corpse dressed in male clothing is discovered lying in a haystack in the Worcestershire countryside, rumour and superstition abound. For the sighting of a man in white robes fleeing from the scene leads to suspicion that the Devil's Monk is responsible for the crime. According to local legend, this vengeful apparition appears at intervals to molest and kill.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic Deep Waters. When a man is found dead on his yacht on the Thimble River, an inlet off the Solent, series detective David Wintringham must draw on his nautical knowledge to track down the killer....

Mrs Porter takes charge of her daughter's unhappy marriage. When war breaks out in France, her selfish husband manages to escape but finds himself at the mercy of his mother-in-law, penniless. He must overcome his arrogance if his wife is to love him again.

Bullion! is the ultimate locked-room mystery. A ship transporting gold bullion is travelling from Melbourne to London. The gold is packed into chests and stored in a separate locked and sealed room. But mysterious whispering is heard in the night and chests seemingly disappear and return, leading the crew to think they’re losing their minds. Can the second mate get to the bottom of the mystery?

The essential novels of Jules Verne include the classics such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. Enjoy all three novels in this enthralling science-fiction collection.

A raving, bedraggled girl is found sheltering in a barn near the Parish of Tardebigge in Worcestershire. Then the decomposing body of a small boy is unearthed by poachers in a nearby wood. Constable Thomas Potts is called upon to investigate both cases, which appear to be connected to a wagon-load of children known to have been abducted from the Poorhouse. Meanwhile Thomas’ engagement to buxom barmaid Amy Danks is threated by his widowed mother’s hatred of his sweetheart, and by the many duty calls upon his time.