Showing results by narrator "Elizabeth Bower" in All Categories

Death is coming to Bruncliffe; its target is Samson O’Brien. Oblivious to his impending date with fate, Samson is busy juggling a number of cases at the Dales Detective Agency. Too busy, in fact, to notice his partner behaving oddly. Because Delilah Metcalfe knows what is coming. A hitman. Sent from London with one objective: to finally silence the troublesome O’Brien before his corruption case can make it to court.

A fatal accident at Bruncliffe’s livestock auction mart leads to a call for detectives Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe. What starts as a simple health-and-safety investigation soon takes a sinister turn when they discover evidence that suggests murder. Clive Knowles approaches them for help – his sheep are being threatened by the gang of rustlers that is plaguing the Dales. Meanwhile, poacher Pete Ferris has also decided to play his hand, setting in motion a blackmail plot which will ensure Samson is pulled back into trouble with his nemesis Rick Procter.

Those are the only words on the phone call. Then they hang up. Surely, a prank? A mistake? A wrong number? Anything but the chilling truth... That someone is watching, waiting, ready to take your life in one hour. But why The job of finding out falls to DI Helen Grace: a woman with a track record in hunting killers. However, this is one case where the killer seems to always be one step ahead of the police and the victims. With no motive, no leads, no clues - nothing but pure fear - an hour can last a lifetime....

Helen awaits trial in a crumbling women's prison in Southampton. She has a fight on to prove her innocence from inside her prison cell, but this soon turns out to be the least of her worries. A serial killer is picking off fellow inmates, thriving in an environment where there is truly nowhere to run. Is it a criminal giving in to their dark urges or a member of the prison staff preying on the captive population? Helen must work fast to reveal this devious killer, all the time wondering if she will be next on her list....

Hiding her personal connection to the victim - and a double-life which must remain secret at all costs - Helen becomes a woman possessed, working her team around the clock to chase down every lead. As the killer strikes again, the investigation takes its toll not only on Helen but also her senior officers. Tempers flare, friendships fray and Helen faces an impossible choice. Confess her sins and lose control of the case? Or keep living a lie, protecting her darkest secrets, and risk getting trapped in this tangled web?

A woman in tears in the Dales Detective Agency is never the best way to start the week. But when that woman is the wife of Bernard Taylor, town mayor and eminent businessman, there is even more cause for alarm. So when Nancy Taylor asks the detectives to investigate whether her husband is having an affair, Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe know they will have to tread carefully. The case, however, proves to be more complex than even they had imagined.

Summer and her mum soon find their hands full with the arrival of her future stepsister, Frankie – a blue-haired teen firecracker who's nothing like the sweet little girl they remember. Meanwhile, local vet Ben is struggling – buried under a mountain of responsibility with trying to keep his crumbling family home Monk’s Folly standing, while supporting his reclusive mother and errant younger brother.

It's dark in the Dales this winter.... When Mrs Shepherd arrives at the Dales Detective Agency on a December morning, quite convinced that someone is trying to kill her, Samson O'Brien dismisses her fears as the ramblings of a confused elderly lady. But after a series of disturbing incidents at Fellside Court retirement home, he begins to wonder if there is something to her claims after all.... With Christmas around the corner, Samson is thrown into a complex investigation.

Emily loves her glamorous life in London, but it’s all about to come crashing down. Her banker husband’s lost his job, their beloved townhouse is for sale, and they’re relocating to Portugal to save money. The Villa Anna is beautiful, with bougainvillea tumbling down the walls, but living on a shoestring budget is a shock. To make ends meet, they launch a B&B, and Emily’s days are soon filled with six am wake-ups, fixing dodgy plumbing, and cooking breakfasts to order.

He's been looking in the windows again. Messing with cameras. Leaving notes. Supposed to be a refuge. But death got inside. When Katie Straw's body is pulled from the waters of the local suicide spot, the police decide it's an open-and-shut case. A standard-issue female suicide. But the residents of Widringham women's refuge where Katie worked don't agree. They say it's murder. Will you listen to them? An addictive literary page-turner about a crime as shocking as it is commonplace, Keeper will leave you reeling.

A woman's body lies in the road. At first it looks like a tragic accident. But when Helen Grace arrives on the scene it's clear she's looking at a coldblooded killing. But why would anyone target a much-loved wife and mother?

‘Just rest, Frankie. I’ll take care of you.’ I feel my baby kick as my nanny fluffs my pillows and lays me down. She gives me a soothing smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She knows I’m afraid of her… When I shake our nanny Jasmine’s hand for the first time and catch her perfect smile, I can’t ignore the feeling that we’ve met before. But I tell myself it’s nothing. I desperately need help around the house. Since I got pregnant, I burst into tears over the smallest things and my mind is a haze. I can barely look after my toddler Olivia. Jasmine is a godsend–isn’t she?

Don’t Make Me Laugh balances anger and humour with the deftest of touches. It is a story about power and control and manipulation, about gendered roles in both the workplace and our personal lives, and about how women are set up in competition with each other. And ultimately—satisfyingly—it’s a story about fighting back.

March 2020. Annie is alone in her house as the world shuts down, only the ghosts of her memories for company. But then she receives a phone call which plunges her deeper into the past. 1959. Annie and Rita are student nurses at Fairlie Hall mental institution. Working long gruelling hours, they soon learn that the only way to appease their terrifying matron is to follow the rules unthinkingly. But what is happening in the hospital's hidden side wards? And at what point does following the rules turn into complicity - and betrayal?

Single mum Frankie’s whole life revolves around her kids. But when your teenage daughter goes on more dates than you and your toddler has a more active social life, something has to change. Forget ‘me time’, Frankie would settle for some adult conversation, and watching something other than the Disney channel. The local playgroup may be ruled by Instagram mums with perfect husbands, but Frankie accidentally forms a splinter group of single parents. After all, Mummy really needs a playdate of her own. (Now pass the prosecco.)

Clemmie has always been a romantic at heart, even going so far as to write her own regency romance novels… not that she’d EVER let anyone read them. This year, she’s dreaming of a white Christmas, but any chance of a merry holiday is dashed when she spots her ex-boyfriend, Ross Lavender, across the frosty village green at a carol concert. Even worse, Clemmie is mortified when, in the village Christmas raffle, she picks the winning ticket. The prize? A portrait painted by Ross himself, who is a talented local artist.

For five years, the remains of a young woman lie undisturbed in dark woodland on the outskirts of Birmingham. The gold necklace round her neck reads ‘Molly’. Now, watching the post-mortem, forensic psychologist Kate Hanson knows in a heartbeat that she’s looking at Molly Elizabeth James. She was only eighteen when she disappeared from a shopping centre in Solihull. DCI Bernie Watts’ team unearths more long-buried bodies in the area. Kate realises they’re dealing with a serial killer. One who abducted young women, torturing them for days before finally killing them.

New Year’s Day. A dog walker is enjoying the early morning calm in Birmingham’s Woodgate Country Park. At first he thinks it’s some old rubbish. His dogs are always digging up trouble. But it’s a mummified body. The victim is Nathan Troy, an art student who disappeared twenty years ago. Days later, a second body is found. This time it’s a fresh kill. And the ligature marks on the victim’s neck are identical. It’s been twenty years, but after all this time, forensic psychologist Kate Hanson knows that Nathan’s killer is back.

Kat Pennyfeather knows the joys and challenges of parenthood all too well – she’s been thrown into the deep end as a single, first-time mother to adorable baby Hattie. With the unwavering support of her beloved great aunties, affectionately known as The Lavender Ladies, and the sanctuary of her cosy home above Pennyfeather's Wool Shop, Kat is holding things together…. mostly. Across town, Jonah Brewster finds himself navigating the treacherous path of single parenthood after a painful divorce and unexpected loss.

I thought my first husband was dead. But when I get a letter with his name on it just days before my wedding, it will tear my perfect new life apart… As we drive up to the gorgeous house by the lake with its red and yellow roses round the door, I breathe in the pure air and count my blessings. In two days’ time I’m getting married to Matt, my soulmate and the father of my beautiful boy. After all the pain of my past, my life now is perfect.