Showing results by narrator "Joanne" in All Categories

A month before Christmas, and Ballyterrin on the Irish border lies under a thick pall of snow. When a newborn baby goes missing from hospital, it's all too close to home for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, who's wrestling with the hardest decision of her life. Then a woman is found in a stone circle with her stomach cut open and it's clear a brutal killer is on the loose. As another child is taken and a pregnant woman goes missing, Paula is caught up in the hunt for a killer no one can trace, who will stop at nothing to get what they want.

1956. It's Ellen Crosby's first day as a student nurse at Ambergate Hospital. When she meets a young woman admitted by her father, little does Ellen know that a choice she will make is to change both their lives for ever...2006. Sarah is drawn to the now abandoned Ambergate. Whilst exploring the old corridors she discovers a suitcase belonging to a female patient who entered Ambergate fifty years earlier. The shocking contents, untouched for half a century, will lead Sarah to unravel a forgotten story of tragedy and lost love, and the chance to make an old wrong right.

When American Lexi Maxwell buys a derelict mansion in a quaint English village and sets about turning it into a manor-house hotel, it’s a dream come true. But events take a turn for the bizarre, as a heartbroken ghost makes a nightly appearance and kneels beneath a tree next to a centuries-old ruin, and people in the village keep commenting on Lexi’s resemblance to a woman who’s been dead for a quarter of a century. As Lexi tries to find out more about the man in the ruin, she unexpectedly stumbles upon secrets from her own past.

Protagonist Kris Kelvin arrives at a scientific research station hovering above the surface of Solaris where research has been ongoing for years on the strange ocean life form. When Kris and his colleagues become more aggressive in trying to force contact with Solaris, the ocean's response is to experiment with the researchers' minds by confronting them with their most painful and repressed thoughts and memories through the materialization of complex human constructs.

Edie Eckhart is Excited with a capital E to start secondary school with her best friend Oscar - the fish to her chips, the bananas to her custard. But when she and Oscar are put into different tutor groups on their first day, Edie is devastated. Who will play secret hangman with her in class? Who will she eat sausage rolls with? But while she's plotting her reunion with Oscar, she accidentally gets cast as the lead in the school play.

Jamie and Victoria are expecting their first baby. With a few weeks to go, they head off for a final weekend break in a remote part of the North Pennines. The small and peaceful guesthouse is the ideal location to unwind together before becoming parents. Upon arrival, they are greeted by Barry and Fiona, the older couple who run the guesthouse. They cook them dinner and show them to their room before retreating to bed themselves. The next morning, Jamie and Victoria wake to find the house deserted. Barry and Fiona are nowhere to be seen. All the doors are locked.

Sylvia Townsend Warner was a prolific author of novels, short stories and poetry, who also wrote a biography of T. H. White, translated Proust and was an authority on Tudor church music. A sharp, insightful storyteller, she was one of the 20th Century's most acute observers of English mores, and her work is infused with subversive themes reflecting her feminist and Marxist views. This comprehensive anthology includes dramatisations of her two best-known novels.

Merry has always wanted a family to spend Christmas with, and this year her dream comes true as she says 'I do' to father-of-two Cole. But as she juggles her rapidly growing business, wedding planning and the two new children in her life, her dream begins to unravel. Emily is desperately waiting for the New Year to begin, so she can finally have a fresh start. She has always put her family first, leaving little time for happiness and love. When her beloved father moves into a residential home, she discovers a photograph in his belongings that has the potential to change everything.

Victim: male. Mid-30s. Five foot seven. Cause of death: hanging. Initial impression - murder. ID: Mickey Doyle. Suspected terrorist and member of the Mayday Five. The officers at the crime scene know exactly who the victim is. Doyle was one of five suspected bombers who caused the deaths of 16 people. The remaining four are also missing, and when a second body is found, decapitated, it's clear they are being killed by the same methods their victims suffered.

Lave: A single planet, orbiting a dying star. For centuries, spacefarers have visited, docked at the space station, and left, with no thought for the people on the planet below. Bad luck at cards means bad luck all around for Pietro Devander, who journeys halfway across human-controlled space to this ancient planet, whose name is barely remembered. What he finds is resistance. What it becomes is revolution.

‘Stories are like Russian dolls; open them up, and in each one you’ll find another story.’ Conjured from a wickedly imaginative pen, here is a new collection of short stories that showcases Joanne Harris’s exceptional storytelling art. Sensuous, wicked, mischievous, uproarious and wry, here are tales that combine the everyday with the unexpected; wild fantasy with bittersweet reality.

Edie Eckhart is getting used to life at secondary school. It's going well so far—she's found a brand new friendship group and has the best form tutor EVER. But then the school organises a camping trip....complete with muddy walks and team games. It is a DISASTER. The only fun bit is sitting by the fire and telling stories. On top of that Edie is trying to figure out where she fits in: do you have to define all friendships? And can you be a writer AND a performer, or do you have to choose between the two?

A Pocketful of Crows balances youth and age, wisdom and passion, and draws on nature and folklore to weave a stunning modern mythology around a nameless wild girl. Only love could draw her into the world of named, tamed things. And it seems only revenge will be powerful enough to let her escape. This is a stunning and original modern fairy tale.

When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud denounces her as a serious moral danger to his flock - especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. As passions flare and the conflict escalates, the whole community takes sides. Can the solemnity of the church compare with the sinful pleasure of a chocolate truffle?

A sparky and HILARIOUS series from TV comedian and World Book Day 2024 author, Rosie Jones. This audio collection comprises the first two books in the series. Perfect for listeners aged 9+ and fans of Jacqueline Wilson and DORK DIARIES.

The Complete Brontë Sisters and Jane Austen Collection brings together four of the most influential female authors of the 19th century. The collection includes Austen's 7 novels, selected short fiction, and a selection of her letters; alongside all 7 of the Brontë sisters' completed novels, as-well as a selection of the poetry which all three sisters published.

Over the course of 10 lectures, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, a research professor at Arizona State University and founder of the MISS Foundation, explores the nuances of grief and grieving, particularly within our often grief-avoidant culture.

On Sunday, February 3rd 1990, seven-year-old Danny Redpath disappeared from his home. Four months later, his body was found in the nearby forest, washed clean of all evidence. Over time, more bodies were discovered; more families devastated forever. Apprehended while attempting to abduct another child, Jonathan Egan-Walsh was charged with the murders of thirteen boys. Convicted on all counts, he received life in prison and went unrepentant, still refusing to reveal the whereabouts of one of his victims, Zachery Marshall.

When ravaged by storms, remote Irish islands become inaccessible...and inescapable. Two scientists inexplicably disappear from remote Bone Island during a vicious storm, and suspicions are quickly raised about foul play. With her own pressing personal issues and the possibility of her mother still being alive at the forefront of her mind, Paula has other concerns but is determined to help.

The classic trilogy about murder, revenge and justice, as heard on BBC Radio 3 – plus a bonus documentary exploring Aeschylus's seminal Greek tragedy. A chilling tale of homecoming, violent death and bloody vengeance, The Oresteia dates back to the fifth century BC, but its themes still resonate today. At once a family saga, morality tale and courtroom drama, it recounts how two generations of the cursed House of Atreus become locked into a deadly cycle of atrocities....