Showing results by narrator "Sophie Aldred" in All Categories

The absence of Flavia DeLuce’s mother, Harriet, has always cast a shadow, since her presumed death in a mountaineering accident in Tibet. Now, astonishingly, a specially commissioned train is bringing Harriet back to Buckshaw. But rather than putting the past finally to rest, Harriet's return is set to trigger a further series of bizarre and deadly events, as a most curious group of individuals converge on Buckshaw to pay their respects…

When Flavia de Luce is banished to Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada, she’s soon on familiar ground when, on her first night, a mummified body is dislodged from a chimney, and she is presented with a gruesome puzzle to solve. Girls have been disappearing with alarming regularity, leading Flavia to wonder not only how and why but what exactly is the academy's true purpose? Flavia must enter a shadowy world where truth and lies seem interchangeable and no one can be trusted.

October 1944: as World War II draws towards its conclusion, a Nazi defeat begins to seem almost inevitable. But that might be about to change.... Two intruders are captured in the grounds of Colditz Castle, the most secure POW camp in Germany. At first the guards think they're dealing with British spies. But the strangers arrived in an advanced travelling machine, the likes of which they've never seen before. With this Tardis in their hands, the Third Reich might triumph after all.

The TARDIS lands in the Lancashire village of Bilehurst Cragg in the 17th century, and the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz soon become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. Fear stalks the land, and the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But the Doctor soon realises there is something more sinister than paranoia and superstition at work. Tendrils of living mud stir in the ground, and the dead lurch back to horrifying life as an evil alien presence begins to revive.

After her husband becomes violent, Frederica Potter flees with her young son to London. There, she secures a teaching position in an art school and finds herself surrounded by painters and poets with dreams of rebellion. Then Frederica meets Jude Mason, the strange and charismatic author of a wildly controversial novel. When her husband files for divorce and Jude becomes the target of a high-profile court case, Frederica’s life threatens to spiral out of control.

The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and...the summoning of the scourge. The Doctor, Bernice and Ace find themselves dealing with a dead body that's come back to life, a mystical symbol that possesses its host and a threat from another universe that's ready for every trick the Doctor's got up his sleeve. This time, has the Doctor gone too far? Written by Paul Cornell. Directed by Gary Russell.

'The fox called again. Its eerie cry echoed into the night. The sound wove in and out of the night garden, and into Tilly's dreams.' One night, awoken by a strange noise, Tilly looks out of her bedroom window and sees a wild fox watching her from the lawn. Tilly follows it through a hidden gate and is amazed to discover a secret, moonlit garden. She returns the following night but this time a young girl called Helen is already there waiting for her.

One would-be assassin is in a mental ward. Another's on the run. Their intended victim is stirring up the mobs. Terrorists are planning a strike of their own. A talk-radio host is loving every minute of it. A Whitehall insider whispers about a mysterious UN operative with a hidden agenda. Everyone's got someone they want to be afraid of. It'll take only a little push for the situation to erupt - and something is doing the pushing. But you can trust the Doctor to put things right. Can't you? Written by: Jonathan Blum.

Twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is back at Buckshaw at last, but her homecoming is overshadowed by news of her father's illness. Forbidden from visiting him in hospital, Flavia busies herself in the village, but she soon makes a macabre discovery: the corpse of a reclusive woodcarver in an empty house, except for a curiously uncurious cat. Curiosity may not kill this cat, but Flavia is energized at the prospect of a new investigation. However, what awaits Flavia will shake her to the core.

Welcome aboard the space vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome. Its Captain is called Ace. She seems a little unsure of herself. In fact, some might almost think she was new to the job...Its medical officer is called simply 'The Doctor', and he's perhaps not all he seems either. When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, Ace and the Doctor are pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there's something nasty in the grain containers. And it's not very happy....

George and his best friend, Annie, haven't had any space adventures for a while, and they're missing the excitement. But not for long.... Seriously strange things start happening. Banks are handing out free money; supermarkets can't charge for their produce, so people are getting free food; and aircraft are refusing to fly. It looks like the world's biggest and best computers have all been hacked. George and Annie will travel further into space than ever before in order to find out who is behind it.

This book was written at a time when foot-and-mouth was very much in the news, as farmers across the UK fell victim to an outbreak that was to leave potent images of blazing carcasses deeply embedded in many minds.

Come and spend summer by the sea! Wanted! A caretaker for Roundhouse Row holiday cottages. Where? Nelson’s Bar is the perfect little village. Nestled away on the Norfolk coast, we can offer you no signal, no Wi-Fi and - most importantly - no problems! Who? The ideal candidate will be looking for an escape from their cheating scumbag ex-fiancé, a diversion from their entitled cousin and a break from their traitorous friends.

Flavia is enjoying the summer, spending her days punting along the river with her reluctant family. Languishing in boredom, she drags a slack hand in the water - and catches her fingers in the open mouth of a drowned corpse. Flavia needs to put her super-sleuthing skills to the test to investigate the murder of three gossips in the local church and to keep her sisters out of danger.

Life at the Heart of Power is a very personal portrait of life as a woman at the centre of power. As Brexit discussions rail on, Fall offers an intimate account of the preceding seminal political years from the viewpoint of the ‘staffer’ rather than the more traditional memoirs of the ‘principals’- David Cameron and George Osborne whom she worked alongside. Fall takes us through 11 years of the Cameron project. From its inception and battle to win the soul of the Conservative party, through to life at No 10 during the coalition years.

When Alice Salmon died last year, the ripples were felt in the news, on the Internet, and in the hearts of those who knew her best. But the person who knows her most intimately isn't family or a friend. Professor Jeremy Cooke is an academic whose life has become about piecing together Alice's existence in all its flawed and truthful reality. For Cooke, faithfully recreating Alice's life - through her diaries, emails and anything using her voice - is all consuming.

Laura thinks she knows her mum pretty well. It's been just the two of them since Dad left. But then Mum brings home a boyfriend and, even worse, starts acting very strangely. She's obviously keeping something from Laura. But what? As Laura digs deeper she begins to suspect the secret might be more terrible than she first thought... An exciting story about family relationships, jealousy and secrets from bestselling author Gwyneth Rees.

Creepy. That's what Ace thinks of clowns. But the Doctor insists on entering the talent contest at the Psychic Circus, the self-proclaimed Greatest Show in the Galaxy, on the planet Segonax. What has reduced Segonax to an arid wasteland? Why have the happy-go-lucky circus folk stayed here so long? And why are they no longer happy? Above all, what is the dreadful truth about the 'talent contests' run by the sinister Ringmaster and his robot clowns?

On 19th century Earth artist Edvard Munch hears an infinite scream pass through nature. Centuries later his painting of that scream hangs in a gallery on the barren dust world Duchamp 331. Why is there a colony of artists on a planet that is little more than a glorified garage? What is the event that the passengers of the huge, opulent pleasure cruiser 'Gallery' are hoping to see? And what is hidden in the crates that litter the cargo hold?

Lizzie, Max and Dan have never liked their neighbours, the Potwards, so when it appears that Lizzie's magic potion may have made them move house the children are delighted. Their glee, however is short-lived as they worry about who will move in.