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Audiobooks Narrated by Mike Grady
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'Beautifully crafted by Sansom, Professor Morley promises to become a little gem of English crime writing; sample him now' Daily Mail
Welcome to Westmorland. Perhaps the most scenic county in England! Home of the poets! Land of the great artists! District of the Great lakes! And the scene of a mysterious crime...
Swanton Morley, the People's Professor, once again sets off in his Lagonda to continue his history of England, The County Guides.
Stranded in the market town of Appleby after a tragic rail crash, Morley, his daughter Miriam and his assistant Stephen Sefton find themselves drawn into a world of country fairs, gypsy lore and Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling. When a woman's body is discovered at an archaeological dig, for Morley there's only one possible question: could it be murder?
Join Morley, Miriam and Sefton as they journey along the Great North road and the Settle-Carlisle Line into the dark heart of 1930s England.
Shortlisted for the 2012 Booker prize: Could modernity be an illness? Umbrella follows the story of Audrey Death, who fell victim to the encephalitis lethargica, sleeping sickness epidemic at the end of the First World War and has been in a coma ever since. Arriving at the asylum she still lingers in, maverick psychiatrist Zack Busner becomes involved in an attempt to bring her back to life - with wholly unforeseen consequences.
THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THIS CHRISTMAS
Step inside his home and you'll see papier-mâché birds, a life-sized cardboard tiger, model cars; his work bench a vibrant collage of creativity, from hand-drawn maps and postcards to newly devised toys for his beloved grandchildren. Tom Karen is a toymaker, creative genius, award-winning designer and one of the world's most remarkable inventors. From inventing the Marble Run to designing the iconic Raleigh Chopper bike and creating the Bond Bug, Tom's designs are cherished the world over, but behind these fantastical creations lies an equally remarkable life.
Born in the 1920s into a wealthy family and raised in Czechoslovakia by nannies, Tom had a lonely upbringing and longed for pencils, paper, paints and brushes. His childhood was short-lived when Tom and his family had to flee for their lives following the rise of Nazi Germany. It was this formative experience that would transform Tom's life. Arriving in the UK, Tom would establish himself as a creator slowly building the career that would see him dubbed 'the man who designed the seventies'.
Told through the prism of Tom's incredible designs, Toymaker is a story about life, about imagination, about being in the present and existing in the past; about painting, drawing, chopping and changing; about thinking, discussing, arguing and listening. Tom's life is a tale of a century of creativity and how 'things' come to define who we are - and help us look ahead to where we're going.
One of the earliest psychological crime novels, back in print after more than 80 years.Mrs Bentley has been arrested for murder. The evidence is overwhelming: arsenic she extracted from fly papers was in her husband's medicine, his food and his lemonade, and her crimes are being plastered across the newspapers.
Even her lawyers believe she is guilty. But Roger Sheringham, the brilliant but outspoken young novelist, is convinced that there is 'too much evidence' against Mrs Bentley and sets out to prove her innocence.Credited as the book that first introduced psychology to the detective novel, The Wychford Poisoning Case was based on a notorious real-life murder inquiry.
Written by Anthony Berkeley, a founder of the celebrated Detection Club who also found fame under the pen-name 'Francis Iles', the story saw the return of Roger Sheringham, the Golden Age's breeziest - and booziest - detective.
From one of our greatest science writers, this biography of a beech-and-bluebell wood through diverse moods and changing seasons combines stunning natural history with the ancient history of the countryside to tell the full story of the British landscape.
'The woods are the great beauty of this country... A fine forest-like beech wood far more beautiful than anything else which we have seen in its vicinity' is how John Stuart Mill described a small patch of beech-and bluebell woodland, buried deeply in the Chiltern Hills and now owned by Richard Fortey. Drawing upon a lifetime of scientific expertise and abiding love of nature, Fortey uses his small wood to tell a wider story of the ever-changing British landscape, human influence on the countryside over many centuries and the vital interactions between flora, fauna and fungi.
The trees provide a majestic stage for woodland animals and plants to reveal their own stories. Fortey presents his wood as an interwoven collection of different habitats rich in species. His attention ranges from the beech and cherry trees that dominate the wood to the flints underfoot; the red kites and woodpeckers that soar overhead; the lichens, mosses and liverworts decorating the branches as well as the myriad species of spiders, moths, beetles and crane-flies. The 300 species of fungi identified in the wood capture his attention as much as familiar deer, shrews and dormice.
Fortey is a naturalist who believes that all organisms are as interesting as human beings - and certainly more important than the observer. So this book is a close examination of nature and human history. He proves that poetic writing is compatible with scientific precision. The book is filled with details of living animals and plants, charting the passage of the seasons, visits by fellow enthusiasts; the play of light between branches; the influence of geology; and how woodland influences history, architecture and industry. On every page he shows how an intimate study of one small wood can reveal so much about the natural world and demonstrates his relish for the incomparable pleasures of discovery.
Republished for the first time in nearly 95 years, a classic winter country house mystery by the founder of the Detection Club, with a twist that even Agatha Christie couldn’t solve!
Stephen Munro, a demobbed army officer, reconciles himself to taking a job as a footman to make ends meet. Employed at Wintringham Hall, the delightful but decaying Sussex country residence of the elderly Lady Susan Carey, his first task entails welcoming her eccentric guests to a weekend house-party, at which her bombastic nephew – who recognises Stephen from his former life – decides that an after-dinner séance would be more entertaining than bridge. Then Cicely disappears!
With Lady Susan reluctant to call the police about what is presumably a childish prank, Stephen and the plucky Pauline Mainwaring take it upon themselves to investigate. But then a suspicious death turns the game into an altogether more serious affair…
This classic winter mystery incorporates all the trappings of the Golden Age – a rambling country house, a séance, a murder, a room locked on the inside, with servants, suspects and alibis, a romance – and an ingenious puzzle.
First published as a 30-part newspaper serial in 1926 – the year The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published, The Wintringham Mystery was written by Anthony Berkeley, founder of the famous Detection Club. Also known as Cicely Disappears, the Daily Mirror ran the story as a competition with a prize of £500 (equivalent to £30,000 today) for anyone who guessed the solution correctly. Nobody did – even Agatha Christie entered and couldn’t solve it. Can you?
What was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?
In this book Ian Mortimer answers the key questions that visitor to late sixteenth-century England would ask, applying the groundbreaking approach he pioneered in his bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England.
Organized as a travel guide for the time-hopping tourist, THE TIME-TRAVELER’S GUIDE TO ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND is an entertaining popular history with a twist. Historian Ian Mortimer reveals in delightful (and occasionally disturbing) detail how the streets and homes of sixteenth century looked, sounded, and smelled for both peasants and for royals; what people wore and ate; how they were punished for crimes and treated for diseases; and the complex and contradictory Elizabethan attitudes toward violence, class, sex, and religion. Mortimer also indulges readers in the lives of literary luminaries such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Sir Walter Raleigh.
The New York Times bestselling author of Desert God and Pharaoh adds another chapter to his popular historical saga featuring the seafaring Tom Courtney, the hero of Monsoon and Blue Horizon, with this magnificent swashbuckling saga set in the eighteenth century and packed with action, violence, romance, and rousing adventure.
Tom Courtney, one of four sons of master mariner Sir Hal Courtney, once again sets sail on a treacherous journey that will take him across the vast reaches of the ocean and pit him against dangerous enemies in exotic destinations. But just as the winds propel his sails, passion drives his heart. Turning his ship towards the unknown, Tom Courtney will ultimately find his destiny-and lay the future for the Courtney family.
Wilbur Smith, the world's greatest storyteller, once again recreates all the drama, uncertainty, and courage of a bygone era in this thrilling saga of the sea.
The Malabar coast is full of dangers: greedy tradesmen, fearless pirates, and men full of vengeance. But for a Courtney, the greatest danger might just be his own family...
After his father's gambling debts leave him penniless and in danger, Francis Courtney seeks revenge and fortune in South Africa. But on arrival, he uncovers a truth that leaves him overwhelmed and disoriented. Meanwhile, his cousin Christopher Courtney begins to make his own way in the world, foregoing the righteous path and falling prey to betrayal, violence and treachery.
In this epic journey from the southernmost point of Africa to the lush Indian coastline, the lives of these two Courtney men will intertwine, and forever alter the course of their famous family.
From the world's greatest storyteller comes a compelling and breathless tale of intrigue and betrayal that draws the Courtney's together, and just as easily tears them apart.
From Beachy Head to Brighton, and from Chichester to Rye, Flaming Sussex sees our intrepid trio plunge once again into the dark heart of England
'Beautifully crafted by Sansom, Professor Morley promises to become a little gem of English crime writing; sample him now' Daily Mail
At about four o'clock on 5th November 1937, Miss Lizzie Walter, a teacher at the King's Road Primary School in Lewes, said goodbye to her young pupils. The children clattered out into the dark streets, preparing for that night's revelries - and Miss Lizzie Walter was never seen alive again.
Hitler, Mussolini and Pope Paul V are on fire. Fireworks explode and flaming tar barrels are being dragged through the streets. Bonfire Night in Lewes is the closest England comes to Mardis Gras. In their fifth adventure, Morley, Miriam and Sefton find themselves caught up in the celebrations and the chaos.
On the morning after the night before, Sefton goes for a swim in Pells Pool, the oldest freshwater lido in England - in the very centre of Lewes - where he discovers a woman's body. She has drowned. Is it a misadventure or could it be ... murder?
Join Morley, Miriam and Sefton on another journey into the dark heart of England.
Welcome to the Sounds of Crime, an exclusive collection of five brand new short stories by some of the best crimewriters around. Using the theme of 'audio', this unique collection features brand new stories by Lawrence Block, Peter James, Val McDermid, Mark Billingham and Christopher Fowler. By turns gripping, puzzling and sinister, the Sounds of Crime will chill your blood from the first spoken word to the last... Track Listing: Dolly's Trash and Treasures by Laurence Block narrated by Buffy Davis CD1 Track 2 - Track 12 Meet Me at the Crematorium by Peter James narrated by Eve Karpf CD 1 Track 13 - CD 2 Track 7 Happy Holidays by Val McDermid narrated by Mike Grady CD 2 Track 8 - End of CD 2 The Walls by Mark Billingham narrated by Eric Meyers CD 3 Track 1 - CD 3 Track 9 The Deceivers by Christopher Fowler narrated by John Hasler CD 3 Track 10 - End of CD 3 Edited by Maxim Jakubowski.
