Audiobooks narrated by Wanda McCaddon

Nine Lessons: A Josephine Tey Mystery Audiobook

Josephine Tey, a sharp-witted amateur sleuth based on the celebrated Golden Age mystery writer, returns in the seventh in Nicola Upson's critically acclaimed series, perfect for readers of Agatha Christie and Jacqueline Winspear.Called to the peaceful wooded churchyard of St John-at-Hampstead, Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose faces one of the most audacious and unusual murders of his career. The body of the church's organist is found in an opened grave, together with a photograph of a manor house and a cryptic note. The image leads Archie to Cambridge, where the crisp autumn air has brought with it bustling life to the ancient university and town.Mystery author Josephine Tey and Archie's lover Bridget Foley have each recently settled in Cambridge, though both women are not equally happy to see him. One has concealed an important secret from Archie which now threatens to come to light. Meanwhile, the change of seasons has also brought with it a series of vicious attacks against women in town, spreading fear and suspicion through the community.Soon, another body is revealed, and in the shadow of King's College Chapel, Archie uncovers a connection twenty-five years old which haunted both victims-as well as some of their living companions. As Archie and Josephine each grapple with savage malefactors intent on making their victims pay, they must race to stop another attack in this beautifully written, intricately plotted mystery.

Nicola Upson (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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The Valley of the Shadow:A Cornish Mystery

While out on a walk, Eleanor Trewynn, her niece Megan, and her neighbor Nick spot a young, half-drowned Indian man floating in the water. Delirious and concussed, he utters a cryptic message about his family being trapped in a cave and his mother dying. The young man, unconscious and unable to help, is whisked away to a hospital while a desperate effort is mounted to find the missing family in time. The local police inspector presumes that they are refugees from East Africa, abandoned by the smugglers who brought them into England. While the Cornwall countryside is being scoured for the family, Eleanor herself descends into a dangerous den of smugglers in a desperate search to find the man responsible while there is still time.

Carola Dunn (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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A Colourful Death: A Cornish Mystery

Eleanor Trewynn is a recently retired widow who has moved to the small village of Port Mabyn in Cornwall. Neither frail nor retiring, after a lifetime of traveling the world, she's ready for an uneventful life with her dog and friends in this quiet town. Unfortunately, excitement seems to happen around her. Her friend and neighbor, artist Nick Gresham, returns from a trip only to find several of his paintings slashed, reportedly by rival local artist Geoffrey Clarke. When Nick goes to have it out with him, with Eleanor in tow, they find Clarke's body in his studio, fatally stabbed in the back. Accused of the crime, Nick ends up in jail, while Detective Inspector Scumble and DS Megan Pencarrow, Eleanor's niece, investigate. But in A Colourful Death, the second Cornish Mystery from Carola Dunn, Eleanor isn't leaving anything to chance-she starts doing a little investigating of her own, and soon learns that Nick is far from the only one with a compelling motive for murder.

Carola Dunn (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Manna from Hades

Eleanor Trewynn is a widow of some years living in Port Mabyn, a small fishing village in Cornwall, England. In her younger days, she traveled the exotic parts of the world with her husband. These days, she's retired and founded the local charity shop. Her niece, Megan Pencarrow, transferred nearby, and was recently promoted to the rank of Detective Sargent. Perhaps the only downside is that she is now working for a DI who doesn't approve of women on the police force and who really doesn't much approve of Megan's aunt Eleanor, as she is something of a thorn in his rather substantial side. All of these factors collide when, the day after collecting donations, Eleanor and the vicar's wife find the dead body of a long-haired, scruffy-looking youth hidden in the stockroom of the charity shop. Then they discover that some donated jewelry thought to be fake is actually very real, very expensive, and the haul from a violent robbery in London. Making matters more complex, the corpse found in the storeroom is apparently not one of the robbers. Carola Dunn's Manna from Hades is a confounding Cornish case of daring theft, doublecross, and a wily older woman confronted by a case of murder most foul.

Carola Dunn (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Buried in the Country

"After many years working around the world for an international charity in the late 1960s, Eleanor Trewynn has retired to the relative quiet of a small town in Cornwall. But her quiet life is short-lived when, due to her experience, the Commonwealth Relations Office reaches out to her to assist in a secret conference that is to take place in a small hotel outside the historical village of Tintagel. Meanwhile, her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, is investigating the disappearance of a local solicitor when she is assigned to help provide security for the conference. Two African students, refugees from Ian Smith's Rhodesia, arrive for the conference, escorted by Megan's bête noire from Scotland Yard. They are followed by two mysterious and sinister Londoners, whose allegiances and connections to the conference and the missing solicitor are unclear. With a raging storm having trapped everyone in the hotel, the stage is set for murder, and it's up to Eleanor and Megan to uncover the truth before more lives are lost."

Carola Dunn (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Satan's Lullaby

It is the autumn of 1278. The harvest is in. The air is crisp. Dusty summer breathes a last sigh before the dark seasons arrive. For Prioress Eleanor, dark times arrive early in Norfolk. The head of her order, Abbess Isabeau, has sent Father Etienne Davoir from their headquarters in France to inspect all aspects of Tyndal Priory, from its morals to its roofs. Surely the abbess would not have chosen her own brother for this rare and thorough investigation unless the cause was serious and she had reason to fear intervention from Rome. Prioress Eleanor knows something is terribly amiss. The situation turns calamitous when Davoir's sick clerk dies from a potion sent by Sister Anne, Tyndal's sub-infirmarian. Is Sister Anne guilty of simple incompetence-or murder? Or, Davoir asks, did Prioress Eleanor order the death to frighten him away before he discovered the truth behind accusations that she is unfit for her position? When Davoir himself is threatened, the priest roars for justice. Even expectant father Crowner Ralf, the local representative of the king's justice, has lost all objectivity. The most likely suspects are Anne, the woman Ralf once loved, the prioress he respects, and the Tyndal monk, Thomas, who is his closest friend. Who among the French and English assembled at Tyndal has succumbed to Satan's lullaby? "[In] Royal's outstanding eleventh medieval whodunit featuring Prioress Eleanor and Brother

Priscilla Royal (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Covenant with Hell: A Medieval Mystery

In the spring of 1277, Prioress Eleanor goes on a pilgrimage to a famous East Anglian shrine. There are rumors that King Edward may also visit the shrine soon to seek God's blessing for his invasion of Wales. Lurking in this sacred place, however, is an assassin hoping to murder a king. Soon after Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas arrive, a nun falls to her death from the priory bell tower. Brother Thomas finds the body, and the pair quickly grasp that this nun's death was not an accident. The circumstances point to murder, but this slaying is further tainted with treason. Among the pilgrims, merchants, and religious, too many betray an interest in this death-including a canny street child. At least one of them is most certainly a killer. Can Prioress Eleanor and Brother Thomas succeed in exposing the assassin, or will they also fall victim to the one who has made a covenant with hell?

Priscilla Royal (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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The Duchess

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK Now a major motion picture starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes Lady Georgiana Spencer was the great-great-great-great-aunt of Diana, Princess of Wales, and was nearly as famous in her day. In 1774 Georgiana achieved immediate celebrity by marrying William Cavendish, fifth duke of Devonshire, one of England's richest and most influential aristocrats. She became the queen of fashionable society and founder of the most important political salon of her time. But Georgiana's public success concealed an unhappy marriage, a gambling addiction, drinking, drug-taking, and rampant love affairs with the leading politicians of the day. With penetrating insight, Amanda Foreman reveals a fascinating woman whose struggle against her own weaknesses, whose great beauty and flamboyance, and whose determination to play a part in the affairs of the world make her a vibrant, astonishingly contemporary figure.

Amanda Foreman (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Justice for the Damned

It is May 1272, and Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, recovering from a near-fatal winter fever, journeys to Amesbury Priory to visit her aunt in time for the Feast of Saint Melor. Although Eleanor hopes to regain her strength in the midst of pleasant childhood memories, death reveals a most troublesome fondness for her company. A ghost now haunts Amesbury. Is it perhaps the spirit of a pregnant woman who drowned herself in the River Avon? But soon the specter turns murderous. A man is decapitated near the river where the grim figure walks, yet Sister Beatrice, Eleanor's aunt and acting prioress of Amesbury, shows an uncharacteristic hesitancy about taking charge of any investigation. As others apparently fall victim to the vengeful ghost, Eleanor struggles to put a human face on the restless spirit, and Brother Thomas, pursuing a secret mission for the church connected with the priory's famous psaltery, finds that his own demons have unexpectedly taken on a very human form. Corpses grow in number. Death dances with glee. All hope of sweet spring begins to die, and even love takes on a somber hue. "Riveting...The author subtly treats the erotic charge surrounding Eleanor and Thomas while shedding light on thirteenth-century understandings of sexuality. Royal draws together the murder, the manuscript, and the ghost in an unexpected conclusion."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Priscilla Royal (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Tyrant of the Mind

In the winter of 1271, death stalks the corridors of Wynethorpe Castle on the Welsh border. When the Grim Reaper touches the beloved grandson of the castle lord, Baron Adam sends for his daughter, Prioress Eleanor of Tyndal, and her subinfirmarian, Sister Anne, to save the child with their prayers and healing talents. Escorting them to the remote fortress is Brother Thomas, an unwilling monk fighting his private demons. Death may be denied once in his quest for souls but never twice. Soon after the trio arrives, an important guest is murdered. The prioress' brother, bloody dagger in hand, stands over the corpse. All others may believe in his guilt, but Eleanor is convinced her brother is innocent. Outside her priory, in a world of armed men, Eleanor may have little authority, but she is determined to untangle the Gordian knot of thwarted passions and old resentments even if it means defying her father, a man with whom she longs to make peace. As passions rise with the winter wind and time runs short, Eleanor, Anne, and Thomas struggle to find the real killer. "[A] medieval mystery featuring the delightfully flawed Eleanor, Prioress of Tyndal...Aided by the handsome and mysterious Brother Thomas, Eleanor sets her logical mind to solving the puzzle while grappling with the complicated emotional ties between Henry's family and her own...Royal combines an intriguing 'country house' mystery with an cast of engaging characters whose realistically complex motives and personal issues lend the story depth. With a deft and subtle flair rivaling that of Brother Cadfael, Prioress Eleanor sets her world to rights and leaves us wanting more."-Booklist

Priscilla Royal (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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London Rain

Intrepid writer and amateur sleuth Josephine Tey returns in this sixth installment in Nicola Upson's popular series-perfect for fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Jaqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs-that unfolds in 1930s London as England prepares to crown a new king. London, 1937. Following the gloomy days of the abdication of King Edward VIII, the entire city is elated to welcome King George. Just one of the many planned festivities for the historic coronation is a BBC radio adaptation of Queen of Scots, and the original playwright, Josephine Tey, has been invited to sit in on rehearsals. Soon, however, Josephine gets wrapped up in another sort of drama. The lead actress has been sleeping with Britain's most venerable newsman, Anthony Beresford-and his humiliated wife happens to work in the building. The sordid affair seems to reach its bloody climax when Beresford is shot to death in his broadcasting booth at the deafening height of the coronation ceremony. Josephine's dear friend Detective Chief Inspector Archie Penrose has the case wrapped up before long. But when a second, seemingly related murder throws Penrose for a loop, it falls to Josephine to unravel a web of betrayal, jealousy, and long-held secrets ... caught all the while in a love triangle of her own making. Charming and provocative, thick with the atmosphere of prewar England, London Rain is a captivating portrait of a city on the edge-and an unforgettable woman always one step ahead of her time. "The coronation of George VI in 1937 provides the backdrop for Upson's psychologically complex and twisty sixth whodunit featuring real-life mystery writer Josephine Tey...Upson adroitly confounds the reader's expectations, and her subtle and emotionally intelligent exploration of Josephine's relationship with her lover, Marta Hallard, adds depth."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Nicola Upson (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Land of Shadows: A Medieval Mystery

A royal birth, a nobleman's death, and a scarlet woman's murder In March 1279 Edward I takes a break from hammering the Welsh and bearing down on England's Jews to vacation in Gloucestershire. The royal party breaks the journey at Woodstock Manor. There, one life begins as the queen gives birth to a daughter and one draws to an end as apoplexy fells Baron Adam Wynethorpe. Hastening to the baron's deathbed is his eldest son, Hugh, a veteran of Edward's Crusades who can't shake off the battle horrors he has witnessed. The baron's daughter, Prioress Eleanor, has already arrived to tend to her father, bringing along her subinfirmarian, Sister Anne, and the monk Brother Thomas. Awaiting Hugh is his illegitimate son, Richard, a youth filled with rebellion-and a secret. The royal manor is packed with troubling guests, including a sinister priest, an elderly Jewish mother mourning a son hanged for the treason of coin-clipping, contentious and greedy courtiers, and a lusty wife engaged with more than one lover. Quite soon, the wife is found hanged. Prioress Eleanor and Sister Anne persuade the high sheriff of Berkshire that Mistress Hawis' death was not a suicide. In fact, many at the manor had reason to wish Hawis dead. And one of the suspects is Richard. In her twelfth novel, Royal once again "amplifies and deepens her series characters in the service of a clever plot that elevates her work to the top rank of historical mystery writers," as Publishers Weekly said in a starred review of Satan's Lullaby, the eleventh in a series recommended by Sharon Kay Penman and favorably compared to Ellis Peters' Cadfael books. "Royal's thoughtful twelfth medieval mystery takes Prioress Eleanor and Sister Anne, a skilled 'sub-infirmarian' who nurses the sick, from Tyndal Priory to Woodstock Manor, where the prioress' father, Baron Adam of Wynethorpe, has been struck by apoplexy during a royal visit...Royal matches a clever story line with intelligent characterizations, while providing a disturbing look at anti-Semitism in thirteenth-century England."-Publishers Weekly

Priscilla Royal (Author), Wanda McCaddon (Narrator)

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Audiobooks Narrated by Wanda McCaddon