Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

For more than a decade, two East End families have been locked in a bitter war. On one side are the Mitchells, a notorious underworld mob from East London's Canning Town. They have an iron in every fire and will resort to intimidation and violence to get what they want. On the other side are the O'Haras. The Mitchells' biggest rivals are a travelling family who live in nearby Stratford. They compete with the Mitchells for pub protection, and the two families hate each other.

Interior designer Kat is broke and desperately needs this commission restoring the Edwardian mansion of Fownhope Priors, but her employer Scott's wife and mother-in-law are a nightmare. Yet when they are killed in suspicious circumstances, and she is the last person to see him, she can't help but be drawn in to the family's feuds. Where has Scott Hawkesmoor vanished to? Is it back to Yorkshire where his wife and mother-in-law died? Or is it somewhere far stranger? And how can she ever explain it to anyone–especially the police–let alone how she knows?

Tracey Tempest adores her husband, Terry. But when on his 50th birthday, tragedy strikes, Tracey must face the terrifying prospect of a future without him. Desperate for answers and boiling with rage, Tracey wants revenge. Together with her beloved sons, Ricky and Jamie, the Tempest family dig deeper into Terry’s past—who would want to kill him, and why? But what they discover changes everything they knew about the man they loved and risks tearing their own family apart.

Lady Caroline is happy to be back amid the swirl of London society, guiding her employer's daughter, Dorothy Frogerton, through her first Season. Mrs. Frogerton, meanwhile, finds her own diversions, including spiritualist gatherings at the home of Madam Lavinia, and begs Caroline to come along. Caroline is sceptical of the Madam's antics and faux French accent—until she slips a note into Caroline's hand, which contains intimate family knowledge. Even as Caroline tries to discern whether the spiritualist's powers are real, a much darker mystery presents itself.

Becky, Bernie and Rose - three best friends from very different backgrounds - are working hard to establish themselves in prewar Spitalfields. Becky, the daughter of a Jewish tailor, wants to become a nurse, but her father has more traditional plans for her. Aching to leave the East End and travel the world, Bernie feels trapped by her vast family of poor Irish dock workers. And then there is Rose. Tiny and thin, she lives with her drunken mother and a revolving selection of surrogate fathers who exploit and brutalise them both.

London, 1940. The war is raging across Europe, and 23-year-old Grace is devastated by the loss of her husband, Brian, at Dunkirk after only a year of marriage. Her secretary job at a law firm keeps her mind from dwelling on her sorrow, but when her boss, James, enlists in the air force Grace is left without work. Alongside her best friend, Helen, the Grace joins the War Office in a move that will change their lives forever.

For most of her life, Judy Begg has been a loyal servant at Creek Manor and to Jack Fox, its future lord. But just as their childhood friendship blossoms into a secret engagement he abandons her to join his brother overseas. And with Creek Manor up for sale, Judy and her family lose everything. Devastated, Judy is nonetheless determined to make the best of her life. Resolving to forget about Jack, she battles to keep her family from poverty’s door and her mother from the hands of her violent husband.

Christmas Eve, 1909. When 11-year-old Lily Larkin is left to fend for herself in an East London workhouse after her dying mother is taken to an infirmary, her future looks bleak. Once she is separated from her twin brother, Davy, her childhood hopes seem to shatter. But Lily's fierce spirit - along with her beloved new friends - help her to endure the miserable drudgery of life at South Grove Workhouse and its cruel supervisor, Miss Fox.

It only takes one defeat to topple an empire. With Britain still in the grips of World War Two, Georgina Garrett has her own battles to fight. She has made many enemies over the years, and with every victory she's only grown stronger. But following a bitter betrayal, Georgina must find a way to claw herself out of the depths of despair and back to the top position within London's criminal underworld. She'll do whatever it takes to secure her freedom and defeat those who'd rather to see her dead.

Fun-loving Maisie is devoted to her young family and her work at Woolworths. But her happy life with her RAF officer husband and their baby daughter leads her to think of the family she left behind. With the war now into its fourth year, what will she find when she sets about searching for them? Sarah and her husband, Alan, are blissfully happy and long for a sibling for their daughter. But dark days lie ahead for this close family.

It is 1938, and the threat of war looms on the streets of London. But when the lights go down in the cinema aisles, usherette Daisy Blake is transported to a world of glamour and romance. Among the staff there is much merriment, and Daisy soon falls in love with the handsome organist, Al Dawson. Then war is declared, and, just after Al leaves for the front line, Daisy discovers she's pregnant.

Bodies surface and disappear, seduce and corrupt in these original stories by best-selling, award-winning female crime writers. Keep your eyes peeled, your ears cocked and your wits about you as 20 deliciously twisted tales take you to surprising places....

Maryann Nelson's widowed mother, Flo, sees the opportunity to better her family by marrying the local undertaker, Norman Griffin. Though on the surface a caring family man, Maryann and her sister, Sal, soon discover that he has another side to him. For Sal, it is too much to bear and she escapes, leaving Maryann to take revenge on Griffin. The chance of a new life opens up when she befriends Joel Batholomew, who works on the canal. Aboard his narrowboat, she finds herself falling in love with her new life.

Sammy Adams is always on the look-out for a new business opportunity. When he hears from his son David about the new-fangled supermarkets that are becoming all the rage in America, he immediately starts looking for a suitable site in South London. Meanwhile, legacies of the last war continue to haunt the Adams family. The mystery of Katje Galicia, the Polish woman who knows something of Sir Edwin Finch's past, becomes a major police enquiry while a beautiful German girl appears, bringing wartime memories back to Tim Adams and his wife, Felicity.

Lolly Bruce spent several years in the lap of luxury, but now she's back in a world she knows: London's East End. Her guardian Mal Fury is doing time, so Lolly is working on the wrong side of the law to get by. She'll need to use all her street smarts to keep her safe in Kellston. Then one day the Old Bill turn up on her doorstep. Mal is on the run, but why when he has only months left to serve? Lolly is convinced the only thing Mal would escape for is news about the daughter he lost 19 years ago. She's the only thing he has left to lose.

It’s Christmas 1880 in London’s East End, and a dying Irish girl leaves her baby in the care of the Sisters of Clemency. The nuns raise little Ettie O’Reilly as their own. But the lives of the nuns and orphans are soon crushed by an unexpected turn of events. Ettie is at her lowest ebb when she is betrayed by the boy who has promised his undying love and loyalty. She is faced with the revelation of a heart-wrenching secret.

The Lennicker sisters live in a cottage nestled amongst the counting houses, shops and inns, where the smugglers plot and the seamen drink. When their father – a fisherman and smuggler – is murdered by a rival gang, the eldest daughter, Louisa, is forced to carve out a living by trading illegally in French lace. She will do anything to keep a roof over her sisters’ heads, but what she truly desires is a way of wreaking revenge. With the threat of Napoleon approaching Britain’s shores, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Young Maisie Gibbs is a conscientious young woman, though life is harder since both her parents passed away. She is relieved when she finds a position as a housemaid in Kensington, under the watchful eyes of the formidable housekeeper, Mrs Carpenter, and she quickly settles in. When she meets a handsome young soldier, she is tempted to give him his marching orders. But gradually Corporal Daniel Adams starts to win her over.

Wood Green, North London, November 1913. The storm clouds of war gather overhead while one brave girl fights to save her family.... After her mother dies, Livvie Bone knows it's down to her to protect her younger siblings from their drunken father. But life on the worst street in London is dark and dangerous, and one night she needs protection herself. When the mysterious Joe Hunter steps in to help her, Livvie's fascinated by him, in spite of his unsavoury reputation.

When Rose escapes from London and her handsome and charming ex-lover, she has no idea her occupation as an aromatherapist will cause such a scandal in her new country village. All she wants is a bit of peace and quiet, but her new neighbours soon ensure that her life is more chaotic than ever before. But that may be because Rose is falling in love....