Showing results by narrator "Gordon Griffin" in All Categories

Following the split from her husband, Helen Pascoe decides to take her children away from London to live in a lovely old house near Falmouth. The family are beginning to feel happy and settled, when the local community is stunned by a murder. A young man has been found stabbed at the crossroads of two narrow lanes - a place where legend says a gibbet once stood. It is DCI Channon's territory, and he soon finds that the victim is connected to the Pascoe family, as well as to other residents of the once humble fishing village.

When David Sterne went up to London to seek his fortune, Adolf Hitler was rampant and the shadow of impending conflict lay forebodingly over Europe. He was still struggling to make a living when war broke out and he was swept into it. Six years of his life were to be spent in the King's uniform. And so began his dramatic climb to success - with a little help from Frederica Lathwell. Then, of course, there was Angela Street...

A body neatly wrapped in brown paper is found by the gardener, Mr Turtle, on his garden rubbish heap. The police are again summoned to the convent, and we meet again the now Deputy Commissioner Pearson, along with many of the characters so charmingly and empathetically described in the first audiobook.

When Stella Swift is discovered holding a shard of broken glass near her newborn baby boy, fears that she might harm William result in her being taken to Catcombe - the local asylum. Although the regime is not as harsh as it once was, it's not somewhere that Tom wants to send his wife - but he has no choice. Turning to his kind-hearted sister-in-law Grace for help taking care of his other three children whilst he keeps working at the mine seems like the simplest solution until Stella is well - if only there wasn't the shared history between Tom and Grace....

The Sykes family have lived at Fairley Terrace since their youngest daughter, Rowan, was born. Fiercely clever, Rowan finds it difficult to fit in with the other village children, so when her beloved older sister, Laurel, takes a new job and moves back home, Rowan is overjoyed. Laurel is happy to be with her family - even if she's keeping the real reason for her return to herself. It seems like she's destined to keep repeating the mistakes of her past when it comes to matters of the heart.

Jenny Simmons has always thought of herself as the ugly duckling of her family, so when she blossoms into a swan, she’s not quite sure what to do. When amateur boxer Bryn Thompson walks into her life, it seems happiness really is possible. But then a well-kept family secret rears its ugly head, a secret that could put her very life in danger.... Helen Hall, a newly qualified doctor, may just be able to help her, but will she risk the job she loves in order to do it?

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. 'The Wall' vividly captures the horror and reality of the Blitz with a firsthand recollection of a particularly fateful night from a member of the National Fire Service. 

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. 'I Had to Go Sick' tackles army bureaucracy as we follow an unnamed narrator through the army medical system during WW2 and the mounting ridiculousness of the rules and regulations for soldiers to be declared fit for service.

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. In 'In the Orange Grove', the author takes us to India and describes his experience of fighting overseas.

The Second World War sparked the writing of hundreds of short stories by servicemen and women as well as civilians. They appeared in magazines and collections during and after the war and addressed all areas of the conflict, from the home front to service abroad. Short stories offer a wonderful insight into everyday concerns on the various front lines and illustrate the humour that kept up morale as well as the despair and confusion felt by so many.

The English novelist Patrick O’Brian is much admired for his best-selling Aubrey-Maturin series of sea novels - the unexpected success of the series secured his place in literary history. Far less is known about O’Brian’s personal life, largely because he preferred to keep it that way. In A Very Private Life, O’Brian’s stepson Nikolai Tolstoy draws upon his stepfather’s archives and papers to faithfully capture a life dedicated to the written word.

As the shadows lengthen over the June grass, all England is heading for Epsom Downs - high life and low life, society beauties and Whitechapel street girls, bookmakers and gypsies, hawkers and acrobats, punters and thieves. Whole families stream along the Surrey back-roads, towards the greatest race of the year. Hopes are high, nerves are taut, hats are tossed in the air - this is Derby Day.

Olivier is a French aristocrat, the traumatized child of survivors of the Revolution. Parrot is the son of an itinerant printer who always wanted to be an artist but has ended up a servant. Born on different sides of history, their lives will be brought together by their travels in America. When Olivier sets sail for the New World, ostensibly to study its prisons but in reality to save his neck from one more revolution – Parrot is sent with him, as spy, protector, foe, and foil.

For Tim Roxham, a young railway policeman, and Fay Rossiter, the problems of relationships across the social divide in pre-war England pale into insignificance when Mr Chamberlain's tired voice announces that the country is at war with Germany. Now it's not just their love that is threatened but their very lives. Against a background of increasingly disturbing events in Europe, and fierce resistance from Fay's wealthy family and friends, they fight for their relationship in the face of adversity. But as the war rips them apart, only time will tell if they are strong enough to win through.

During the long hot summer of 1976, a brilliant young Cambridge mathematician arrives in a remote village in the Lake District and takes on a job as a farm labourer. Painfully awkward and shy, Spencer Little is viewed with suspicion by the community and his only real friendship is with scruffy, clever 10-year-old Alice. When he saves Alice from a wild-fire, the locals at last begin to accept him, but as he is drawn deeper into their lives, he also becomes aware of their secrets - and of the difficulty of keeping his own.

It's a steamy, sultry day in a Mediterranean summer. Wealthy lawyer Terrence, his wife Cathy, their daughter Lucy, and a doctor are relaxing on the yacht that is Terence's pride and joy. Suddenly, a storm whips up from nowhere.

A story from Night in the Front Line, a collection of Second World War short stories. In this lighthearted short story, a farm labourer observes the land girls going about their work and wondering what the future might hold for the farming industry. 

A tool is an object with endless possibilities. Contained within each item is the chance to create, to inspire, to repair and improve. It's no wonder that scientific studies have shown humans are hardwired to appreciate hardware. This book is a celebration of both that potential and our reverence, exploring more than 150 incredible tools, their history, their unique appeal and how they are used by creative people to make just about anything.

Having coffee with a famous footballer would be the highlight of the year for many people. Not so for private eye Billy Rucker. Just hours after meeting Jack Draper - 'Super Jack' to his adoring fans - Billy is standing over the brutalised body of a girl. A girl who was Jack Draper's mistress. Jack had wanted Billy to catch the person who had been stalking him. But now all the evidence points to Super Jack being a cold-blooded killer.