Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

London, 1889: After Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat became a Victorian best seller, rowing on the Thames was the great craze of 1889. When an elementary school teacher in training takes a midnight swim in the Thames and witnesses a body being dumped, Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackerey are called to investigate. They uncover strange parallels with the enormously popular Victorian novel, but nobody will take them seriously. Following their instincts, they stick doggedly to the trail, which leads upstream to Oxford.

Lord Westfield's Men, the most successful troupe in London and a prime target for jealousy and resentment, are plagued by a series of practical jokes. But when one of their actors is murdered, the humour turns distinctly sour. Appalling events continue: Lawrence Firethorn, actor manager, is stalked by a mysterious lady; the sole copy of The Malevolent Comedy - the company's new play - is stolen; their leading apprentice is abducted; and there is an attempt on the life of Lord Westfield, their patron.

From the once-popular yet unfairly neglected Victorian writer Charlotte Riddell comes a pair of novels that cleverly upholster the familiar furniture of the haunted house story. In An Uninhabited House, the hauntings are seen through the perspective of the solicitors who hold the deed of the property. In Fairy Water, Riddell again subverts the expectations of the audience, suggesting a complex moral character for her haunting spirit.

When Jack Colby, car detective, hears the voice of his former wife, Eva, on the phone he fears the worst. The body of her husband, Mexican band leader Carlos, has been found and Eva becomes the chief suspect. Car detective Jack goes into action - although he is hindered by a second case, as the beautiful 20-year-old Daisy is determined that his efforts should be devoted to finding her stolen Morris Minor.

Anzo is 11 years old and very, very short. Mum, dad and his two uncles are extremely tall and also high achievers, obsessed with fulfilling their lifelong ambition of opening a restaurant together. But where does Anzo fit in? If only he could grow a few inches in height, no one would be able to overlook him. Then, overnight, Anzo starts to grow. Is life as a giant going to solve all his problems, or should he learn to just be himself?

The eighth book in the Sergeant Cribb series by Peter Lovesey. London, 1888. Though Miriam Cromer has confessed to the murder of her husband's assistant, she is still confident of her acquittal. However, the jury sentence her to hang. Miriam then says her husband was the killer, but he has an alibi. Can Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray discover what really happened at Park Lodge on that fateful day in March before it's too late?

I’ve watched him from afar for years. And he has no idea. I take joy in that. Through my observations, I’ve learned what makes this charming villain tick. Whisky. Power. Beautiful women. And Sex. Lots of it. Sometimes you must get into bed with the enemy for the greater good. And that’s what I’ll do; it’s all part of making Sinclair Breckenridge fall in love with me so I can penetrate his inner circle. There’s hell to pay. I’m a dark horse. The perfect storm. I am Bleu MacAllister. And I’m coming for him.

A playwright is murdered, seemingly in connection with the suspected blackmail of his friend—a rising young MP who, without explanation, disappeared from public view before his untimely death. With a number of high-profile suspects to investigate, the key to solving the case rests on a written clue left behind by the killer....

Crimes are rare in Singapore, but when there's one that has the police baffled, it is Inspector Zhang that they turn to. From locked-room mysteries to murders disguised as suicide, Inspector Zhang is able to draw on his experience as a detective along with tricks he has learned from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. See if you can solve the crimes before the Inspector - the clues are there!

Private detective Nigel Strangeways attends a dinner with an elite group of detective fiction writers, known as The Assassins’ Club. A room full of crime enthusiasts seems like an amusing setting for a murder...until one happens at the dinner table. With no shortage of suspects capable of thinking up a murder plot, Strangeways must quickly deduce who in the room could be responsible for the crime.

When the police are called to the report of a late-night shooting, they expect it to be drugs or gang-related. They don’t expect to find a young student executed on his way home. Jordan Radley was an aspiring journalist: hard working, well-liked, dedicated. His first major story - looking at the fallout following the closure of a major local factory - had run recently and looked to be the first step in his longed-for career. Even after the story ran, Jordan continued to stay in contact with those he interviewed: he was on his way back from their social club the night he was murdered.

Colm's powers could save humanity from extinction … if he can learn to control them. For centuries, humanity has viewed the sentrienza with wonder and reverence. They gifted humanity with technology and knowledge, teaching us the secrets of space travel. Until the Ghosts arrived and everything changed. Among the slaughter of the Ghost invasion, humanity learned an awful truth: Every gift from the sentrienza comes at a price. The price is our freedom. Now humanity is fighting back, but it’s an uphill battle. We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and the sentrienza have the home-field advantage.

'The Editor of Wisden is an important personage. It is he who decides the policy of the Cricketers’ Bible and cricketers the world over look to him to give a lead on all controversial problems. His is, therefore, no easy task, but Wisden has been fortunate in its editors.' That was written in 1933, and it is still true. The heart of the Almanack is the section entitled "Notes by the Editor". The editor's opinions can change careers, laws - indeed every part of the game.

The world's leading toy manufacturer gives each of its amazing toys a tiny, computerized brain and a unique personality. But sometimes there's a problem. Dan, a 'Snugliffic Cuddlestar' bear, should be perfect for hugging. But because of a faulty chip, he's so strong he could crush a car. In the rejects pile, he meets Arabella, a 'Loadsasmiles Sunshine' doll with a temper. Soon Dan, Arabella and Flax, a police robot rabbit, are recruited by the head of the toy world because of their faults. Their first mission is to protect a senator's eight-year-old son from being kidnapped.

Having picked up a commendation from Sussex Police, Lord Harrington and his wife, Beth, are given a curious task by DCI George Lane - to observe Theodore Livingstone, Member of Parliament, who has a second home in Cavendish. James and Beth discover that Theodore is not to be crossed and that his son, Maximillian, is the editor of a salacious gossip magazine. Both are boorish men, driven by money and power. And when a body is discovered, with links to the Livingstone family, James puts his sleuthing skills to the test.

Out of the courts of 12th-century England strode the legendary figure of Richard of England leading his knights onto the Saracen battlefields, inspired by a vision of the Holy Land. Here is the story of the Soldier-King and the Third Crusade - of his strange, ill-fated union with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre; and of his mother, the She-Wolf, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. And, above all, here is the story of the minstrel whose life was linked with that of the King - the story of Blondel, the Lute Player....

Daniel had a hard time when his parents split up and his dad started working abroad. He had to move and start at a new school, but things changed for the better when he started playing football for the Haybrook Rockets. This season the team are in with a chance of winning the Championship, but just as things are looking up for Daniel his dad comes back and the only time he can meet up is a Saturday morning – when Daniel plays football. He doesn’t want to let his dad or his team down, so what is Daniel going to do?

The fabulous Chimera - mythic monster, part lion, part goat, part serpent - is more that just an Etruscan bronze discovered by archaeologist David Hewison. It lurks in the background of this novel as a symbol of the man himself: part Italian, part English, an explorer of the past who is haunted by his own past when he parachuted into wartime Italy as an SOE agent.

Pippin's just an ordinary little girl who lives with her ordinary granny in the ordinary town of Funsprings. Or so she thinks. When some terrible goings on start occurring, Granny is forced to reveal that Pippin has a special gift - she is Shiny and can talk to animals! But life's not all fun times. Not only has all the water gone, the animals are disappearing, too. Someone must be behind all this, and it's up to Pippin to find out who....

One morning before dawn at her regal country estate, Lady Lavinia Truelove is crushed to death by a horse. Classified as “death by misadventure”, this appears a gruesome accident, but Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands suspects foul play. His suspicions are aggravated by his personal grievances toward Sir James Truelove, Lady Lavinia's widower and the influential academic patron of Dorcas Joliffe, whom Joe one day hopes to marry.