Showing results by narrator "Déirdra Whelan" in All Categories

London, 1899: Head of Special Branch Commander Thomas Pitt is summoned to Buckingham Palace. In the twilight of her years, Queen Victoria is all too aware that the Prince of Wales will soon inherit her empire and must be beyond reproach. She tells Pitt she tasked her close friend and confidant, John Halberd, with investigating the Prince's friends, specifically Alan Kendrick, a wealthy playboy and betting man, but before he could report back Halberd was found dead in a rowing boat on the Serpentine.

The year is 1348, and the plague is set to sweep through England, leaving tragedy in its wake. Unaware of what awaits her, Agnes is in love and betrothed to Ted. But her life is about to be torn apart, and nothing will ever be the same again. Jennifer’s life has changed for the better since she arrived in Italy. She’s put her past behind her and can finally look forward to a brighter future with boyfriend, Francesco, and her Italian relatives, if it wasn’t for the disturbing visions she keeps having of a pregnant young girl. Who is she? And what is her connection to Jennifer?

Taking you on an in-depth tour of your everyday household products, Anna Turns reveals the harmful chemicals that lurk inside your home, the damage they can cause and helpful swaps and tips to avoid them wherever you can. Go Toxic Free is a vital guide to help us all make important changes to our lifestyles and consumption to help reduce the devastating impact of chemical pollution.

After the year Aidan and I have had, we needed some respite. My husband is overworked, whilst I'm anxious about the past, so renting a night at this converted barn house in the countryside seems like the perfect place for the pair of us to relax and unwind. It might be situated at the bottom of a large garden, but it's private enough that we don't have to mingle with the homeowners who live nearby. Or at least that's what I thought...

Lucy is a successful businesswoman who loves nothing more than to spend her time competing in fun challenges with friends, colleagues and even strangers. But she might just have met her match when she encounters Jess, a woman who is not used to losing at anything. Jess is very much like Lucy when it comes to a fondness for competition, only a more extreme version, and as the pair become friends, it's clear that a rivalry is developing between them in the fields of business, love and beyond. But as the lives of both women become more intertwined, that rivalry becomes more intense.

Val, a widow living in Weston-super-Mare, spends lonely evenings dressing up as the movie star Elizabeth Taylor. It seems to be a way of coping with the loss and sadness she has experienced in her life. One day, when Val sees a pram left unattended on the seafront, on a whim she kicks off the brake and walks away with it.

Anne Perry's Inspector William Monk: in search of justice, he will not stop until he has found the truth...Oliver Rathbone, William Monk's close friend, has presided brilliantly over his first cases as a judge. But the next will bring a far greater challenge. Abel Taft, a charismatic minister adored by his congregation, stands accused of terrible corruption and fraud which has ruined the lives of those he's betrayed.In court, each victim affirms Taft's guilt, but when the defence's star witness tears their stories apart, the case seems lost.

Since Ginevra Innocenti’s death, the cottage has lain empty and abandoned in the woods. Until the day Ginevra’s granddaughter, Sara, sees a dragonfly in the depths of winter. Intrigued, she follows it and discovers the forgotten cottage. When Sara learns that her grandmother was once a healer, a series of events is set in motion which could lead to the end of the family legacy. As long-hidden secrets are revealed, Sara starts to doubt everything she once believed in. Her mind in turmoil, she no longer knows whether she can follow in the footsteps of her ancestors.

London, 1870: The body of a Hungarian immigrant is found dead in what appears to be a ritualistic killing, with a bayonet through his heart, his fingers broken and his body surrounded by 17 blood-dipped candles. At first Commander William Monk of the Thames River Police suspects the killer is from within the community, but when another murder takes place, Monk fears the immigrants are being targeted by an outsider.... Meanwhile, Hester is reunited with a doctor who had been left for dead on a Crimean battlefield.

One night, in a corridor of the Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich, nurse Hester Monk is approached by a terrified girl. She's from a hidden ward of children, all subject to frequent blood-letting, and her brother is dying. While William Monk's River Police fight to keep London safe from gun-runners, Hester takes on a new role at the hospital, helping to administer a secretive new treatment. But she slowly realises that this experimental cure is putting the lives of the children at risk.

As a leader, do you feel you face a straight choice between high performance versus wellbeing? Strategic resilience allows you to achieve both, without compromise. At The Resilience Engine, we believe that everyone deserves to perform well without compromising their wellbeing. We know our approach works because it’s backed up by 10 years of research and experience with thousands of clients in more than 75 organisations.

When Commander Thomas Pitt is ordered to protect a young woman visiting London from Spain, he cannot see why this is a job for Special Branch. When she disappears in the dead of night from Angel Court, however, he is faced with a dangerous mystery. Sofia preached new, and some say blasphemous, religious ideals, and her life had been threatened. But Pitt senses there is some deeper and more dangerous reason for her kidnap - if that is what it is.

Britain has a single pod of orca, also known as killer whales, native to its home waters, although other orca visit from more northern regions. In 2014, Dr. Natalie Sanders joined the crew of the HV Silurian to seek them out and study them before we lose them forever. In The Last Sunset in the West, she discusses them one by one, and the many issues surrounding their lives in a captivating account that will take the listener deep into the history of our relations with the sentient and beautiful creatures.

The discovery of radium in the late 19th century prompted a flurry of experiments to scope the limits of its potential applications. Half Lives tells the fascinating, curious, sometimes macabre story of the element through its ascendance as a desirable item - a present for a queen, a prize in a treasure hunt, a glow-in-the-dark dance costume, a boon to the housewife and an ingredient in a startling host of consumer products - to its role as a cure-all in everyday 20th-century life.

For centuries mankind has waged war against the infections that, left untreated, would have the power to wipe out communities, or even entire populations. Yet for all our advanced scientific knowledge, only one human disease - smallpox - has ever been eradicated globally. In recent years, outbreaks of Ebola and Zika have provided vivid examples of how difficult it is to contain an infection once it strikes and the panic that a rapidly spreading epidemic can ignite.

A sister searches for her missing brother as a new power rises amid the splendour and the squalor of a once great city. Lower Rhumbsford is a city far removed from its glory days. On the banks of the great river Rhumb, its founding fathers channelled the river's mighty flow into a subterranean labyrinth of pipes, valves and sluices, a feat of hydraulic prowess that would come to power an empire. But a thousand years have passed since then, and something is wrong.

Amy is a loving wife and mother to her husband and two children, Michael and Bella. It's that dedication to her family that causes her to seek help for her teenage son when it becomes apparent he is going to fail his end of school exams. Enlisting the help of a professional tutor, Amy is certain that she is doing the best thing for her child. But when she discovers that there is more to this tutor than meets the eye, it is already too late. With the rest of her family enamoured, Amy is the only one who can see that there is something not quite right about her.

The new historical thriller featuring William Monk from The New York Times best-selling author. London, 1856: A deadly act of terror on the Thames leads William Monk into a treacherous world where the powerful seek to buy justice, and no one is safe. It is a time of progress, with the Empire's interests expanding and the Suez Canal nearing completion. Many people stand to gain - and to lose - as the world rapidly changes.

When Annie marries Harry after years of heartache in a London slum she believes she's found her happy ever after. But the horrors of the Blitz soon threaten everything they hold dear. The terrible sights Harry witnesses as an air raid warden bring back traumatic memories of his time during the First World War. Suddenly Annie finds herself struggling to cope not only with life in wartime and two little children, but also with a husband who seems like a stranger.

Emma Bowen has never had a close relationship with her mother, barely speaking with her in the last years of her life. But after her mother’s death, Emma finds something that might just explain the distance between them. Discovering letters between her mother and grandmother, it seems to Emma that her mother has always been difficult. As she searches for answers about her own childhood, Emma is drawn into the mystery of her mother’s enigmatic life.