Showing results by narrator "Jilly Bond" in All Categories

In 1904, when she was six, Polly Flint went to live with her two holy aunts at the yellow house by the marsh - so close to the sea that it seemed to toss like a ship, so isolated that she might have been marooned on an island. And there she stayed for 81 years, while the century raged around her, while lamplight and Victorian order became chaos and nuclear dread. Crusoe's Daughter, ambitious, moving and wholly original, is her story.

As the woman who trained the great Best Mate to win three consecutive Cheltenham Gold Cups, no one could be better qualified than Henrietta Knight to discover what makes today's top jumps trainers succeed. From eccentric, outspoken Yorkshireman Mick Easterby to elegant, aristocratic Venetia Williams; from Irish wizard Willie Mullins to perfectionist champion trainer Paul Nicholls and young pretender Dan Skelton, here is a dazzling cast of extraordinary characters, all with their quirks and foibles but with one single-minded ambition - finding first-class horses and training them.

As young children, Josh Browning and his sister, Dilys, stumbled across a dead body while playing on the outskirts of their Cotswold village. Terrified by what they'd seen, neither of them told a soul. Now, 20 years later, Josh finds the dead woman's charm bracelet among his sister's possessions. Who better to tell than his trusted friend, the man he gardens for, retired Superintendent Alan Markby? As Markby listens to Josh's confession, alarm bells start to ring. The dates and details tie in with a missing person case that was never solved.

Elise is a true daughter of the chateau. She’d die before anything happened to Sainte Madeleine–even if it means betraying her own family. Alexandre, Elise’s brother, is destined to inherit–yet a dangerous rift with their father puts his future, and the chateau, in jeopardy. And for distant cousin Laurent, his life-long love for Elise will always call him back to Sainte Madeleine. But the peace of Europe rests on a knife-edge, and history has bigger plans than them all.

In a beautiful Southern Spanish town, where the sea sparkles and orange blossoms scent the air, the gates of a brand-new apartment complex, La Joya deAndalucía, glide open to welcome the new owners. Anna and Austen MacDonald, an Irish couple, are preparing to enjoy their retirement to the full. But the demands of family cause problems they have never foreseen and shake their marriage to the core. Sally-Ann Connolly Cooper, a feisty Texan mother of two young teenagers, is reeling from her husband's infidelity. La Joya becomes a place of solace for Sally.

When Juno Browne returns to the picturesque Dartmoor town of Ashburton after a brief holiday, she’s relieved to find that no one has been murdered while she was away. Though uncharitable friends suggest the quiet was simply due to her absence. Just as she’s settling back into her routine at the antiques shop and as domestic helper and dog walker, the brutal killing of local journalist Sandy Thomas shocks the town.

Over 100 generations, Mia's family has shaped Earth's history to push humanity to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices along the way. And now Mia finds herself about to help launch the first people into space. She can't take them to the stars, not quite yet. But with her adversary almost upon her, and with the future of the planet at stake, it's becoming clearer that obeying the first rule is no longer an option.

A high society Christmas Eve wedding at a remote Scottish castle sounds like the perfect winter getaway for the three Dahlias and their partners - until a snowstorm hits, cutting them off from the mainland, and civilisation. Which, of course, is when the dead body of one of the other guests turns up in the snow outside the family chapel. A dead body wearing a wedding dress and a stolen diamond necklace...

Best-selling children's book writer Angelica is amused and flattered at the attention of Jack, the owner of a vineyard in South Africa, whom she meets at a dinner party. With his easy charm and reputation as a ladies' man, Jack makes her feel good about herself - surely it can't do any harm to indulge in a mild email flirtation?

Rina accepts an invite to Aikensthorpe, a country-house hotel with a sinister past. Her fellow guests are an eccentric bunch of magicians and scholars who want to re-enact a séance. Back in 1872, it left one man dead and another mad. But Rina won’t be drawn into all of that. She's relieved when Detective MacGregor comes to her rescue. But then a blizzard sets in...leaving them trapped in the house, cut off from civilization. And then the first of the bodies is found—a distinguished scholar, smothered in his sleep. Who will be next to die on this dark and stormy night?

Leningrad, September 1941. German tanks surround the city, imprisoning those who live there. The besieged people of Leningrad face shells, starvation, and the Russian winter. Interweaving two love affairs in two generations, The Siege draws us deep into the Levin's family struggle to stay alive during this terrible winter.

When Sheba Hart joins St George's as the new pottery teacher, lonely Barbara Covett senses that she has found a kindred spirit. But Barbara is not the only one drawn to Sheba. Before long Sheba is involved in an illicit affair with a pupil, and Barbara is powerless to stop Sheba from pursuing her foolhardy course of action. But when the liaison is found out and Sheba's marriage falls apart, Barbara is loyally standing by, ready to provide succour.

With the festive season fast approaching, amateur sleuth Juno Browne helps organise a Christmas Fair to raise funds for Ashburton’s local animal sanctuary. The event is a success, but whilst Santa is handing out presents in the fairy-lit grotto, a murder is being committed in a dark corner of the garden. Juno discovers the body of Bob the Blacksmith, found clutching a horseshoe decorated with a sprig of elder. Suspicion falls on Bob’s longsuffering wife, Jackie, and on Don Drummond, with whom Bob violently quarrelled in the past

Fran Morrison, a travelling musician, is summoned home to London after her father suffers a stroke. She finds herself in charge of the family business - a stained glass workshop. When the vicar of the local church asks Fran to restore a shattered window, her research into its origins uncovers a fascinating and moving love story from the Victorian past that resonates in her own life.

Caro Swanson has taken a job in a remote part of Scotland. She’s answered an ad in The Lady: being a companion to an elderly gentleman who lives in a country estate could be perfect! Surely it is time to make a change and do something different for a while? The fact that she may also see Alec, the young man whom she met some years previously and whom she has always thought of as her ‘one who got away’, is of course purely incidental. Soon Caro is falling in love - not only with Alec but with the stunning house and grounds she is now living in.

Has Ella met her match? The glamour of the French Riviera quickly turns sour as she is caught up in an investigation that will have repercussions on both sides of the channel. When her mother telephones from France with news of her imminent arrest, Ella rushes to her aid, along with her aunt and an eccentric friend. But what starts as a simple disappearance quickly turns to murder, and Ella finds herself embroiled in a mystery that is far more complex than she’d anticipated.

The murder of aspiring crime writer Victoria Denby created a sensation at the time. The public's imagination was hooked by the detail of a paper dahlia placed beside the body, just like in one of Dahlia Lively's fictional cases. Was there a copycat killer at large in the peaceful town of Market Foxleigh? Despite the tabloids' fearmongering, the police quickly arrested Victoria's friend and fellow writer, Scott Baker, and when it emerged that he had also been accused of stalking Dahlia actress Caro Hooper, it seemed like an open and shut case.

Owen Ithell’s sense of self is rooted in his long, vivid visits to his grandparents’ small farm in the Welsh hills. As an adult he moves away from the country and meets Mel, with whom he has children. He believes he has found happiness. But following a car accident, in which his daughter is killed and he loses a hand, the course of his life is changed for ever. In his despair, he resolves to reconnect with both his past and the natural world.

A delicious Christmas feast of short stories from the Sunday Times number one best-selling author of A French Affair and The Perfect Match. Add some extra sparkle to your Christmas by joining Katie Fforde for a perfect romantic Christmas feast of short stories. Collected together for the first time and including one brand-new story. Make your Christmas wishes come true....

When the crime scene is pure coincidence and there’s no evidence, how can you prove it was murder? Ella Bridges faces her most challenging investigation so far when the vicar dies suddenly at the May Day fete. But with evidence scarce and her personal life unravelling in ways she could never have imagined, she misses vital clues in the investigation. Working alongside Scotland Yard, will Ella manage to unearth the clues needed to catch the killer before another life is lost? Or will personal shock cloud her mind and result in another tragedy?