British Fiction

England 1921. Lady Elizabeth Gaskins is throwing a big party to celebrate her birthday. But when an odious guest gets killed and steals her thunder, her father, the Earl of Buxley, becomes a suspect. After all, he came to blows with the dead man in front of several witnesses. Determined to find out who murdered his childhood friend, Lord Buxley summons a detective from Scotland Yard. Not to be outdone, Lady Bess and her spunky cohorts, the oldest Dowager Countess and great aunts, embark on a hunt for the killer.

The remains of a 17th-century witch, an MP found hanging above a five-pointed star and three girls with powers beyond anyone's control. As DI Tanner and DS Evans endeavour to make plans for their big day, the chance discovery of Norfolk's last known witch, tried and hanged by Norfolk’s infamous Witchfinder General, sparks a chain of the most horrific events, none of which Tanner seems able to prevent.

Charming film writer and director Geraint Denbigh is found lifeless in the garden of his Welsh home. It looks like he fell from a window, but eagle-eyed Detective Chief Inspector Matt Lambert soon finds irregularities in the crime scene. Before long he determines it was murder. Recently retired, the victim was writing about his eventful life and many of his former colleagues and associates could have had reason to stop him before he spilled the beans on their transgressions.

Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. What was it like to love, live, and rebel in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries? These beloved British novels offer three dramatically different but universally recognisable experiences. Read by three luminaries of the stage and screen: Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, and Sir John Gielgud.

Sparkly and charming Natalie Fincher has it all—a handsome new husband, a fixer-upper cottage of her dreams, and the opportunity to tour with the musical she’s spent years writing. But when her husband suddenly dies, all her hopes and dreams instantly disappear. Two and a half years later, Natalie is still lost. She works, sleeps (well, as much as the sexually frustrated village foxes will allow), and sees friends just often enough to allay their worries, but her life is empty. And she can only bring herself to play music at a London train station’s public piano.

A body caught on the end of a mast, another skewered by a rhond hook, and a chain of evidence Tanner simply cannot accept. As a twisting gale howls its way over Barton Broad, DS Jenny Evans joins a handsome old friend to help rescue the crew of an overturned boat. But when they discover a body, snagged on the end of the mast, one murder soon follows another, leaving DI John Tanner facing a race against time, desperate to prove that the most obvious suspect isn’t who everyone seems to think it is.

Between her work in Cornwall’s oldest library and catching up with old friends over tea and chocolate biscuits, Jemima Jago is spending the season the only way she knows how: sunbathing, swimming, and sailing. But her postcard-perfect summer is turned upside down when the body of well-to-do businessman Hermie Castleberry is found on the sweeping white sands at the foot of Candlewick Castle.

They were meant to be safe on Fleet Ward: psychiatric patients monitored, treated, cared for. But now one of their number is found murdered, and the accusations begin to fly. Was it one of his fellow patients? A member of staff? Or did someone come in from the outside? DC Alice Armitage is methodical, tireless, and she's quickly on the trail of the killer. The only problem is, Alice is a patient too.

Crime-scene photographers Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they've ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England's top hangman. Sir Gerald, owner of the Daily World, announces that they‚ meaning Sarah and her friends‚ will investigate and solve Warbrick's murder before the police do. She and her friends discover a connection between Warbrick's murder and the most notorious criminal he ever executed: Amelia Carlisle.

When decades-old human bones are discovered beneath the old glasshouse behind Foxglove & Hemlock, the local florist, DS Harriet March and DI Ben Taylor find themselves digging into Raven's Edge's murky past. As a frosty wind whips down the cobblestoned lanes of the village, the two detectives feel an ominous chill that has nothing to do with the weather… The discovery coincides with the arrival of enigmatic novelist Iris Evergreen at Raven's Hollow, a gothic monstrosity of a mansion that's been sitting empty for years.

A hay barn is set on fire at Low Dale Farm. It seems that an arsonist is targeting isolated barns. Arnold Merryweather’s ancient bus helps catch a car thief. And when Nick arrests not only a pig thief but also the expectant pig, the police station cleaner is not very pleased. But it’s not all crime. A glider crashes into a romance in a thatched cottage, and then Constable Nick is involved in a plot to force a penny-pincher to spend money. In the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside of the 1960s, Constable Nick’s roles are as varied as the eccentric villagers.

Dan Corrigan wants to disappear. Burnt out by the pressures of corporate life, he escapes to the countryside. But when he least expects it, a chance discovery draws him into a compelling mystery. An ancient legend, a coded message on a stone slab, and a secret concealed in a country manor house: these are the clues that take Dan on a journey into the past, delving deeper into a hidden history.

Faced with financial ruin and the loss of her good name, Rose Chadwick decides to make a new start for herself and her young daughter Hannah in the rough-and-tumble gold rush town of Barkerville, British Columbia. However, making a new life is not so easy when it’s built on lies. Viscount Harrison St. John knows he’s expected to marry well to bolster his family fortunes. Instead, he leaves England to pursue riches in the gold fields of a town in the wilds of Canada. Will dark secrets from Rose’s past keep them apart? Or will they find love, happiness, and a new life together?

DCI Lesley Clarke thinks she’s close to solving her predecessor’s murder. But when the body of a police officer connected to the crime turns up in the abandoned village of Tyneham, the case steps up a gear. And when someone she's close to is threatened by the killer, Lesley’s quest for the truth becomes even more urgent. Can Lesley convince her senior officers of the truth, keep her team on track and protect her family?

In this delightful collection of tales of daffodil duty and sheep worrying, his duties are as varied and humorous as ever. Young Nick joins Albert Potter for a drink and discovers his homemade moorland wines are a headache in every sense of the word. When a farmer fits an ejector seat to his tractor, Constable Nick is forced to cope with the rumors of Roman soldiers racing their chariots across the moors.

A Detective Superintendent of the Nottinghamshire Police Force is found brutally murdered in the idyllic Clumber Park. The victim used to run the same Unit that DI Rob Loxley is now a part of. That was until a drug bust went badly wrong, resulting in the deaths of four officers. Corruption was suspected, and Rob is something of an expert on that. As the new DI of the unit, it falls to Rob to investigate the murder and find the killer, but this means dealing with Anti-Corruption, a worrying prospect at best.

Tom is a handsome rich British man who makes women hot under the collar with just his sexy accent alone. But, even with all the wealth he has, true love is what he is missing. Jillian on the other hand is a beautiful soulful lady that is your strong hard working everyday girl who lives life to the fullest. Even though they are from two different parts of the world, Jillian cannot resist that sexy smooth British accent that Tom has and before you know it cupids arrow must of hit both of them together.

As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann - a former model and “It Girl" of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade - for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.

It was their darkest secret. Three schoolgirls made a promise - to take the horrible truth of what they did to the grave. Thirty years later, Beth and Sally have tried to put the trauma behind them. Though Carol has distanced herself from her former friends, the three are adamant that the truth must never come to light, even if the memory still haunts them. But when some shocking news threatens to unearth their dark secret, Beth enlists the help of private investigator Matthew Hill to help her and Sally reconnect with estranged Carol.

Against the odds, former steel worker Harry Perkins has led the Labour Party to a stunning victory. His manifesto includes the removal of American bases, public control of finance and the dismantling of media empires. The Establishment is appalled. Something must be done. As MI5 conspires with the City and the press barons to bring Perkins down, he finds himself caught up in a no-holds-barred battle for survival.