Showing results by narrator "Tamsin Kennard" in All Categories

When 11-year-old Blair Smearton is abducted near a river bank on the hottest day of the year, no one can trace the man spotted taking her. Detective Anna Gwynne is back at work with her cold case unit following a brutal attack that nearly cost her her life. She’s investigating the death of young Rosie Dawson, whose bones were found hidden in a hole in the ground 10 years ago. The only lead Anna has is a photo of Rosie posted on a chat room hidden deep online. And then she finds one of Blair. Kidnapped. In the exact same dark room.

Holly Wakefield was just nine years old when her parents were murdered by notorious serial killer The Animal. The devastating event influenced her career as a criminal psychologist and now she helps the Met Police catch the most dangerous psychopaths. But Holly's world is turned upside down when she starts discovering messages at gruesome crime scenes from the person she fears above all else. The world believe The Animal is dead, yet Holly knows he is alive and killing again—and he wants her to know.

India Summers is a librarian and a talented historian, so when a stranger asks her opinion on an ancient coin she is happy to oblige, but when the same man is murdered less than an hour later, it soon becomes apparent that there is far more to the situation than meets the eye. Recognising her unique talents for historical reference, she is quickly recruited by Brandon Walker, a security service intelligence officer investigating the strange disappearance of a very special young girl.

Have you ever wanted to reinvent yourself? Have you ever lied about who you are to get more likes? Have you ever followed someone online who you think is perfect? Meet Holly. Social media sensation. The face of clean eating. Everyone loves her. Everyone wants to be her. But when Holly is attacked by a man she's only just met, her life starts to spiral out of control. He seemed to know her - but she doesn't know him. What if Holly isn't who she seems to be? What if Holly's living a lie?

Sparky Christina and her saintly adopted sister Pam couldn't be more different. And when they meet similarly mismatched friends Jago and Peter, the four embark on a dazzling series of pairings and partings, outrageous coincidences and 11th-hour entrances interrupted one disastrous Halloween when schoolboy revelry turns horribly wrong. Three years on, as Christina analyses the wit, cruelty and crossed genders of Shakespearean comedy, the cast of her own life reunites and the curtain falls on some gloriously unexpected partnerships.

Jem is a joyful mystery to Alice. She is something to give thanks for. And when she disappears from Alice's life, as suddenly as she entered it, a whirl of glamour, subversion and literary references, Alice is left bereft. But then she meets Giovanni, presumptuous and hectoring, passionate and beautiful, who leads her back to her childhood friend and the mystery and chaos still surrounding her. Alice finds herself being seduced all over again.

When her flight home to London is grounded at Portland Airport by a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm on Christmas Eve, Thea is out of options. Desperate to make it back to her family after six long months away, she spends her entire bank balance on a night's stay in the luxury airport hotel. The only trouble is, when Thea reaches the hotel room, someone has beaten her to it. Logan is desperate to get home for Christmas too, so, putting aside their immediate attraction, the pair agrees to share.

Megan Miller is an ordinary woman with a young family - until a shocking discovery shatters her perfect world. When two young boys are brutally murdered in their tight-knit village community, Megan slowly begins to realize the signs all point to the lovable local primary school teacher - her husband. But when she begins to delve deeper into her husband's secret life, she makes discoveries that will make her question everything she knows - and make her fear for her young daughter's life.

On a cold winter's morning, the body of a young boy is discovered in Epping Forest. The body is pristine and peaceful, his head resting gently on a pillow, an angel pendant clenched in his small fist. It is a murder as carefully planned as it is brutal, and there's one person DI Bishop needs back on his team to help solve such a calculated crime. Holly Wakefield, clinical psychologist for the Met Police, is better than anyone Bishop knows at getting inside the brains of psychopaths.

Georgina Drake is thrilled to photograph the ancient mosaic uncovered at Little Wenborough Manor. But her excitement turns to shock when she finds the lead archaeologist dead on the floor. Instead of ancient secrets, Georgina is soon caught up in a very modern murder. Comforting the other distressed archaeologists, Georgina discovers this isn't the first time tragedy has struck this site. Over a century ago a young Victorian scholar vanished without trace during the original dig, leaving behind a devastated fiancée and a trail of unanswered questions.

I sent 19-year-old Phyllis, my youngest recruit, into a city crawling with enemy soldiers. And this beautiful house on a tree-lined street, the headquarters of cold-hearted German soldiers, was the last place she was seen. I trail my fingers along the gilded furniture and see the light dance off the glittering chandeliers. On the top floor, I find the dates inscribed by beaten prisoners, and I know my girl was shown no mercy.

The woman falls. Her body begins to shake. Her brown eyes turn upwards, showing a mix of panic and desperate hope. She takes a deep breath and says one word: Blake. Then her eyes close, her face pales, and she goes still forever… The victim: Shannon, a woman who went out of her way to help the lost and hopeless, left abandoned to die by the side of the road. Where was she in those last few days before her death, and why was she so frightened?

Running away from a past she’d rather forget, Doctor Alison Wilson has moved to a new town to take up the role of Medical Officer at failing hospital St Margaret’s. Tasked with shaking things up, she quickly learns that things are worse than they initially seem: patient records are in disarray, staff morale is low, and there’s something afoot that she can’t quite put her finger on As Alison starts to dig into the hospital’s past, she gradually discovers a trail of lies that runs deeper and darker than she could have ever imagined.

She tries hard to be the perfect mother, the perfect partner, the perfect daughter - but Ellie never seems to get it right. When an old friend from university re-enters her life, dark memories from Ellie's past begin to resurface. As Ellie starts to unravel some shocking and sinister realities, she realises that she must choose between keeping the family she loves - and facing the truth.

Katy Henry is lost and lonely. A single mother, plagued by fatigue and anxiety, she rarely has time for friends. But when she encounters Sibeal Matthews, all this changes. Sibeal is everything that Katy is not: assured, headstrong and charming. Katy soon finds herself pulled out of her isolation into a fierce friendship. But Sibeal is not all that she seems. Tragedy haunts her, and for all her feistiness, she is startlingly dependent on her brother, Gabriel.

To the unsuspecting eye Dee Stephens has a perfect life as the vicar's wife: a devoted marriage to her charismatic husband Reverend Vincent, an adoring congregation and a beautiful daughter. But beneath the surface, Dee is suffocating. Vincent is in control, and he knows her every sin. Desperate, Dee escapes into a heady affair with Cal, an old schoolmate. But is Cal the saviour she thinks he is? What dark secrets does he harbour? And to what lengths will Vincent go to when he uncovers the truth?

Find out what Conrad (and especially Vicky) get up to when they’re not cracking the big cases in this collection of novellas from Mark Hayden’s King’s Watch universe: Byways, the less travelled roads of magick.

Even when the climate crisis escalates beyond our worst nightmares and people become refugees, the world keeps turning and life carries on as usual: teenage love stories, marital collapses, identity crises, and rebellions against hopeless parents continue to play out. Didrik is a forty-year-old media consultant whose misguided efforts to become the family hero render him a pathetic vision of incompetence. Melissa is an influencer with a suitcase full of lost dreams after denying climate change for years.

"It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... except a clot of blood, creeping up from Ted's leg to his brain, to kill him as he slept..." Recently widowed Philly keeps dreaming of her dead husband Ted – strange dreams of a paranormal alternate reality: why is her new husband Robbie so interested in them? He works for a mysterious genetic research company called Portal Inc. But what exactly is Robbie's job? Did he seduce Philly by feeding her experimental new drugs? Was Ted's death intended? Such suspicions make Philly doubt her own sanity.

The call came on a seemingly ordinary day. But as soon as Rachel heard the pain in her sister’s voice, she had to face the fact that life as she knew it was about to be shattered: “It’s mum. She’s not well. She doesn’t have much time.” Though her heart breaks to leave her husband and children behind, Rachel knows the right thing is to return home to care for her mother, Janet. Their relationship has been strained for years. This may be the last chance for them both to heal.