Showing results by narrator "Eilidh Beaton" in All Categories

It may not be as grim up north as they say, but it wasn't where amateur private investigators Natasha DuVivien and Miriam Birdseye intended to spend their Christmas. When the principal boy in a production of Cinderella is murdered, and a ballerina hits the bottle a little too hard, they do the only logical thing they can do and join the cast, stranding themselves in a small industrial town for the sake of art and sleuthing. The show must go on, after all, and the detective duo must get to the bottom of things - before the final curtain falls.

Our dashing heroine, a famous revue artist, takes to the slopes with her coterie of admirers. Champagne flows and wherever Miriam goes she leaves a trail of gossip in her wake. Fellow ski-resort guests include the celebrated Russian ex-ballerina Natasha Nevkorina, whose beauty is matched only by her languor, Natasha's burly husband, nightclub owner Johnny DuVivien, and the wealthy Flahertés, a family that has made its money importing scents: handsome playboy Barney, his wife, Regan, their two obnoxious children and the governess Rosalie.

Why do I never have time to exercise? Why am I unhappy? Why do I constantly feel judged by other people? Is this the story of your life? Are you stuck in a cycle where everything is determined by your parents, your partner, your boss or your children and you don’t know how to escape? Well, Emilia is here to tell you: It’s Your Life, and you have a choice! As a mother of four, a serial entrepreneur, designer and triathlon lover, Emilia has experienced all of this personally and found her confidence to stand up and to choose to live her life - and you can as well.

Annie lives a quiet, contained, content life. She goes to work. She meets her friend. She’s nearly in a relationship. She’s happy. Not lonely at all. If only more people could see how friendly she is - how eager to help and please. Then she could tick 'Full Happy Life' off her list. But no one sees that side of Annie, and she can’t understand why. That all changes the night Chloe Hills disappears. And Annie is the last person to see her. This is her chance to prove to everybody that she’s worth something. That is, until she becomes a suspect.

First class can be murder. Pure Air's new LuxeLiner is flying from London to LA - its inaugural journey - with a first-class cabin packed with A-list celebrities. As the feuding crew compete to impress their famous passengers, the handsome pilot tries to win the attention of a pretty young stewardess. But one VIP singer is battling something seriously sinister: watching her every step is a very determined stalker, someone who will go to any lengths to get the star to satisfy their desires. At 30,000 feet there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Inspired by the true history of the SS Great Britain, Starboard is about the friendship, heroism and bravery that you can find in others, whether they’re made of flesh or iron. It’s about taking control of your own life and going on epic adventures. But most of all, it’s about finding out who you really dare to be, when you’re completely out of your depth.

Dear Lily, It’s me, Joy, your older sister. I thought I’d start a new tradition of letter writing - now that we’re long distance. On the plane over here, I began to cry. I think the magnitude of it finally hit me, after everything that happened. I’m sorry for abandoning you - I’ve always been a buffer in your shouting matches with Mum. But I had to leave, Lily, I had to. Anyway, I’m here now. I want to learn to laugh again and to find someone to love who will love me back. Wish me luck, little sister. Love, Joy x

Steph Garvey has been married to husband Si for 24 years. She thought they were soulmates until recently. Si is worried about middle-age spread and money. He’s also aware things aren’t right with Steph. But Si has forgotten the art of romance. Their son Tom has finished Sixth Form. He knows where he’s going regarding a career, but not quite so sure where he’s going regarding women.

One family across two generations. A marriage marred by trauma and infidelity. Lives marked by death, divorce and a shattered family. A dark secret at the heart of a tragedy. Now the Pengelly family reunites around the sickbed of David, a beloved husband and father, to confront the emotions and the secrets that have divided them over the years.

Lucy thinks she’s better than the other girls. Maybe if she’s pointing fingers at everyone else, no one will see the secret she’s hiding. Ulana comes from a conservative Muslim family where reputation is everything. One rumour - true or false - can destroy futures. Trina likes to party. She’s kissed a lot of boys. She’s even shown her red bra to one. But she didn’t consent to that night at Lucy’s party. So why doesn’t anyone believe her?

Kelsey Anderson is stuck in a rut so big, she’ll need a four-wheel drive to get out. She’s just been made redundant from her dead-end job, and boyfriend Fran is so busy climbing up the career ladder that he’s forgotten how to have fun. She needs to change her life - and fast. She stumbles across an advert for tour guides in Stratford-upon-Avon, and it seems like the perfect way to bring the sunshine back. In an impulsive move, she moves from her small Scottish village to Shakespeare’s birthplace, armed only with a suitcase and her battered copy of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Drawing on the infamous Lord Lucan affair, this compelling novel explores the roots of a shocking murder from a fresh perspective and brings to vivid life an era when women's voices all too often went unheard. In the summer of 1974, Mandy River arrives in London to make a fresh start and begins working as nanny to the children of one Lady Morven. She quickly finds herself in the midst of a bitter custody battle and the house under siege: Lord Morven is having his wife watched.

Sophie Seacove is a storyteller. She tells stories of what the world would be like if madness hadn't taken over. If her parents hadn't sold her off as a servant to pay for their stupid vacation. If she wasn't now trapped in a decaying mansion filled with creepy people and surrounded by ravenous sea monsters. The mansion has plenty of stories, too, about fantastical machines and the tragic inventor who created them. About his highly suspicious death. And about the Monster Box.

In The Silo Effect, award-winning journalist Gillian Tett examines the structural development of institutions such as UBS, Sony and the Bank of England. While the world is increasingly interlinked in some senses, it remains profoundly fragmented in others. As organisations become larger and more global than ever before, they are apt to be divided and subdivided into numerous different departments to facilitate productivity. However, there is a trap to the inevitability of these silos.

A historical romance set partly in the 1940s, the beautiful and emotive Margot & Me tells the stories of two teenage girls over the course of 50 years. Fliss's mum needs peace and quiet to recuperate from a long illness, so they both move to the countryside to live with Margot, Fliss's stern and bullying grandmother. Life on the farm is tough and life at school is even tougher, so when Fliss unearths Margot's wartime diary, she sees an opportunity to get her own back.

Forty-one-year old Cassandra Mackerel is loved up and happily remarried to new husband Jamie. Together they have a ready-made family and a six-month-old baby boy. Juggling her own children with stepchildren and an infant is both hectic and stressful, especially with a mother-in-law who seems to have taken up permanent residence. The last thing Cass needs is the reappearance of husband Jamie’s ex-girlfriend Selina. Gorgeous and glamorous but utterly unstable, Selina once stalked Cass and contrived to split her and Jamie up. And now Selina is engaged to Jamie’s business partner.

It’s the 1950s, and Lorrie is unimpressed when her family moves to the remote Scottish island where her grandad runs a whisky distillery. She befriends Sylvie, the shy girl next door: ‘The slightest smile from Sylvie was a fluffy elephant at the fair. It had to be won with a clear aim,’ writes Lorrie. Yet fun-loving Lorrie isn’t sure Sylvie’s is the friendship she wants to win.

Hetty Affleck is working as a maid at the prestigious Beach Hotel in Littlehampton. Her beau, Lorcan, is away at war and has recently stopped replying to her letters but she is determined to keep her spirits up. When she meets wealthy shipbuilder's son Victor Perryman, they pass the time of day and they both feel a connection but she can't allow herself to think anything more of it - not only does she have Lorcan to think of, but she and Victor are divided by wealth and class.

My life is a mess. My marriage is falling apart, and I’d hoped the arrival of our baby girl would bring us closer together. Yet, as she grows, I see less of a resemblance to my husband, stirring unsettling questions. I was hoping a visit from my friend, Victoria would bring some stability. With her seemingly perfect life in Spain, she embodies hope for a brighter future. But our reunion has taken an unexpected turn. And when a shock diagnosis shakes our family further, Victoria doesn’t know it yet, but she might just hold the key to saving our family.

After inheriting Drumblair Castle over her older brother Kerr, Lady Olivia MacBain has had to forge a new life for herself far away from New York and her dream career in fashion. She fears her brother’s bitterness has fractured their relationship to the point of no return and is still clearing away the devastation he left when he disappeared.