Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

The latest crime thriller from best-selling author Kerry Barnes.

There’s a village an hour from London. It’s no different from many others today: one pub, one church, redbrick cottages, some public housing, and a few larger houses dotted about. Voices rise up, as they might anywhere, speaking of loving and needing and working and dying and walking the dogs. This village belongs to the people who live in it, to the land and to the land’s past. It also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort, a mythical figure local schoolchildren used to draw as green and leafy, choked by tendrils growing out of his mouth, who awakens after a glorious nap.

‘Oh my goodness - another girl, Mrs Swain!' Clara's normal iron composure broke, and she screamed, ‘No! That's not the bloody deal!' And that was how my nanna, Bertha Swain, entered the world. When Helen Batten's marriage breaks down, she starts on a journey of discovery into her family's past and the mysteries surrounding her enigmatic nanna's early life. What she unearths is a tale of five feisty redheads struggling to climb out of poverty and find love through two world wars.

Meet Margaret Small: 75, plain spoken, Whitstable native and a Cilla Black super fan. Shortly after the death of her idol, Margaret begins receiving sums of money in the post, signed simply 'C'. She is convinced it must be Cilla, but how can it be? To solve the mystery of her benefactor Margaret must go back in her memories almost 70 years, to the time when she was 'vanished' to a long-stay institution for children with learning disabilities.

The Bailey brothers are gangsters determined to make their mark in the world. Peter and Daniel are chalk and cheese in many ways - Peter's calm exterior belies his ruthless nature, while Daniel's penchant for spectacular violence is legendary - but together they are unstoppable. From the late 70s they rule London's East End, and when their sons join the business, it seems that no one can touch the powerful Baileys. Although it's never easy at the top; there is always someone waiting to take you down....

Following the death of her husband, Desiree is left with two clubs. However, while her family are desperate to get ownership signed over to them, Desiree has other plans that involve Harper Kane. It's only been a year since Harper had to endure horrific torture at the hands of the Russian traffickers, but it didn't break her; it only made her tougher. And now the one person she believed she could trust has shockingly become the enemy. When Harper meets Desiree Deacon, she discovers that there is so much more to her family than just nightclubs.

Before leaving prison, having served 12 years, Harper Kane makes a promise - to find out what happened to an inmate’s missing teenage daughter. But first, she must secure a well-paid job and a place of her own to take back custody of her son. What she falls into is a frightening discovery of human trafficking. Forced to make an inconceivable decision, Harper will use everything she has learned inside to protect her family, even if that means resorting to murder.

When Harper Kane is ready to push her grief aside and take down Teddy Ryder, she is suddenly faced with more shocking news. Working undercover in the field of human trafficking has its risks and Charley, Harper's sister, is missing. Her operations manager maintains she has been murdered. However, despite seeing a photo of two charred bodies and a set of handcuffs covered in blood, Harper still believes that her sister is alive. But Harper can't trust the police, so who can she trust?

Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive. It's a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn't spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn't believe them.

The girl emerged from the woods, barely alive. Her story was beyond belief. But it was true. Every dreadful word of it. Days later, another desperate escapee is found - and a pattern is emerging. Pairs of victims are being abducted, imprisoned then faced with a terrible choice: Kill or be killed. Would you rather lose your life or lose your mind? Eeny Meeny is an electrifying debut, with the nerve-shredding intensity of Saw and Along Came a Spider.

Dara Tailor has had to grow up fast. With a mother addicted to cocaine, Dara must look after her seven younger siblings, until social services split them up for ever. Grace Perry has led a sheltered life. Until her widowed mother is attacked and left for dead and Grace is taken into care. At Holly Brookes Children's Home, the two girls unite in the face of horrific abuse and form an unbreakable bond of loyalty. But when their loyalty is tested can they rely on each other to do the right thing? Friendship - it's all about trust.

1964 - London. Dolly Vincent is born to an East End gangster but is sent away for her own protection. Mad Mick is hell-bent on his revenge and will stop at nothing to kill her. Estranged from her family, she becomes a successful barrister, but after defending a young Italian man she finds herself caught up in a secret held by a high court judge. Tortured and left for dead, she flees London and heads to New York. Only the Vincents know where she is...but even they don't know the truth.

London, 1854: 20-year-old Essie Chapman lives with her father in poverty-stricken Limehouse, working on the river as a boatman. Her life seems set before her, never to leave this part of London and forever at her father's beck and call. Then, one night, she must transport a mysterious man from a foreign ship to the banks of the Thames, a man who ends up renting a room in Essie's house, identifying himself only as 'Raven'.

The Business is a tale of drugs, prostitution, and a young girl's fight for survival - against all the odds. Imelda Dooley is scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been caught. She's pregnant and now she's on her own. Her father, not a man to mess with, will see that somebody pays for this. And it's not going to be her. So Imelda Dooley tells a lie. A lie that literally causes murders. When Mary Dooley's husband is killed in the night's events, she knows she must graft to keep the family afloat. And graft she does.

Holed up in prison, Mike Regan is offered a deal - his freedom in exchange for his firm taking down the gang that is supplying a new dangerous drug that has hit the streets. What starts as a game soon becomes a shocking revelation with devastating consequences. Meanwhile, Mike’s fiancé, Zara Ezra, has her own firm to run. But when the so-called Governor is out to take her down, she has her own decision to make - either fight, run, or write her own rule book....

An unassuming Dottie Ellis falls for bad boy Jimmy Carson, who sweeps her off her feet. But after discovering she is pregnant and learning that Jimmy has gone back to his ex-girlfriend Carrie Verne, her happiness falls apart. Heartbroken, Dottie runs home, only to unearth a disturbing family secret that rocks her to the core. She is now faced with an agonizing decision to protect her unborn child. What she does shocks the town. In a moment of solidarity, Carrie makes a promise to Dottie, cementing an unlikely bond between them.

It's 1944. London's citizens are weary of air raids and rationing. But there are rumours of an invasion of France. Is the tide of war turning? Young widow Louise Rutherford longs to find a new husband, and when a handsome American officer arrives to recruit volunteers for a secret project, she senses an opportunity. Her efforts are hampered, though, by her determination to help a 10-year-old war orphan, George Nelson.

As the current head of the family firm, Jimmy Carter has decided it’s time for him to step down and for one of his other brothers to lead the family. Except only one of his brothers wants the job – the youngest Carter brother - reckless hot-head Jonny. Carla Carter has never forgiven her tramp of a mother for cheating on her beloved dad, Sonny and she’s determined to avenge him in the most perfect way: by stealing from the man who stole everything from her. Her Uncle Jimmy would never consider Carla’s plan – it’s way too risky and dangerous. But Jonny needs to prove himself.

A Vincent is dead and the police have no idea who the killer is. The notorious Ruthers, a villainous family caught up in drugs and prostitution are the only link to the murder. Dolly returns to England to do what she does best and unravels a web of lies. With her family once more behind her she will stop at nothing to exact her revenge. But nothing prepares her for the most horrific discovery. The sinister secrets held within the judiciary are more disturbing than she could have ever imagined.

'I'm not working on a factory floor or digging for victory, but in my own small way I do what I can for those I love.' It's 1943, and Peggy Reilly is at her best when the troubles of war come knocking at the door of Beach View Boarding House - especially when it concerns her younger sister, Doreen. Doreen is divorced from Eddie, but his letters have taken on a more threatening tone of late.