Showing results by narrator "Sarah Barron" in All Categories

Verity is embarking on a better-late-than-never gap year now that her sons have flown the nest, and dreams of turning a lifetime's hobby of knitting and crocheting into a profitable new enterprise at Lerwick Manor's gallery. Nessie has returned to Shetland after two years spent retraining as a blacksmith on the Scottish mainland. She's determined to do whatever it takes to reignite the traditional craft and prove that gender is no obstacle taking on her family's heritage.

Amy Alardyce's once-perfect life is in tatters. Her eldest son, Robert, has come of age, become the master of his own home, and married his childhood love Jane. But with maturity has come a terrible legacy, and the dark desires Robert inherited from his evil father Matthew, are fighting to get loose. Whilst Jane is working hard to get her and Robert accepted into fashionable society, poor women are being hunted on the streets of Edinburgh, and Amy fears her son is to blame.

Edinburgh, 1791. Isobel Duguid and her friend Clessidro are the stars of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Clessidro sings opera and Isobel sings famously dark Scottish ballads, despite being incapable of holding a tune. They roam the streets of Edinburgh, enjoying an opulent lifestyle. One night a note arrives from the mysterious Cecilia Abercorn, asking if Isobel's most notorious song, The Fiddler's Wrath, might be included in a book. It's the tale of a prima donna who died of heartbreak after her husband committed murder and was sent to the gallows. Isobel is intrigued.

At 8 a.m., the first shots are fired. At 1 p.m., the police establish the gunman has a hostage. By 5 p.m., a siege is underway. At 9 p.m., DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer. One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection The Edinburgh Mystery. Published in 1955, this is a domestic tale which sees a family member commit the ultimate crime when they’ve had enough of their miserly aunt’s frugal ways.

In the dead of night someone starts a fire in a home for underprivileged children in Aberdeen. The flames spread quickly, and one person doesn't make it out alive. But the victim wasn't found in their bedroom; they were discovered locked inside a secret basement underground. As DI Eve Hunter and her team search the blackened ruins, the case takes them into even darker territory. Soon Eve unearths a horrific discovery at the heart of the property - one that turns the whole investigation on its head. Everyone in this home has something to hide, but who has a secret worth killing for?

Something scared Nuala Flaherty to death. When her body is found in the centre of a pentagram on a lonely moor, Rebecca is determined to find out what. Was she killed by supernatural means, or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? Rebecca's investigation leads her to a mysterious cult and local drug dealings. But what she doesn't know is that crime matriarch Mo Burke still has her in her crosshairs. Mo wants payback for the death of her son, and after one failed attempt to hurt Rebecca, she is upping the ante. And this time, it could be lethal.

The history of the Alardyce family is fraught with scandal and intrigue. But after her eldest son Robert leaves the country, finally Amy Alardyce can enjoy some peace. Robert is wanted by the police for some unspeakable crimes, and his family hope he has run far enough and never looks back. A decade after his disappearance, Robert has forged a successful life for himself, making his fortune from the diamond and gold mines of Africa. But when he sees a death notice in the newspaper, the call to go home to Scotland grows ever louder.

A memorial service witnessed in the historic Black Wood of Rannoch sets Rebecca Connolly on the trail of a baffling story. Fergus MacGregor told people he was going to Pitlochry for the day. He was never seen again. Five years later his deeply religious mother still holds a memorial in the place Fergus loved because of its connections to the outlawed MacGregor clan, the Children of the Mist. What happened that day in this last vestige of the great Caledonian forest? Does a family feud hold the key? Does an old recluse have the answers?

Audrey Hart is on the Isle of Skye to collect the word-of-mouth folk tales of the people and communities around her. It is 1857, the Highland Clearances have left devastation and poverty, and the crofters are suspicious and hostile, claiming they no longer know their stories. Then Audrey discovers the body of a young girl washed up on the beach, and the crofters tell her that it is only a matter of weeks since another girl has disappeared. They believe the girls are the victims of the spirits of the unforgiven dead.

Meet Alex. She has a wonderful fiancé, a job she thrives in, and a best friend she’s known since childhood. Life’s not perfect, but it’s pretty fantastic. Until a shock diagnosis suddenly throws everything off course. But Alex has never been one to back down from a fight. Now single and unemployed, she packs up and moves from her Glasgow hometown to vibrant Birmingham for a fresh start. In a new job, in a new city, she’s learning all over again what’s important in life.

On her 20th birthday, Mary Hepburn - daughter of the local magistrate - learns that she is to marry John Aitken, a much older man. Unhappy with this, Mary walks to the local moor to clear her mind. Instead, she meets and falls in love with the handsome Captain Ferintosh, when he saves her from whiskey smugglers. The situation gets even more complicated when Mary's father arrests Ferintosh.

When Jemima loses her beloved grandfather, keeping his allotment alive seems like ideal way to feel close to him. She's never fitted in before - is this her chance to find where she really belongs? Finally Melissa has the allotment she's been longing for to distract her while her husband works away - even if it is chest-high in weeds. But when she looks for help in the wrong place, she finds she's the hottest topic of gossip.

Martha Parker runs a small private detective agency in Glasgow with her two sisters, Helen and Geri, specialising in catching cheating partners playing away from home. The Parkers have been hired by the reclusive wife of a wealthy banker she suspects is having an affair - but when he shows up murdered, it's up to Martha, Helen, and Geri to prove the wife's innocence in a case unlike any they have tackled before.

Two orphaned girls become found family amidst the horrors of WWII in a gripping and heart-wrenching tale of friendship, loss and survival against the odds which sweeps the listener across wartime Europe to Budapest from the mountains of Scotland.

When Jenna Palmer agrees to the new position of mobile librarian on the tiny Arrandale peninsular of the Isle of Skye, she knows she’s signing up for difficult working conditions and mediocre wages. But Jenna needs to get away.... However, whilst Jenna can get to grips with foggy island roads, local mermaid legends and even big purple monsters, she never expected to have to contend with a boss as grumpy as Daniel McGregor, or a young book lover as enthusiastic as his niece, Katrina.

Jess is smashing her Edinburgh events management job right now. Her boss is talking about a promotion, her clients love her and other companies want her. But all of that comes to an abrupt halt when her brother suddenly has a stroke. Jess doesn't think twice about stepping in as his carer, but her boss is not so understanding. Demoted to managing low-end events, Jess is less than thrilled to be assigned to a small animal park in need of raising funds. She's even less happy when she clashes with arrogant head keeper, Nick.

Martha, Helen and Geri Parker are back. With their success bringing them newfound fame, they're invited to be guests of honour at SteinerFest - a crime convention run by American celebrity P.I. couple Murray and Roberta Steiner. Like everything else in their lives, nothing goes to plan. When Murray Steiner is found dead, tongues start to wag and soon rumours spread that his death might not be simply an innocent tragedy. With Geri implicated in the potential skulduggery, it's up to Martha and Helen to clear her name and get to the bottom of what has really happened.

In Ruth Davidson's Yes She Can we meet world-beating women from fields as diverse as science, politics, the military, business and sport. They share their own journeys to the top - whether that's becoming Prime Minister, winning an Olympic gold medal or teaching male special forces how to fight. They share the bad times, too, the challenges faced and difficulties to hurdle, explaining what they've learned along the way. We also see the author's own path as she tracks the societal shifts that have seen women advance - and discuss how far we've still got to go.

Annabelle has come to the Scottish Highlands to escape. But as she speeds along a deserted mountain road, she is suddenly forced to swerve. The next thing she remembers is waking up in a dark, damp room. A voice from the corner of the room says, ‘The doctor will be here soon.' Scott is camping alone in the Scottish woodlands when he hears a scream. He starts to run in fear of his life. Scott is never seen again.