True Girl

A story from the anthology Masters of True Crime, which spans murder cases from the beginning of the 20th century to today. This is a must-hear for fans of true crime and will also be compelling to mystery and thriller listeners.

Captured in the 1930s before the words psychopath and pedophile were part of common vernacular, notorious serial killer Arnold Sodeman murdered four young girls with little thought of remorse. Without guilt, the evil serial killer strangled them to death with their own clothing and left their small bodies alone in the Australian brush, earning himself a chilling position in the annals of Australian crime.

After Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2021, she turned into an overnight sensation. People wanted to know who she was and how she'd achieved so much while so young. Zaila shares about her family, her accomplishments, her experience of being homeschooled, and so much more in order to motivate and uplift other kids who have small-, medium-, and even big-sized dreams.

Foster carer Maggie Hartley is used to all manner of children arriving on her doorstep, but nothing can prepare her for sisters Billy and Bo when they arrive at her home. It is clear from the moment she sets eyes on them that four-year-old Bo and seven-year-old Billy have clearly been subjected to unimaginable neglect, and it takes all of Maggie's skills as a foster carer to try to connect with the volatile little girls, who seem far younger than their years.

Engrossed by the short lives of innocent victims, Stowers uses The Girl in the Grave...and Other True Crime Stories to tell the tales of devastated parents dealing with evil forces and unanswered questions that invaded their once normal lives, and the effect on the law enforcement officers duty-bound to involve themselves in such evil and troubling situations, investigating and seeking resolve and justice.

Being a bachelor is the only way to be. Love is messy and, honestly, a pain in the butt. I’ve got too many dreams to settle down. Especially as a pro-hockey free agent. The world is mine, and with it comes loads of money, women, and fast cars. Until I sign my best friend’s little sister as my new agent. She’s not a little girl anymore, and dang… I’m in trouble. The one thing she’s not putting up with is me. Something about my rough disposition puts her off. Grumpy is the word she would use. Whatever. It’s all part of the style that’s going to win her over for good. ...

At least that’s what twelve-year-old Eliana has grown up hearing. Imagine her surprise when one morning in the forest she finds herself eye-to-eye with a young dragon. When she learns the dragon’s father has been missing since the last full moon, she vows to help.

Her adventure in Brazil has transformed the shy and curvy Rachel into the confident and sexy Raquel. It has also earned the travel writer a luxurious trip to France, another sensual destination with its own "travel secrets." In one of France's most famous wine regions, Raquel is courted by the suave and enchanting Maxime and the rugged female winemaker Alixandrie. Raquel's boss, Ryan, also seems interested in her, but his girlfriend and supermodel Chantal continues to sabotage Raquel at every turn. Raquel’s biggest challenge, however, is to stay true to her new self. What kind of ...

Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand-new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and quiet is interrupted by an urgent call from Social Services. A man has been stabbed, and Social Services need to find an emergency placement for his little girl. Maggie is used to children arriving on her doorstep at all times of the day and night, but nothing can prepare her for the sight of 11-year-old Nancy.

You won't be familiar with every one of the huge array of women featured in this book, but all, familiar or not, leave unanswered questions behind them—from Cleopatra to Ruth Ellis, from Boudicca to Bonnie Parker, from Lady Caroline Lamb to Moll Cutpurse, from Jezebel to Ava Gardner. The risqué, the adventurous and the outrageous, the downright nasty and the downright desperate—all human (female!) life is here. Wicked? Misunderstood? Naïve? Foolish? Predatory? Manipulative? Or just out of their time? Listen and decide.

The Christmas Tree Girls was inspired by a true story from 1912 Chicago. Captain Schuenemann and the Christmas Tree Ship is legend in Chicago. His wife Barbara, and their three daughters, Elsie and the twins Hazel and Pearl became known as The Christmas Tree Girls. First introduced in this author's last book, 'Flowers For the Season'; now go on a new adventure with Elsie, Hazel and Pearl. Will there be a Christmas miracle? Perfect for the holidays or any time of the year.

My name is Hazel Lamb…Lindsey, but my momma called me Fireball. I am 84 years old. I only got one year of schooling, but I am self-taught. I worked hard all my life.

When Tai Choi leaves her home in the Zhejiang province of China, she believes she’ll be visiting her grandmother. But in truth, despite her mother’s opposition, her father has sold her to pay his gambling debts. Alone and afraid, Tai Choi is put on a ship headed for San Francisco, known among the Chinese as Gold Mountain. When she arrives, she is forced to go by the new name listed on her paper documents: Tien Fu Wu. Her new life as a servant at a gambling den is hard. And if she is to survive, Tien Fu must persevere, and learn who to trust.

For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The highway is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis. Highway of Tears is a piercing exploration of our ongoing failure to provide justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and testament to their families and communities' unwavering determination to find it.

David Kherdian re-creates his mother's voice in telling the true story of a childhood interrupted by one of the most devastating holocausts of our century....Vernon Dumehjian Kherdian was born into a loving and prosperous family. Then, in the year 1915, the Turkish government began the systematic destruction of its Armenian population.

Cassandra Petit-Charles is not your average preacher’s kid. She carries a gun and takes on Boston’s underbelly. She is an “extraction specialist” and her job is relocating kids who have gotten entangled in street life. Helping at-risk youth feels like penance for Cassie’s wild younger years and she’s at peace with living for each new day’s adventure, even if her family think she’s stuck in the past and afraid of the future. Then, the past returns.

My best friend’s brother is a total pain in my ass. He’s also my only hope. Maddox “Mad Dog” Wilson is a neighborhood legend. The boxing champ runs the grittiest fighting gym in the city. His left hook is as deadly as his smile. I’ve known Maddox for years. He’s pushy, possessive, and stubborn as hell. The last thing I want to do is beg for his help. But I’m desperate. I’m here to learn how to take care of myself. Maddox has other ideas. Once he gets me up against the ropes— Fighting is the last thing on my mind.

In Girls of Tender Age, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith fully articulates with great humor and tenderness the wild jubilance of an extended French-Italian family struggling to survive in a post-World War II housing project in Hartford, Connecticut.

Just three weeks after my 21st birthday, on the evening of October 4, 1994, I was abducted from the streets of my hometown in Southern Russia while on my way home. They drugged me and drove to another country, where they held me captive in a tiny room at first, and then under a house in a pit. A few weeks after my kidnapping, a brutal civil war broke out. Through eight horrifying months of captivity, witnessing atrocities, surviving bombings and sexual violence, I fought desperately to stay alive, stay sane, and not to lose the one thing that kept me going: my hope.

Las Vegas, 1945. Reeling from her husband’s death, Thelma Miles sets out to tear down a mafia empire. As federal agents circle, rival gangs plot, and her father’s empire grows more powerful by the day, Thelma masterminds an elaborate ruse. To pull off the con, she assembles an unlikely crew: a Hollywood starlet who is more than she appears; a relentless reporter on a crusade to root out corruption, and her former boss who may or may not be undermining the whole operation.