Showing results by narrator "Cathleen McCarron" in All Categories

1854 marks the dawn of a scientific age. Queen Victoria delivers a healthy heir after receiving chloroform during labour. Florence Nightingale makes headlines as she leads a troop of middle-class women out into the war zones as nurses. In Edinburgh, we see Henry Littlejohn appointed as the city's police surgeon, dubbing himself as the 'medical detective', investigating sudden deaths - whether accidental or intentional.

When Evie Nicholson is asked to visit Kettlesheer Castle in Scotland to archive the family heirlooms, she jumps at the chance. Evie's passion for antiques means that, for her, the castle is a treasure trove of mysteries just waiting to be uncovered. But in each heirloom lies a story, and in the course of her investigations Evie stumbles upon some long-buried family secrets. Add handsome, gloomy heir Robert McAndrew and a traditional candlelit gala to the mix, and Evie's heart is sent reeling with an enthusiasm that may just extend beyond the Kettlesheer silver....

1988. The body of Moira Mackie, a St Andrews University student, is found on a clifftop path. Her ex-boyfriend is found days later, hanged in his uncle’s garage with a suicide note confessing that he killed her. The case is abruptly closed. Thirty years later, Ros Maitland has seemingly moved on from the horrific murder of her housemate Moira. Then her daughter takes up a place at the same university, and old demons reawaken. Was Moira murdered in a lover’s quarrel? Or was her death part of something far larger, uglier and more calculated?

Scotland, 1860. Reverend Alexander Ferguson takes up his new parish, an isolated patch on the Hebridean island of Harris. His time there will change his life, but the Sea House, on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after Alexander departs. More than a century later, Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building for the family they hope to have. But their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery.

Erin Paterson runs her grandfather's law firm in Glasgow, and is an uncompromisingly aggressive negotiator. But the success of her practice is not echoed in her personal life. Erin's father has had a stroke. She can't stand her mother. Her sister's a flake and their brother, Leland, committed suicide. She's not doing too well with her boyfriend either, whom she discovers in flagrante the day that an old school friend, Lucy Grant, is murdered.

Oonagh O'Neil is back with another dark and chilling investigation. 'Do that which is good and no evil shall touch you.' This is the message the so-called Raphael killer leaves on each of his victims. A clue - and a reminder - that three decades later they're still at large. When investigative journalist Oonagh O'Neil is given a tip off about one of the biggest tragedies to hit the NHS, the tainted blood scandal, she can't help but spot that the two seemingly different events could be linked.

Salt water lifts blood. Only salt water. Loch Lomond is a mile deep, but the woman's body surfaced anyway. Found bludgeoned and dumped in the water, she now haunts Iain Fraser, the man who put her there. She trusted him, and now that misplaced trust is gnawing through Iain's chest. He thinks it will kill him. Nearby Helensburgh is an idyllic Victorian town. One-time home to a quarter of all the millionaires in Britain, it is quaint, sleepy and chocolate-box pretty.

To marry him will be to betray her family . Bessie, the selfless sister of the powerful but stubborn Brunson clan, has sacrificed herself for her family's honor and is at the mercy of the court of King James. Ill-suited to court life, she must confront their mortal enemy, Lord Thomas Carwell, dressed in nothing but borrowed finery and pride. Underneath the relentless gaze of her captor, she's enticed not only by him but also by the opulence of a world far removed from her own.

In A Dark and Brooding Gentleman, acclaimed Regency-era author Margaret McPhee tells the story of reformed rake Sebastian Hunter and the far-too-pretty Phoebe Allardyce, his estranged mother’s paid companion. Sparks fly until he catches Phoebe trying to steal a priceless heirloom from the manor. What Sebastian doesn’t know is that her father’s been kidnapped and Phoebe has stolen the heirloom for a ransom - and might just steal his heart as well.

As leader of his clan, Black Rob Brunson has earned every dark syllable of his name. But, having taken hostage his enemy's daughter in a fierce act of rebellion, he is tormented by feelings of guilt and torn apart with the growing need to protect her - and seduce her! Stella Storwick feels Rob's disdain from the first. Then slowly she starts to see behind his eyes to a man in turmoil. Something he has no words for, something that can only be captured in a heart-wrenching kiss.

In Jackie Kay’s first collection of stories, ordinary lives are transformed by secrets. Her world might seem familiar – sex, death and family cast long shadows – but the roles of mothers, daughters and lovers are imagined and revealed in the most surprising of ways. Jackie Kay sees the extraordinary in everyday life, and lights it up with humour and generosity in a way that is uniquely her own.

Ailsa Rae is learning how to live. She's only a few months past the heart transplant that - just in time - saved her life. Life should be a joyful adventure. But.... Her relationship with her mother is at breaking point, and she wants to find her father. Have her friends left her behind? She's felt so helpless for so long that she's let polls on her blog make her decisions for her. She barely knows where to start on her own. Then there's Lennox. Her best friend and onetime lover. He was sick too. He didn't make it. And now she's supposed to face all of this without him. But her new heart is a bold heart. She just needs to learn to listen to it....

Badly disfigured Lady Isobel Dalceann has fought fiercely to defend her keep, with little thought for her safety. Why, then, has she let a stranger within her walls? Whilst he threatens danger, his battered body marked by war mirrors her own scars and tempts her to put her faith in him. Marc de Courtenay is a mercenary and a loner, although he is drawn to damaged, beautiful Isobel. But in taking him into her highly defended buttressed walls she has unwittingly given him secrets that will enable him to betray her.

When twelve-year-old Lily moves to the sleepy seaside town of Edge, she’s sure that nothing exciting is ever going to happen to her again. But when she stumbles upon a secret museum hidden in the middle of town, she realises that there might be more to her new home than meets the eye. The Museum of Emily is filled with the belongings of one seemingly ordinary girl who disappeared from the town without a trace. With the help of her new friends, Lily is determined to solve the mystery and find out who Emily was, why she disappeared and who has created the strange, hidden museum.

In a world where online scrutiny is more intense than ever, Elise’s story massively transcends sport. Having been bullied while growing up in Scotland, Christie first felt the full weight of online public opinion following three separate disqualifications at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Death threats followed amid a torrent of online hate whereby she was accused of having caused a rival South Korean medal hopeful to crash. Christie, aged just 24, retreated into a period of mental health support to assist her through extremely traumatic times.

31st August 1997. Rose Wilson is 14, but looks 16. Pimped out by her ‘boyfriend’, she has seen more of the darkness in life than someone twice her age. On the night of Princess Diana's death, Rose snaps and commits two terrible crimes. But a defence lawyer takes pity and sets out to do what he can to save her. Present day. DI Alex Morrow is a witness in the case of Michael Brown – a vicious, nasty arms dealer.

Resurrecting buried scandals, audacious hoaxes and private tragedies, Emma Donoghue has written a sequence of short stories about peculiar moments in the history of the British Isles. Here artists mix with poisoners and countesses rub shoulders with cross-dressers, vicars and revolutionaries; the Second Coming is proclaimed in Scotland; and a miniature girl becomes a tiny skeleton in a London museum.

Ailsa Calder has inherited half a house. The other half belongs to a man who disappeared without a trace 27 years ago. Her father. Leaving London behind to settle her mother's estate, Ailsa returns to her childhood home in the foothills of the Scottish Highlands, accompanied by the half sister she's never taken the time to get to know.

Even perfect mothers have secrets... Meet Leah, the perfect wife and mum with a closet full of skeletons - and if the secret gets out, her carefully crafted world could crumble. Then there's Annie, the gangster's moll with a sharp mind. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty, but no one knows the devastating secret haunting her. And lastly, Terry, the king of Glasgow gangland. He's ruthless when it comes to growing his empire, but his weakness is women.

Marjeta was never supposed to be Duke Calvai's wife. But the sudden death of her sister changed everything, and Marjeta was married off in her stead to seal the Duke's alliance with her father. Ill-prepared for the dangers of the Calvai court or her new role as stepmother to the duke's precious daughter, Marjeta finds herself in a hostile environment with a husband who preferred his dead first wife, a child too suspicious to love her, and no true allies. Worse, her traditional magic conflicts with the new religion taking hold of the court and if discovered, she will be executed.