Showing results by narrator "Peter Joyce" in All Categories

The enigmatic Mr Reeder investigates eight cases involving baffling burglary and blackmail, mendacious and merciless murderers, and cruel convicts and convincing cons, using his criminal mind to solve these unusual and peculiar mysteries. A lot of his inquiries involve Margaret Belman, a very pretty and appealing young lady who lives nearby, and the detective finds himself more and more attracted to this femme fatale. Surely these feelings cannot be mutual....

Having been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. He finally musters the courage to go through her possessions and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before. What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur on an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife’s life - a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.

Among the first espionage thrillers and an acknowledged classic, The Thirty-Nine Steps well deserves its accolades as one of the best adventure stories of all time. Leaving aside the improbable denouement, the fast paced, brilliantly conceived narrative still excites and carries one along with the sheer suspense of the manhunt - a recurring theme in literature - and Hannay’s struggle against the evil that is the ‘Black Stone'.

Timothy, at just over 100 years of age, is the last survivor of the 10 siblings of Superior Dosset Forsyte. In this latest volume we are introduced to the grandchildren of those Forsytes who first began the Saga. Soames’s daughter Fleur is 20 at the start of the 1920s, a bright, wilful and independent spirit who can twist her father around her little finger. There is also Jon, the offspring of Jolyon and Irene, a sensitive and intelligent, though slightly naïve, young man of the same age.

At the end of the 19th Century W.H.Davies hustled his way across America, working when he could, begging and stealing when he couldn't. He saw life on the breadline. He was beaten up in New Orleans, thrown into prison in Michigan and was present at lynching’s in Tennessee, truly a diarist of the nether side of the American dream. After travelling with some of the most interesting and adventurous characters, an accident forced him to return to a similar poverty filled world back in England.

The aptly titled sequel to Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow which is also recorded by Assembled Stories and proved immensely popular.In this succeeding outburst of whimsy Jerome reflects on a variety of subjects such as 'the art of making up one's mind', 'the care and management of women' and 'the minding of other peoples business'.

The ‘sketches’ in this... volume are more the substance and length of short stories illustrating the development of the tools of the Masters trade: farce, parody, irony, black humour and wonderful one liners which unerringly hit the mark. The ensuing narrative, however, brings the listener bumpily back to earth with a reminder of the mean and often tragic lives that were being endured in the busy, uncaring metropolis.

Newly born Judith is found in by eccentric Squire Gauntry in the chilled sombre ruin of a house on a bitter winter's night, her parents having died at her birth. With such a tenuous start, the child grows up to have an intense lust for life and curiosity for every new experience. She is the natural heir to both her parents' temperaments. With the wilfulness of her mother and the stubbornness of her father, she is redeemed by a compulsion to tell the truth and a willingness to help anyone she loves in time of trouble or distress.

At the beginning of the story the heroine lives an unfulfilled life in rural France, her nature crushed by a domineering and miserly father. Gallant cousin Charles arrives and acts as a catalyst on Eugénie's personality and emotions. Will her love survive the strong self-opinion of the young man and the selfishness of her father or is Eugénie's reward destined to be in heaven?

Ludwig Horace Holly, a Cambridge professor, travels to Africa with his adopted son Leo to investigate the death of Kallicrates, Leo’s ancestor, who was murdered by an unknown woman centuries before.They encounter the Amahagger, a fierce tribe of cannibals who live in the caves of Kôr, a huge burial ground of an ancient civilisation decimated by plague

One of the greatest novels to have come from the 19th century, a realistic, gritty exposure of the lives, loves, intrigue and rivalry that existed in the literary world of London. The art form and culture of writing is becoming a business, expanding rapidly, and profit is more important than integrity of purpose.

John Buchan's hero Edward Leithen chances upon a worldwide plan for domination. With his own life (and the lives of his friends) depending on the outcome of his struggle, he engages in combat with the anarchic brain behind The Power-House. The author, despite being very busy in public service, wrote over 50 books during his life, but his particular talent was for writing fast-moving adventure stories. The Power-House, a good example of this genre, was first published in 1916.

Over 100 years since it was first published Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow addresses subjects which are still relevant today – perhaps more so! Being hard up, being in the blues and being in love are just some aspects of the human condition on which Jerome K. Jerome reflects in his unique whimsical fashion. These insights are not given for the benefit of our education however, for as he says in his introduction, “This book would not elevate a cow.'

The story chronicles the class movement of the time and gives us a remarkable description of social, political and industrial change. Set in Gloucestershire in the heart of England and told by Phineas, his soul mate and lifelong friend, who observes John through all his glorious moments, self-doubt and resolution, the story is simple, uplifting and heroic. It is a detailed study of a man and his family that also presents the listener with a broad view of Britain during one of its most troubled times.

“This is the original Game of Thrones.” George R.R. Martin. The puny, self-impotent Louis X, having caused his first wife to be murdered and his mistress exiled, becomes besotted with the lovely Clemence, his new Queen. Vacillating between self-pity and vainglory he is caught between the...

Jon and his mother go to Spain. The son manages to curtail the visit after six weeks.Meanwhile, Jolyon strengthens his relationship with his eldest daughter, June, who reveals that she sympathises with the young lovers. It is June who helps Fleur in her search for the history of the feud within the family. Prosper Profond, who continues to ingratiate himself with the Forsyte clan, inadvertently discloses the truth.

The hugely successful romantic adventure story which continues to thrill a century after it was written. It has all the classic ingredients - a twisting plot of betrayal and deception, love interest, great swashbuckling action and a most beguiling villain in Rupert of Hentzau, who captured the public’s imagination and had them begging the author for a sequel. Rudolph Rassendyll visits Ruritania, with whose Royal Family he has a connection because of a scandalous sexual indiscretion in the past.

Walter Herries establishes himself in Keswick and constructs an imposing property overlooking Uldale, further encroaching upon the peaceful lives of Jennifer and the children. Adam resolves to pursue a career in London, much to his mother's displeasure. He meets the Chartist campaigner Caesar Kraft and lives with him and his daughter Margaret. On a visit to the capital, Elizabeth Herries chooses the opportunity to escape from her unhappy life but is finally pursued by John.

A Child of the Jago is both thriller and condemnation of social conditions in the East End slums at the turn of the century. Boy hero Dicky Perrott is at heart full of humane instinct but his environment ensures his down fall. "It was my fate to encounter a place in Shoreditch where children were born and reared in circumstances which gave them no reasonable chance of living decent lives: where they were born fore-damned to a criminal or semi criminal career.

Bobby, a sparky, silver-haired Skye terrier, adopts Auld Jock, a worn-out simple shepherd, as his master. Jock is let go by the farmer and dies in poverty, having suffered one winter too many. The farmer tries to reclaim Bobby as a pet for his daughter, but the dog owes allegiance only to Auld Jock, guarding his grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard. His devotion changes the lives of those around him and ultimately the conditions of the poor in Edinburgh. Bobby's loyalty is eventually rewarded, and he becomes a famous dog indeed!