Showing results by narrator "Anne Flosnik"

When the body of a man is discovered in woodlands outside Manchester, a ten-year missing-persons investigation can finally be filed away. But this was no ordinary death: gagged, bound and buried alive, he was the victim of a sophisticated and sadistic killer. And there is something else that has the National Crime Agency puzzled. A single character carved into a nearby tree.

Althea Vestrit has found a new home aboard the liveship Ophelia, but lives only to reclaim the Vivacia as her rightful inheritance. However, Vivacia has been captured by the pirate ‘King’ Kennit and is acquiring a keen bloodlust. Bingtown becomes embroiled in a violent political upheaval against the corrupt Jamaillian leader, while the fading fortunes of the Vestrit family lead Malta deeper into the magical secrets of the mysterious Rain Wilds Traders.

Wizardwood, a sentient wood. The most precious commodity in the world. Like many legendary wares, it comes only from the Rain River Wilds. But how can one trade with the Rain Wilders, when only a liveship, fashioned from wizardwood, can negotiate the perilous waters of the Rain River? Rare and valuable, a liveship will quicken only when three members, from successive generations, have died on board. The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening, as Althea Vestrit’s father is carried on deck in his death-throes.

The dragon Tintaglia has been released from her wizardwood coffin, only to find that the glories of her kingdom have passed into ancient memory. Meanwhile, Malta Vestrit navigates the acid flow of the Rain Wild River in a decomposing boat, accompanied by the Satrap Cosgo and his Companion Kekki. Against hope, a ship appears in the alien waters, but does it mean rescue, or a further nightmare, for Malta? In ruined Bingtown, the citizens are at war against the Chalcedean mercenaries besieging the harbour.

It was the perfect crime: a murder from afar, the culprit escaping hours before drug lord Ronnie O’Neill breathed his last breathe. Now a rival gang leader’s daughter has been kidnapped and the race is on to find a silent killer and a missing schoolgirl before more blood is spilled. Senior Investigator Jo Stuart is tasked with finding the perpetrator, but when another body turns up that is seemingly unrelated to O’Neill it throws all her theories into the air, leading Jo to wonder if there’s more to the case than meets the eye.

A modern short story collection featuring the great detective.

Despite the recent rise of China to a position of dominance on the world economic stage, Chinese history remains an elusive subject. Yet it is this vast narrative of appalling loss, superhuman endeavor, and incredible invention that has made China the superpower it is today.

When one of the notorious Johnson brothers is murdered and a bag of money goes missing, a deadly game of cat and mouse is set in motion. DS Allie Shenton and her team are called in to catch the killer, but the suspects are double-crossing each other and Allie has little time to untangle the web of lies.

Cecily Hanson longs to live life on her own terms - to leave the shadow of her overbearing mother and marry her childhood sweetheart once he returns from the Great War. But when her fiancé is lost at sea, this future is shattered. Looking for meaning again, she decides to perform for the troops in France. Life on the front line is both rewarding and terrifying, and Cecily soon finds herself more involved - and more in danger - than she ever thought possible. And her family has followed her to France, with her mother seemingly set on a path of self-destruction.

One of history's most complex and alluring women, Anne Boleyn was irresistible to kings and commoners alike. Daughter of an ambitious country lord, Anne was sent to France to marry well and raise the family's fortunes. She soon surpassed even their greatest expectations when King Henry VIII swore he would put aside his loyal queen to make Anne his wife.

A serial killer haunts the streets of Manchester, targeting vulnerable working girls in the dead of night. His signature: a tangled lock of hair in his victims' throats. As the body count rises, pressure mounts for the Greater Manchester Police and the National Crime Agency's Behavioural Sciences Unit. For Senior Investigator Joanne Stuart, the race is on to catch the twisted killer before he strikes again. With DCI Gordon Holmes on her back and the press following her every step, Jo will stop at nothing to bring the murderer to justice.

It is 1936 and Spain is on the brink of civil war. Across Europe, young men are enlisting in the International Brigade to free their Spanish brethren from the grip of fascism, leaving sisters and lovers at home. But not all women are content to be left behind. In Britain, Charlotte McBain and Libby Forbes, friends from opposite sides of the class divide, are determined to do what they can; in Spain, Rosita García Díaz, fiercely loyal to her family and country, cannot stand by and watch.

A violent attacker is on the loose. His calling card: a tattoo on his victims' skin. With no witnesses and no evidence left at the crime scenes, it will take all of the National Crime Agency's resources to track him down. At the head of the investigation, codenamed Operation Juniper, Senior Investigator Joanne Stuart knows that the clock is ticking. The time between abductions is decreasing and the perpetrator grows ever more brazen. She fears it won't be long before his assaults turn deadly.

A man's body is found on a canal towpath. In his pocket, a magnetic letter in the shape of an E. Days later, a second victim is found, this time with the letter V tucked into her clothing. As the body count rises, the eerie, childlike clues point to a pattern that sends DS Allie Shenton and her colleagues into full alert.

When a crisis of faith prompts his departure from the Church of England, Margaret Hale’s father moves his family north to bleak, industrial Milton. At first, Margaret is put off by the town’s grit and poverty - a stark contrast to her rural southern hometown. But when she is awakened to the suffering of Milton’s hardworking citizens, she makes it her mission to improve their lives. However, Margaret soon finds herself at odds with the man she is falling in love with - the handsome, bullheaded industrialist John Thornton.

In the feuding English court, gentle Lady Madelyne suffered the cruel whims of her ruthless brother, Baron Louddon. Then, in vengeance for a bitter crime, Baron Duncan of Wexton—the Wolf—unleashed his warriors against Louddon's domain. Exquisite Madelyne was the prize he catured...but when he gazed upon the proud beauty, he pledged to protect her with his life.

The dawning twentieth century brings change to New Zealand - and new opportunities for any woman bold enough to grasp them. Atamarie Turei, whose mother fought for suffrage, has enrolled as the first female student at the Canterbury College of Engineering. On a surveying trip she meets Richard Pearse, who shares her passion for aviation. Being part Maori, part white, and thoroughly independent, Atamarie is soon vilified by Richard’s conservative farm community, forcing her to navigate the next step in a liberating life. 

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway in post-World War I England. Clarissa visits London in the morning, getting ready to host a party that evening. The nice day reminds her of her youth and makes her wonder about her choice of husband; she married the reliable Richard Dalloway instead of the enigmatic and demanding Peter Walsh, and she "had not the option" to be with Sally Seton for whom she felt strongly.

London, 1732: Nora Reed, the daughter of a merchant, falls hopelessly in love with her father's clerk, Simon. Despite their differing social class, the star-crossed lovers dream of a future on a tropical island - until tragedy strikes, and Nora must face a life without her soulmate. Hopeless, Nora enters a marriage of convenience with Elias Fortnam, a widower and sugar planter in Jamaica. Even without Simon, she is determined to somehow fulfill their tropical fantasy.

Douglas Sherbrooke, Earl of Northcliffe, is a man besieged. He must have an heir. Thus he must first provide himself with the requisite bride. Alexandra Chambers, youngest daughter of the Duke of Beresford, has loved Douglas Sherbrooke since she was 15. Unfortunately, it is her sister, the incomparable Melissande, he wishes to wed.