Showing results by narrator "Caroline Lennon" in All Categories

Ireland, AD 671. The Great Fair of Bealtain is almost upon the fortress of Cashel, and a line of painted wagons carries entertainers to mark the occasion. But preparations take a deathly turn when one carriage is set alight, and two corpses are found, lying poisoned, within. As Sister Fidelma and her companion, Eadulf, investigate, they are plunged into the menacing marshlands of Osraige - where the bloody origin of the Abbey of Cainnech is wreaking his revenge.  

Ireland. AD 672. The Feast of Beltaine is approaching, and the seven senior princes of the kingdom of Muman are gathering at Cashel to discuss King Colgú's policies. Just days before the council meets, Brother Conchobhar, the keeper of the sacred sword, is found murdered. Sister Fidelma and her brother, Colgú, fear that the killer had been trying to steal the sword that symbolises the king's authority to rule.

Thea Osborne and her canine companion Hepzie travel to the isolated village of Snowshill for their next assignment, house-sitting Hyacinth House for the mysterious Yvonne Parker. Something doesn't feel right to Thea, who is ill at ease in the village, and soon her intuition is proved to be right. A local boy, Stevie Horsfall, is found brutally strangled, with his mother as prime suspect.

Bridget Kittrick, headstrong and independent, is ready to show her worth when she's left in charge of her family's estate. She meets Lincoln Huntley, a man with a mysterious past which only heightens her attraction to him. A vicious neighbour, Mr Roache, holds a grudge against the family and orchestrates for Bridget to be kidnapped by wanted men, bushrangers, who take her deep into mountainous country to a hideout. The Boss, Donovan, is unlike any other man Bridget has known and he soon shows her a side to him that pulls at her heart.

When Thea Osborne agrees at the last minute to house-sit for Oliver Meadows, she expects a few days of peace. Uncomfortable with her mother's sudden involvement with an old flame, and unsure of how to deal with her feelings for Drew Slocombe, Thea hopes that some time alone will help to clear her head. But with the disturbing discovery of a dead body in the gardens, she finds herself at the heart of a mystery.

Hemlock at Vespers is Peter Tremayne's anthology of Celtic mysteries featuring the ever-popular 7th-century super-sleuth Sister Fidelma. Sister Fidelma originally made her debut as one of the decade's most interesting sleuths in short story form. The sharp-witted and astonishingly wise religieuse captured the hearts of many as she successfully tackled the most baffling of crimes in her other role as advocate of the law courts of Ireland, using the ancient Brehon Law system. 

One cold spring morning in County Cork, two fishermen find a bundle of rags floating in the Blackwater River. It is the mutilated corpse of a retired music teacher. His hands and feet are bound, and his neck bears the mark of a garrotting wire. The Garda want to wrap this case up before the press get hold of it. But when a second man is found murdered, the body bearing all the same marks as the first, it looks like the hallmark of a serial killer...

A mother always knows best. Doesn't she? For single mum Kate O'Hara, there was no decision to make. Her daughter, Rosie, is one of a small percentage of Irish children with a disorder that prevents her from being vaccinated against measles. All Kate can do is hope that herd immunity keeps the disease at bay and her little girl safe. For Madeleine Harrington, it was a leap of faith she wasn't prepared to take. Which is why she and her husband decline measles jabs for their daughter, Clara.

Alison's American dream is in tatters. Her high-flying career is on the skids, and her Upper East Side apartment is now way beyond her means. But pride prevents her from telling her family back home just how bad things are.

A young man is found in a riverside park, his head bashed in with a rock. The only clue to his identity is an admission stamp for the local gay club. DS Lucy Black is called in to investigate. As Lucy delves into the community, tensions begin to rise as the man's death draws the attention of the local gay rights group to a hate-speech pastor who, days earlier, had advocated the stoning of gay people and who refuses to retract his statement.

Ireland, AD 671. On the eve of the pagan feast of Samhain, Brother Eadulf and the warrior Aidan discover a man murdered in an unlit pyre in the heart of Cashel. He has been dressed in the robes of a religieux and killed by the ritualistic 'three deaths'. When a strange woman known as Brancheó appears in a raven-feather cloak foretelling of ancient gods returning to exact revenge upon the mortal world, she is quickly branded a suspect. But in their search for the killer, Sister Fidelma and Eadulf will soon discover a darker shadow looming over the fortress. 

Robinswood, Co. Waterford, 1939. The once grand house is home to two very different families. Despite delusions of grandeur, Lord and Lady Kenefick and their adult children live a life of decayed opulence as the money needed to keep such a large house and grounds ever dwindles. Meanwhile, the Murphy family, Dermot, Isabella and their three almost grown-up girls, live and work on the estate and do their best to keep everything running smoothly.

An extraordinary tale of desire, betrayal, and death from Britain's longest running and best loved radio serial. Wealthy, philandering gentleman farmer Brian Aldridge embarked on a casual fling with freelance translator Siobhan Hathaway, but what ensued was the most explosive affair in the history of Ambridge.

Lucy Black must protect the young and vulnerable... but can she protect herself? Late December. A 16-year-old girl is found dead on a train line. Detective Sergeant Lucy Black is called to identify the body. The only clues to the dead teenager's last movements are stored in her mobile phone and on social media - and it soon becomes clear that her 'friends' weren't what they claimed to be. Lucy is no stranger to death: she is still haunted by the memory of the child she failed to save, and the killer she failed to put behind bars.

Children today grow up in an increasingly volatile, complex and uncertain world. Theirs is a generation disempowered from steering their lives while society’s systems are failing to provide the support they need. Yet, a country only prospers when its children—from all walks of life—thrive, meaning that the United Kingdom now faces some consequential choices. Raising the Nation builds a compelling case showing why we must nurture smart, strong and kind children to one day inherit the stewardship of society.

Colm Tóibín's Mothers and Sons is a sensitive and beautifully written meditation on the dramas surrounding this most elemental of relationships. Psychologically intricate and emotionally incisive, each finely wrought story teases out the delicate and difficult strands woven between mothers and sons. This is an acute, masterful and moving collection that confirms Tóibín as a great prose stylist of our time.

Thea Osbourne is only too happy to have a bit of peace and quiet. The only positive thing that came out of her recent house sitting disasters is her blossoming relationship with DI Phil Hollis and she relishes the thought of their spending some quality time together. Even meeting Phil’s childhood acquaintance, the eccentric Ariadne, cannot detract from Thea’s happiness. But the bad luck that plagues the hapless Thea and her beloved spaniel Hepzipah is never far away.

Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.

Thea Osborne's latest house-sitting assignment is a little different to the rest. Along with her spaniel, Hepzie, Thea finds herself in the village of Chedworth. She is tasked with creating an inventory of Rita Wilshire's possessions, requested by her son, Richard Wilshire, after moving her into a care home. All goes to plan, until Thea and her fiancé, Drew Slocombe, find Richard dead in a barn. Was Richard's death suicide? Or something more sinister?

As the winter snow falls on the small Irish village of Ballybray, Roisin O’Connor and her young son, Ben, are saying goodbye to their beloved neighbour Mabel Murphy. Mabel lived a bold and colourful life, but the arrival of her brooding nephew ‘blow-in’ Aidan Murphy just makes life more complicated for Roisin. However, in one final act of love, a message arrives from Mabel that changes everything. And as winter turns to spring and the cold snow melts, the secrets both Roisin and Aidan are hiding must be revealed at last....