Showing results by narrator "Jennifer Ness" in All Categories

When Mother Dorothy's godmother dies of a heart attack and leaves all her money to the convent, Sister Joan is uneasy. While on visiting duty at the hospital, she makes some tacit enquiries. Things don't seem quite right. The nursing staff are always away from their posts at crucial times. The surly young doctor seems very out of sorts. Then a little girl goes missing. Sister Joan knows there's something truly sinister going on. She teams up with Detective Sergeant Mill, but can they get to the bottom of things before tragedy strikes?

“We have a secret the Devil and I.” These are the chilling words on the back of an old photograph that Sister Joan uncovers while cleaning out the attic storerooms. What she discovers among the dusty antiques leads to her most dangerous case yet. Joan has the strangest feeling that she's being followed. But the person she thinks she saw died over a year ago . . . Or did he? Then a young secretary turns up dead. She's been strangled. Another body is found and Sister Joan must get to the bottom of things before the murderer strikes again.

Sixteen-year-old Valerie vanishes from home in the small hours clad only in her robe and slippers. Three days later, Sister Joan finds her body abandoned in the convent's little Moor Schoolhouse. The dead girl is dressed in wedding white. A garland of leaves encircles her head, and a thin red line runs round her neck. Valerie has been strangled. Then a second young Catholic girl, also dressed in white, turns up dead. Sister Joan is once again torn between her religious duties and helping Detective Sergeant Mill’s inquiries...but time is running out.

The sixth book in the Sister Joan murder mystery series. Two newcomers are visiting the convent in the hope of joining the nuns. But soon after their arrival, there’s a mysterious late-night intruder. Who left the single red rose on the chapel steps? And are they connected to the new-age travellers camping on the moor? When one of the women is found bludgeoned to death, Sister Joan knows that their isolated convent is no longer safe. Teaming up with Detective Sergeant Mill, Sister Joan must once again investigate the grisly goings-on.

There's a lot of angst around these days. This heightened sense of fear, concern, insecurity and uncertainty can be overwhelming. Bestselling author of The Book of Overthinking and The Book of Knowing Gwendoline Smith explains what angst is and the ways in which deep anxiety can manifest. Gwendoline then drills down into social anxiety, which is often underdiagnosed but is one of the most common of the anxiety family. Using simple, clear language, Gwendoline gives detailed step-by-step advice on how to cope.

Paula worries that her marriage to Tommy is hanging by a thread. She loves how safe her husband makes her feel, but lately, it seems like he’s pulling away from her, and he keeps avoiding a much-needed conversation about finally having children.

A deliciously funny and sage guide to midlife - an unscientific, flaws-and-all account of one woman's adventures and misadventures through the dark comedy of the wilderness years. Through her own experiences as a 50-something woman, and those of her three sisters, her indomitable mum and rebellious auntie, Charlotte tackles the big questions every woman seeks answers to at this time of our lives - chiefly: how the hell am I going to get over being young in a world obsessed with youth?

A Woman's Game explores the history of women's football from the Victorian era—with players in high-heeled boots—to the present day. It is the story of a rise, fall and rise again: from the game's first appearance in England in the late 19th century, through the incredible teams, which at their height in 1920 drew 53,000 spectators to Goodison Park, to its 50-year ban in the UK and the aftershocks when that ban was lifted.

On Good Friday, the verger of St Albans cathedral was supposed to be preparing the Easter service. Instead he discovers a man lying dead, fallen from the famous 50-foot-high spire. Did he jump, or was he pushed? For DCI Maarten Jansen, it's a simple case of suspected suicide. Until a stranger, Willow, who witnessed the jump, prompts a deeper investigation into a long-buried past, involving a mental hospital, a pregnant woman and 50 years of silence. As Willow's own family history entwines with the case, Jansen starts to wonder how everything is connected.

For nine months, Alfie has been caring for his twin daughters after the sudden death of their mother, Pippa. One night, he wakes to find them at the foot of his bed, and hears the chilling words: daddy, there's a man in our room. Alfie finds no sign of any man, but it isn't long before the name Black Mamba invades the family's everyday routine. What seemingly begins as an imaginary friend quickly develops into something darker, potentially violent.

In a quiet coastal village, Irina spends her days restoring furniture, hiding away from the world. A family secret, long held and never discussed, casts a dark shadow and Irina chooses to withdraw into her work. When an antique bureau is sent to her workshop, the owner anonymous, Irina senses a history to the object that makes her uneasy. As Irina begins to investigate the origins of the piece, she unearths the terrible secret it holds within.

Poppy Brookes receives a troubling letter. A decade after her sister Isobel eloped with an artist, she pleads with Poppy to visit their neglected country estate a few miles from the ancient and beautiful city of Siena. When Poppy arrives, she finds a disturbing undercurrent in Isobel and husband Kit’s relationship, then accidentally uncovers a terrible secret. Against the backdrop of a verdant 1920s Tuscany, Poppy’s own journey into love is overshadowed by the insanity of a war long ended and a desire for revenge that, with tragic consequences, inevitably damages the innocent.

Evil has crept into the peaceful lives of the Daughters of Compassion. At first there are only small signs of its presence. The children at Sister Joan’s school are eerily well behaved. Holy water and candles mysteriously disappear from the chapel. The beautiful au pair of one of Sister Joan’s pupils flees in the middle of the night. Then a handsome young teenager vanishes. Murder has come to this quiet corner of Cornwall. Sister Joan must battle the evil forces threatening the nuns - as well as the temptations aroused in her by the dashing police detective on the case.

On 3 April 2020, Kate Bingham was told that the likelihood of any Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best. But on 8 December 2020, the first NHS patient received a vaccine. Now nearly every adult in Britain has had a jab, lockdowns have ended and we can finally live with COVID. What lies behind this staggering success story?

On the rural coast of Puglia, Italy, Becca and Ric run the Bastion, offering solace and a home for lost souls. Each year they welcome new members to join the Open Feast, where they teach them to release their burdens and create a better world, in a journey of self-discovery and spiritual teachings. But the Bastion has secrets. The Bastion has a destiny. Deep in the Inner Pinewood, a place of real magic and beauty, they are all that stands against the dark forces that would tear the sky wide open.

In 2016, English midwife Indie joined the staff at Attat Hospital in south-western Ethiopia, where Atsede led the midwifery services. It was a meeting that would change their lives. Their close professional relationship, and deep personal friendship, led to them opening a birth centre serving the Gurage women and families of Cheha Woreda, bringing compassionate midwifery care into the heart of traditional communities.

A body has been uncovered in a mudslide just outside the village of Andwiston. In the pub they talk of murder, but Dan - sometime mechanic, constant drunk - is finding it hard to sift through his jumbled memories. Watching him from the dark is Lorna, a lost soul living in the woods, haunted by ghosts and a vision from her childhood: a cold boy standing alone in Gallinger's field.

My name is Emma Cartwright. Three years ago I was Susan Webster, and I murdered my 12-week-old son Dylan. I have no memory of what happened but you believe what your loved ones, your doctor and the police are telling you, don't you? But if you can't remember what happened, how can you be sure that they are telling the truth? And if there was the smallest chance your son was alive, wouldn't you do anything to get him back? A fantastic debut from an outstanding talent.

An stunning novel about the lost and the lonely, and the paths we walk when driven by desire, sorrow or need. For Hadley Dunn, life so far has been uneventful - no great loves, no searing losses. But that's before she decides to spend a year studying in the glittering Swiss city of Lausanne, a place that feels alive with promise. Here Hadley meets Kristina, a beautiful but elusive Danish girl, and the two quickly form the strongest of bonds. Yet one November night, as the first snows of winter arrive, tragedy strikes.

In a cottage in Normandy, Lina Rose is writing to the daughter she abandoned as a baby. Now a successful if enigmatic author, she is determined to trace her family’s history through the two world wars that shaped her life. But Lina can no longer bear to carry her secrets alone, and once the truth is out, can she ever be forgiven?