Showing results by narrator "Cathleen McCarron" in All Categories

Three days before her 51st birthday, Clio Campbell - one-hit-wonder, political activist, life-long love and one-night stand - kills herself in her friend Ruth’s spare bedroom. And, as practical as she is, Ruth doesn’t know what to do. Or how to feel. Because knowing and loving Clio Campbell was never straightforward. The media had loved her as a sexy young starlet but laughed her off as a ranting spinster as she aged. But with news of her suicide, Clio Campbell is transformed into a posthumous heroine for politically chaotic times.

The children of Mivtown have grown up hearing the legend of the monsters of the loch. But it’s only a story - a warning to stay away from the water. Then strange things start happening in the village. Effie’s rabbit Buster escapes from a locked hutch, her mum disappears without trace and slugs start to infest her home. Along with her best friend Finn, Effie begins to hunt for clues to solve the mysteries of Mivtown. Could this all be connected to the legend? Is it really just a story, or is there something lurking in those deep, dark waters?

When pop megastar Zach Crystal dies in a fire at his remote mansion, his mysterious demise rips open the bitter divide between those who adored his music and his endless charity work, and those who viewed him as a despicable predator who manipulated and abused young and vulnerable girls. Online journalist Scott King, whose Six Stories podcasts have become an internet sensation, investigates the accusations of sexual abuse and murder that were levelled at Crystal before he died. But as Scott begins to ask questions and rake over old graves, some startling inconsistencies emerge.

Charley Lambert has a perfect life. She has The Job. The Wardrobe. And The Flat. Then she breaks her leg in three places and is forced to hand over her job to her nasty deputy while she recovers. Desperate for something to do, she discovers a talent for helping the lovelorn online. Then along comes William.…

In the shadow of loss, disgrace and ill-health, unmarried mother Netta Nichol must watch her child being brought up by her farming father and stepmother. Exiled from her beloved Galloway, she seeks refuge in a Yorkshire mill town where she finds solace in sewing for her son. With the help of local friends, she makes her dream of creating beautiful wedding dresses come true, believing this is the one dress she may never get the chance to wear - in a time of rationing and shortages, no small achievement.

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.

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.

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.

Oonagh O'Neil is back with another gloomy and heart-wrenching investigation. If only someone had listened... When the supposed suicide of famous Scottish football coach Harry Nugent hits the headlines, the tabloids are filled with tributes to a charitable pillar of the community that gave so much back to sport and to those less fortunate. But something isn't right.

A sweeping YA fantasy inspired by Scottish history and folklore, Our Divine Mischief takes listeners on a journey told in three voices: a determined heroine, an outcast young man, and a wish-granting canine. Their adventure spans an island fishing village to the king’s court in a story about identity, belonging, and the love between a human and her dog.

When Effie Coulstoun drops dead on the floor of her bar in a small Spanish town mid-business meeting, her daughter Daniella feels it’s her duty to return for the funeral. But Daniella has been estranged from her mother for over 20 years. Daniella is soon confronted by a hostile group of expat misfits who, along with Effie, are involved in a multi-million-pound property scam. The expats are threatening to implicate Daniella to save themselves. A Spanish detective is investigating Effie’s death. He’s convinced Daniella knows more than she is telling.

The LAPD finds a man dead at home. Nothing suggests foul play but elements of the victim’s house show that something is deeply wrong. Meanwhile, in Glasgow, DI Rachel Narey is searching for a missing young woman - and the man she suspects of killing her. When a feed broadcasting the slow and painful death of a final victim is discovered, these two cases become linked.

Shortly after being unceremoniously dumped at a petrol station, Anya Mackie finds a pact she signed with Euan Carrick which promised they'd marry if both are still single the following decade. But Euan hasn't been seen for ten years and there's no trace of him anywhere. After accepting the help of Jamie Kildare - another blast from Anya's past with very mysterious reasons for tracking down Euan - the pair set off to find The Back-Up Man.

Born on a farm outside Edinburgh in the mid-19th century, Agnes Watt is embraced by family, community, and tradition. Her youthful hopes and dreams are quashed but she falls in love and marries William Miller, a Gordon Highlander. Life spirals into dark places as the couple become ensnared in the nightmare that descended on the Scottish working class during the industrial revolution. The triumphs of the great Victorian era came at an appalling human cost and Agnes fights against disease and grinding poverty.

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.

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.

With her life back in London falling apart, Olivia cannot believe her luck when she's invited on a once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic cruise with her boyfriend, Aaron. Olivia has never been anywhere so spectacular: huge cliffs of ice loom high on the horizon, penguins dive through the sparkling sea, and above it all, the sun never sets in the eerie twilight sky. Then Aaron disappears. And a body is discovered on board.

Summer, 1993. In the aftermath of her mother's suicide attempt, 16-year-old Prue must spend the summer holidays on a remote island in the Shetlands with her favourite Aunt Ruth and Uncle Archie, a man she's barely met since her aunt married him. Prue hopes to re-establish the relationship, and that her aunt might help her understand some of the parts of the past she has been forbidden to discuss by her mother—including the identity of her father. Prue soon finds out that her uncle was the only suspect in the disappearance of a local girl some twenty years ago.

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.

Blood is thicker than water, the family bond stronger than any other. A gripping psychological thriller that will hook you from page one - the perfect read for fans of C.L. Taylor, T.M. Logan, and Adele Parks. The Laird-Shaw family live a life most only dream about. Self-made millionaires Gavin Shaw and Stevie Laird built their business from humble roots to global turnover, Stevie’s wife - and Gavin’s sister - Eva is never out of the style pages.