Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

Actress Charlotte has it all: a starring role in a West End show, a glittering social life and an equally high-flying boyfriend. But when her perfect existence abruptly falls apart, she retreats to her hometown on the North Yorkshire coast, finding a summer job in the local bookshop. Greg, the grumpy, old-fashioned manager of Seaswept Books, is alarmed by Charlotte's attempts to revitalise the tired-looking bookshop. But when she discovers his secret passion for amateur dramatics, an unlikely friendship blossoms.

From the vaults of the British Library comes a new anthology celebrating the best works of forgotten, never-since-republished supernatural fiction from the early 20th century. Waiting within are malevolent spirits eager to possess the living and mysterious spectral guardians - a diverse host of phantoms exhumed from the rare pages of literary magazines and newspaper serials to thrill once more.

Albertus, first carved on a bronze tablet in the 1930s by German Jewish refugee Berthold Wolpe, has proved to be one of the most enduring handcrafted typefaces in the world. It is at once modern and timeless, authoritative and whimsical—renowned as the typeface of London Street signs, David Bowie albums, and Star Wars movie posters. In this unique celebration, bestselling author Simon Garfield charts the story of the creation of Albertus, its innumerable and vibrant uses, and the erratic brilliance of its designer, as recounted by Wolpe's children.

March 1946. The railways are falling apart, rationing is getting worse and black marketeers are at work. For Violet McIntyre, a dressmaker living in Woodford Halse, it is a struggle to make ends meet. Her life becomes inextricably linked to an investigation that Detective Inspector Charles Vignoles of the Railway Detective Department is pursuing.

A bold new dramatisation of Thomas Hardy’s classic, giving his story a 21st-century resonance. Tess Durbeyfield is driven by poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urberville family. But meeting her cousin Alec proves to be her downfall. This classic criticism of social convention is given a new treatment in this full-cast adaptation which blows away the shepherd's pipe and heritage stereotype, foregrounding Hardy's social and sexual radicalism.

Private detective Nigel Strangeways attends a dinner with an elite group of detective fiction writers, known as The Assassins’ Club. A room full of crime enthusiasts seems like an amusing setting for a murder...until one happens at the dinner table. With no shortage of suspects capable of thinking up a murder plot, Strangeways must quickly deduce who in the room could be responsible for the crime.

Since its improvised creation at Microsoft in the mid-1990s, Comic Sans has become one of the most used and talked—about typefaces of the digital age. The subject of April Fools pranks and endless internet discourse, it has spawned a movement to ban it, inspired revivals and spinoffs, and continues to be widely promoted by educators. In this delightful history, bestselling author Simon Garfield tells the story of how Comic Sans emerged from speech bubbles on educational software to become one of the most recognized—and reviled—typefaces on earth.

Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are royal commissioners appointed to investigate irregularities that come to light during the compilation of the Domesday Book in the reign of William the Conqueror. They arrive in Canterbury to be met by the news that the body of a young girl has been found, apparently killed by a poisonous snake. Their investigation takes them to the leper hospital in Harbledown where the girl used to take herbs. Once they establish that she was murdered by human agency, they begin to uncover all sorts of hidden secrets in the town....

Private detective Francis Quarles visits a man with a valuable collection of manuscripts written by murderers. During his stay, the man is killed after drinking cyanide-laced port. A cryptic literary clue in the front page of a book offers the only indication of who may be responsible.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE PRIZE 2025 SHORTLISTED FOR THE NEUMANN PRIZE 2025 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO COUNT? WHY ARE HUMANS THE ONLY SPECIES ON EARTH THAT CAN DO IT? WHERE DID COUNTING COME FROM? HOW HAS IT SHAPED SOCIETIES ALONG THE WAY? AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?...

Jodie Martindale's disappearance remains a mystery, unsolved to this day. David Kelman covered the story. But he made a huge mistake, which cost someone their life. Now, he has evidence he shouldn't have. It's a message from Jodie—who has been missing for 10 years—but sent just two weeks ago.

A lethal virus. A stolen secret. One man's fight to stop a global catastrophe. Dr. Wei Zhang is a brilliant scientist with a deadly secret—he's discovered a new weapon unlike anything the world has seen. Desperate to defect from the Chinese state that now controls his research, Zhang risks...

Every year the Grand National produces very different stories from jockeys and horses alike; uplifting scenes from a victor and heartbreak when a mere inch divides the loser from the winner at the end of nearly four-and-a-half miles and 30 challenging fences. The race has evolved over the years, but there is one constant: luck, or the lack of it. How fitting, then, that in 1839 the first winner was named Lottery.

The Covid-19 pandemic is the most significant health emergency of our time. Writing from Italy in lockdown, physicist and novelist Paolo Giordano explains how disease spreads in our interconnected world: why it matters how it impacts us how we must react By expanding his focus to include other...

Ben wasn't brought up, he was dragged up. With absent parents and broken friends, a young Ben makes choices that are ruining his life. Before he’s even 20, Ben’s spells in prison begin, and soon he finds himself involved in serious crime. When people begin to die, Ben must choose a side.

The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood; a lust for private vengeance burns within him. French intelligence agent Henri d'Erloncourt has come across the seas to foment rebellion against William of Orange, the newly installed Dutch ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Darkness falls. The undead rise to feast on the succulent blood of the living. For years vampires have fascinated great writers of the occult such as De Maupassant, Count Stenbock, E Nesbit and EF Benson. This is The Story Circle's collection of some of their spine-chilling tales told by award-winning actors.

It was a deal to die for. And somebody will. Paul Murray is an ex-Olympic runner, so his training is perfect for the rigours of multimillion-dollar bond trading in the City of London. The pace is breakneck, the smell of success intoxicating. Then the body of his colleague Debbie is fished out of the Thames, and Paul’s world is turned upside down. He begins a dangerous, chaotic tumble into the darker side of trading.

The Boxing Day hike is meant to bring their nature group together. As the sun sets, a gunshot rings out on the nature reserve. One of the seven is dead. And one of their number killed them.

Colm's powers could save humanity from extinction … if he can learn to control them. For centuries, humanity has viewed the sentrienza with wonder and reverence. They gifted humanity with technology and knowledge, teaching us the secrets of space travel. Until the Ghosts arrived and everything changed. Among the slaughter of the Ghost invasion, humanity learned an awful truth: Every gift from the sentrienza comes at a price. The price is our freedom. Now humanity is fighting back, but it’s an uphill battle. We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and the sentrienza have the home-field advantage.