Showing results by narrator "Jodie Harris" in All Categories

Newly minted celebrant and camper van aficionado Daphne Jones pulls up in the charming town of Little Bridges, ready to officiate the wedding of Steve Tanning and Lisa Brooker. But when Steve is murdered just minutes after saying "I do", Daphne finds herself taking on a whole new role: amateur sleuth. The tension between the two families was apparent from the outset. As emotions escalate, Daphne soon learns why: Steve is the third Tanning man Lisa has married, and now the third to die in mysterious circumstances.

Celebrant and accidental amateur sleuth Daphne Jones is thrilled to attend an opulent mountaintop retreat for a celebrants' conference. But the weekend turns deadly when a mysterious note lures Daphne to the hotel fountain, where she discovers a dead body, floating face down and wearing the distinctive red jacket of the society's president, Rupert Witherspoon.

Sweden is a strikingly beautiful country with a reverence for the natural environment. Its extremes in geography, climate, and history have given rise to a population that values honesty, self-sufficiency, and harmony. Swedes are a rights-driven, modern, and tech-savvy people who also retain a deep respect for their own cultural legacy. Culture Smart! Sweden offers insights into the lives and personalities of the Swedes today, along with tips on socializing, communication, and how to make the most of your time there.

Welcome to a very special issue of Weird Tales. This issue celebrates the Bram Stoker Awards, the “Oscars” of the horror trade. They are presented every year by the Horror Writers Association (horror.org), a group founded in 1985 (and incorporated in 1987) by a collective of masters of that genre, including Joe R. Lansdale, Karen Lansdale, Robert McCammon, and Dean Koontz. This issue is packed with short stories, flash fiction, poems, and an essay—all written by past winners of the Bram Stoker Award.

Respected high school teacher Austin Yates is a devoted family man. But when a cruel online attack leaves his teenage daughter traumatized, Austin’s carefully controlled life begins to unravel. Family means everything to him—and he’ll do whatever it takes to protect them. Even if it means removing the threat. For Kate, Austin is the man who saved her. She’s a good wife and doting mother. But when whispers of scandal and accusations against Austin ripple through their small town, Kate faces an impossible choice.

Miss Phoebe Astin of The Economic Undertaker has applied her mortician skills to many faces, but a beautiful young debutante needed little work, or so she thought. When the debutante's spirit appears to her, insisting she was murdered and demanding Phoebe do something about it, Phoebe agrees. She has, after all, helped many of her ghostly clients before they move on to the next world.

That summer with Damien was the best of her life. Now, she's back in Sunshine, fifteen years later, and the New Year is fast approaching. After a breakup and a job loss, Beth moves home to stay with her newly divorced mother and take stock of her life. She can't help wondering if Damien will come to the New Year's Eve festival on Sunshine Beach again.

Due to an unfortunate series of events, a teenage girl named Carmilla is left in the care of a wealthy widower and his daughter, Laura. Laura, upon meeting the poor girl, comes to realize that she knows her face. Years prior when she was but a child, Laura was haunted by a presence in her room with the likeness of the young girl. Convinced it was just a nightmare, Laura and Carmilla become fast friends. But as Carmilla's stay continues, strange things begin to happen to the townspeople nearby.

Happily married with two wonderful children, Dom and Stacey are living the dream. He runs a successful design agency; she's finding fame as an author of children’s books. Everything is perfect. But then they meet the mesmerizing Tamara, and their lives are changed forever. Tamara is a woman with a plan. She executes it step by step—patient, systematic, methodical. And as her plan unfolds, Dom and Stacey find their lives slipping out of control, taking them from heaven into the deepest, darkest hell....

Rosie Cantrell has a past that even her husband knows nothing of. Born Samantha Ashby, she abandoned her old life when her twin sister was murdered and their trust fund was stolen. Journalist Frank Stokes knows Rosie’s story, and, nearly ten years later, he intends to write a book about the sisters. Tracing Rosie, he visits Thursdale, the village where she now lives with Mike and their baby son, Noah. Compelled to reveal her past to Mike, Rosie tells him of the man she dated who later killed her sister—and who was subsequently killed while in prison awaiting trial.

London, April 1891. When the severed torso of a woman washes up on the bank of the river Thames, London believes a serial killer from the past has struck again. Crime photographer and investigator Sarah Bain Barrett is on the scene with her friends Mick O’Reilly and Lord Hugh Staunton. This is their chance to solve a cold case and deliver a monster to justice, with help from Sarah’s husband Detective Sergeant Thomas Barrett; her sister Sally Albert, an intrepid newspaper reporter; and Hugh’s psychologist, Dr. Joshua Lewes, a pioneer in the new science of criminal profiling.

Indonesia, stretching across three time zones and situated on one of the world's great maritime trade routes, has a rich and varied culture. Culture Smart! Indonesia describes the many different cultural backgrounds that make up this rainbow nation, helping you to better understand the values that underpin its diverse society. It reveals how modern Indonesians view themselves and go about their daily lives, and gives advice on how to navigate unfamiliar situations.

A woman’s body is found stuffed inside a wheelie bin, stripped of her clothes, drained of her blood, thrown out with the rubbish. Detective Jeff Rickman is on the case. Within hours, the police have their prime suspect. And it’s Rickman himself. Elsewhere, a cruel prank ends with four innocent people burnt to death. Rickman’s convinced there’s a connection with his murdered Jane Doe. But can he unravel the truth and clear his name before anyone else dies?

Megan Ward goes missing, and suspicion falls on the stalker seen outside her house. Detective Jeff Rickman is brought in to investigate—it should be a simple missing person case. But the closer he looks the more mysterious Megan herself becomes. There are no photos, no passport, no family or friends from an earlier life.

With a massive downpour and flash floods predicted, Quinn Durand leaves work and races for the safety of home. The first drops start to fall as she spots something strange on the familiar bush route. With no reception and nothing but an empty road for miles in either direction, she investigates and discovers it’s a body, dumped by the side of the road. When she approaches to check for signs of life, an arm reaches out and grabs her.

Celebrant Daphne Jones is in the picturesque mountain town of Shady Bend to perform a funeral for community figure Edwina Drinkwater. But when the casket falls open during the service, revealing it's completely empty, Daphne finds herself at the centre of a baffling mystery. And the missing body is only the start of the day's calamities. When the caterer collapses from apparent poisoning, followed by two more suspicious deaths, Daphne is determined to figure out why so many mourners are following Edwina into the afterlife.

Ruby was murdered on Earth eighteen years ago and reincarnated on Zadok as a Pastel Zeek named Harlow. To be born at the bottom of her race’s caste colour system to a middle-class family of Magentas has made Harlow a source of conflict amongst the ruling Purples, and a source of derision from all three colours. When Harlow is attacked by a fuegor on Zadok, the effects of its slow reacting venom triggers an unforeseen phenomenon, and due to the strong connection she’d had with her twin sister, Jade, from her previous life, her human spirit is unexpectedly drawn back to Earth.

Lucy’s husband has been missing for days while she tries to pretend to those around her, including her distracted teenagers, that everything is normal. In desperation, she uses a phone app to track him—and discovers he’s with another woman. As her life falls apart, Lucy realizes nothing is as it seems. There's another woman in her husband’s life, but it’s someone she has known—and hated—for twenty years. As the story unfolds, including in the national press, her family must pull together before lives are destroyed.

When a sudden blast of severe weather causes a traffic accident, the effects will ripple through the lives of many long after the scene is cleared... Hannah has lost a leg, as well as her memory of the event, leading her to fear she may have been at fault. Struggling with recovery and anxiously awaiting the inquest results, she remains at home with her husband and kids. Joe wants to take his own life after his wife died in the accident, leaving him injured and alone.

Miss Phoebe Astin of The Economic Undertaker is not just a talented mortician, but a medium for the spirit world and often enjoys the company of her clients before they move on to the next world. When her funeral director brothers, Julius and Ambrose, bring the deceased Mrs. Henriette Tochborn to her workroom, there is much interest as the lady was quite well known for her tragedy—twenty years prior, her child was kidnapped and never found.