Showing results by narrator "Sarah Barron" in All Categories

A woman slipping through the cracks . . . When a young Vietnamese girl goes missing in Scotland, DI Birch knows there is more to the case than meets the eye. Her colleagues won't take it seriously - but Helen's instinct tells her that Linh is in mortal danger. A psychic determined to help...

Twenty years ago, a young girl was brutally murdered, her body left in an abandoned shed in the Scottish Highlands. Her killer was never caught. Now, another girl has vanished from the same remote village of Kinloch Rannoch, and DCI Ross Fraser and his team are sent to find her. A dogged, methodical investigator with no taste for theatrics, Fraser builds his cases piece by piece. But with no sightings, no suspects, and the clock relentlessly ticking, he begins to fear the same killer has struck again—and that it’s only a matter of time before another body is found.

In this powerful, passionate reimagining of the Persephone myth for fans of Lore Olympus and Melissa Albert, two former best friends--split apart by betrayal--find themselves reunited in the Underworld. But will either one make it out, or will the darkness that's growing in each of them consume...

In the now-classic Forensics, internationally bestselling and award-winning “queen of crime” (CrimeReads) Val McDermid picks up the scalpel to uncover the secrets of forensic science, from the crime scene to the courtroom In the course of researching her best-selling books, McDermid has...

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.

'I'M HOOKED . . . IT'S WONDERFUL. ONE NEVER MESSES WITH THE FAERIES' MELANIE REID, THE TIMES 'FEW BOOKS HAVE THIS IMPACT ON ME' MICHELLE GALLEN, BIG GIRL SMALL TOWN A spellbinding novel combining Scottish folklore with hidden history, by the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson. Loch...

When the badly beaten body of Henry Donaldson is found locked in the old jail at the Telford Bridge in Dunkeld, Forensic Psychologist Dr Chrissy Ferguson is relieved. Now he’s been found, she can continue her downward spiral in peace. Determined to walk away from the case and put some distance between herself and lead investigator, DCI Ross Fraser, Chrissy battles to suppress the gnawing suspicion that Henry's assault conceals darker truths. When the forensic team uncover long buried remains in the old jail, Chrissy can’t ignore her instincts.

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection The Edinburgh Mystery. Published in 1955, this is a domestic tale which sees a family member commit the ultimate crime when they’ve had enough of their miserly aunt’s frugal ways.

Julia Sutherland isn’t too sure about her new colleague. Ellis Kirkbride is friendly, charismatic and handsome, but there’s just something about him – a bit too slick, a bit too confident, and he stands a bit too close. Normally she'd share her concerns with her husband Rob, but he’s been distant lately and Julia has a secret he mustn’t find out. Ellis Kirkbride thought he had found the right woman. She was everything he could want but she didn't want him. And that was unacceptable...

The brilliant new novel from award-winning writer and rising star Claire Askew. DI Helen Birch is recovering from major surgery, housebound and exceptionally bored. Her boss, DCI McLeod, has made it crystal clear: she is not to take on any work until her recuperation is over. In her absence, Amy...

'One of the most satisfying characters in modern crime fiction' – Daily Mail An ancient grave. A modern evil. The Dead and the Dying is a pulse-pounding instalment in the Rhona MacLeod series, perfect for fans of Ian Rankin, Martina Cole and Silent Witness. In the dim morning light, Orkney’s...

Love is not a singular concept. In this collection, seven award-winning authors explore seven concepts of love: from philautia (self-love) to agape (love for humanity) and from storge (a natural affection for family) to mania (a frenzied, obsessive love).

Robertson Bennet returns to Edinburgh after a 25-year absence in search of his parents and his inheritance. But both have disappeared. A quick, routine police check should be enough - and Detective Inspector Helen Birch has enough on her plate trying to help her brother, Charlie, after an assault in prison. But all her instincts tell her not to let this case go. And so she digs. George and Phamie Bennet were together for a long time. No one can ever really know the secrets kept between husband and wife.

Verity is embarking on a better-late-than-never gap year now that her sons have flown the nest, and dreams of turning a lifetime's hobby of knitting and crocheting into a profitable new enterprise at Lerwick Manor's gallery. Nessie has returned to Shetland after two years spent retraining as a blacksmith on the Scottish mainland. She's determined to do whatever it takes to reignite the traditional craft and prove that gender is no obstacle taking on her family's heritage.

Something scared Nuala Flaherty to death. When her body is found in the center of a pentagram on a lonely moor in the shadow of Ben Shee mountain, Rebecca is determined to find out what killed her. Was her death caused by supernatural means or is there a more down-to-earth explanation? The body was discovered on the Island of Stoirm, about which Rebecca has some complicated feelings. Her beloved father, a career policeman, came from there, but he fled the island's and his own family's dark history, and Rebecca herself had a brush with death while pursuing a story there.

When a man in eighteenth-century Highland dress is found dead on the site of the Battle of Culloden, where Bonnie Prince Charlie led his forces to a rout seared into Scottish memory, Rebecca Connolly takes up the case for the Chronicle. A controversial film about the rebellion and battle is being shot nearby, and it has drawn the ire of the right-wing nationalist movement Spirit of the Gael. Is there some link between the murder—the weapon used to impale the man leaves no doubt it was murder—and Spirit of the Gael or the shadowy militant group New Dawn?

Edinburgh 1896. At Alardyce House, the family are gathered to celebrate the engagement of the heir to the estate, Robert, to his childhood sweetheart. But what should be a precious memory for his mother Amy, is marred by darkness. For Robert’s biological father was a demon and a criminal, and now Robert is coming-of-age, disturbing reports are beginning to emerge about his behaviour. Amy is torn between her love and loyalty to her son, her hope that she can save his soul, and her growing sense of dread that the streets of Edinburgh aren’t safe when Robert is in town.

Having left the Highlands murder team behind and joined the shadowy world of the secret services, former DC Kirsten Stewart overhears a plot that strikes to the very core of Scotland's governance. As the stakes get higher and Kirsten becomes cut off from her superiors, can she stop the assassin before they eliminate their prime target. In her first solo mission, Kirsten Stewart finds herself in deep shadow and in receipt of disturbing news. Only by remaining incommunicado can she find out the intentions of a killer and stop the murder of Scotland's top politician.

When banners proclaiming the innocence of James Stewart spring up at the gravesite of his famous namesake—a clan leader who was falsely accused of murder and hanged almost three hundred years ago in a miscarriage of justice that still resonates—investigative reporter Rebecca Connolly smells a story.

At 8 a.m., the first shots are fired. At 1 p.m., the police establish the gunman has a hostage. By 5 p.m., a siege is underway. At 9 p.m., DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer. One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.