Showing results by narrator "Jan Cramer" in All Categories

Detective Kim Stone knows from the moment she looks down on Ashley Reynolds that this is no ordinary crime. No one has a bad word to say about this loving wife and mother. So why did someone murder her, and wait to make sure she was dead? Ashley was a social worker, and some claimed she tore families apart. But her husband is also acting strangely, planning to take their daughter and leave town. Did the threat to her come from home or work?

After the death of their father, sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood face financial ruin. At the mercy of their half brother, John, and his greedy wife, their only hope is to make a good match. But reduced circumstances make courtship difficult—especially after being turned out of their home. While responsible Elinor takes a practical approach to matters of the heart, Marianne throws herself in unreservedly. In Jane Austen’s first novel, two of literature’s most iconic characters discover that love demands a balance of passion and pragmatism.

DI Zoe Finch has enough on her plate as the trial of her deadliest enemy gets underway. But when a birdwatcher stumbles across a body in the shifting flatlands of the Solway coast, the evidence takes her team in some disturbing directions. Has the victim fallen foul of the same organised criminals Zoe has spent the last two years trying to put behind bars? Or could there be a connection with the disappearance of a man from a local caravan park years earlier?

Petra McBride is at a crossroads. Her work with Police Scotland’s Complex Crimes Unit has come to an end, she’s been forced to abandon her academic career, and she’s homeless. It looks like she has no options.

Three twisty mysteries, all set in Lyme Regis, one of England's most picturesque seaside towns. DC Tina Abbott is supposed to be staying with her mum Annie while she's on maternity leave. And Annie isn't supposed to be sticking her nose into murder cases. But then, Annie Abbott never does as she's told.

DI Zoe Finch has been in Cumbria long enough to know who’s pulling the strings in organised crime, and who’s helping them from within the police. But just as she’s closing in on the evidence to prove it, she finds herself scrambling in the fallout from the murder of a key witness, and struggling to keep the case out of the hands of the very man she suspects of orchestrating it.

DI Zoe Finch has a new job. New house, new boss, and new team too. She's been persuaded to move from Birmingham to Cumbria, to head up a team investigating some of the county's most complex crimes. But it isn't easy. Adjusting to rural life, not to mention navigating the politics of Cumbria Police, will be a challenge. And she's not sure who she can trust. And then, her work becomes linked to that of her partner Carl, whose job it is to chase down bent coppers. Zoe's been here before.

With a long-term target finally in custody and the appearance of a key witness, DI Zoe Finch might have expected everything else to fall into place. But when the body of a man she knows is found inside the Port of Workington, the investigation takes her team in some unexpected directions, and working with unlikely allies. Why was he killed? Is there a connection with the missing mother of a local businessman? Can Zoe’s team even keep the case in the face of a bitter territorial spat?

First published in 1792, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman tackles many of the punitive patriarchal attitudes that dominated 18th-century society. With warmth and passion, Mary Wollstonecraft urges women to prioritize reason over emotion - a necessary step in building the strength of character required to break free from male notions of female fragility and foolishness. Wollstonecraft bases much of her argument in the case for women's education.

In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer's night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear plastic bag tied tight over his head. A few days later, another victim is found dead in exactly the same circumstances. As Erika and her team start digging deeper, they discover a calculated serial killer - stalking their victims before choosing the right moment to strike.

An isolated community... a web of secrets... a mysterious death. When a body washes up on the shores of Brownsea Island, DCI Lesley Clarke initially suspects suicide. But as she gets closer to the island's close-knit community, she starts to suspect foul play. Why did the victim argue with her closest friend days before her death? What secrets is the victim's manager keeping? And can Lesley get to the bottom of the mystery before someone else dies?

When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone. As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps. Forced to work alongside Detective Travis, with whom she shares a troubled past, Kim begins to uncover a dark, secretive relationship between the families who own the land in which the bodies were found.

Tensions are high across Europe in the beginning of May 1940. Hitler’s forces have overrun Norway, and it’s only a matter of time before his focus turns to France. When Evelyn Ainsworth is sent to Brussels, she understands all too well the risk of remaining too long. The MI6 agent’s goal is to get in, pick up a package, meet with her Soviet contact, and get out again as quickly as possible. But even the best laid plans can go awry.

1915, London: Shaking, she opens the faded red front door and her heart races as the young boy on the steps holds out the telegram. The words swim before her. They can’t be true; this can’t be happening. Nothing will ever be the same again. 1943, London: Elizabeth Carmichael rushes out down the steps of her town house in her smart army uniform, daydreaming of her handsome fiancé posted miles away in the RAF, and determined to play her part in the war effort. Not looking where she’s going, Elizabeth collides with a tall man in the middle of the street.

Meet Detective Inspector Zoe Finch. She's ambitious, determined, and damaged. And she's about to uncover evidence that could make her career... or get her sacked.

DCI Lesley Clarke is settling into her new job in Dorset's Major Crimes Unit, and becoming accustomed to a slower pace of life. But then she's called in to solve the murder of a woman with links to Lesley's new girlfriend. Has Lesley made a grave error of judgement? Can she track down the killer or does she already know her? And how will Lesley's new colleagues react when she tells them she's dating a suspect? The Clifftop Murders is the second instalment in the gripping Dorset Crime series, in which rural Dorset is a whole lot darker than the holiday brochures would have you think.

DCI Lesley Clarke's two teams are in flux. The Major Crime Investigations Team has a new DI, and the Cold Cases team has a member back from parental leave. And Lesley herself is itching to get stuck into a case, instead of sitting behind a desk. When a body is found at the luxury beach huts on Mudeford Spit, the Cold Cases team know it's one of theirs, as the remains have been buried for over thirty years. But then evidence is found connecting a member of the Kelvin organised crime family, as well as Lesley's lawyer wife Elsa.

An old enemy and a new colleague bring twin problems for DCI Lesley Clarke. Lesley and her team think that their battles with Dorset's organised crime gangs are over. The Kelvins are all dead or in prison and Trevor Hamm's Birmingham gang have given up their attempts to expand into the county. But then a man's body is found on Chesil Beach, his fingertips and teeth removed. And his DNA isn't on the system.

When MI6 sends Evelyn Ainsworth back to Oslo, no one expects any complications, least of all Evelyn. With her identity locked down and her section classified, both her location and her mission are secure. Or so they thought. After months of inactivity and scattered warnings across Europe, Hitler finally moves, but not in the direction everyone expects. With tensions between England and Norway rising, the Führer seizes the opportunity to send an invasion force north—straight into Norway.

When a detective who's been suspended pending a corruption investigation is murdered, alarm bells start ringing for DI Zoe Finch and her team. Was the victim connected to organized crime boss Trevor Hamm? Was he in league with Zoe's former colleague Ian Osman? And why is CID boss David Randle trying to curtail the investigation? With her mentor off sick and a new boss breathing down her neck, Zoe must investigate without drawing attention to herself.