Showing results by narrator "Polly Edsell" in All Categories

Rebecca hasn't seen her father, Leo, since she was six. Her family never talk about him, and she has long since pushed him firmly to the back of her mind. All she knows is that once upon a time, he was a well-loved children's TV star. But when a journalist turns up uninvited at her office, asking questions about her once-famous father, Rebecca starts to wonder whether there is more to Leo's absence than she realised. Then, looking for answers, she unearths a book of fairy tales written by Leo and dedicated to her - but what use are children's stories to her now, all these years later.

Reporter Iris Woodmore plans to move to London to avoid a shocking hometown scandal. Longtime enemy Archie Powell has been threatening to reveal her darkest secret – and she’s desperate to flee before he does. But when he’s found murdered after a violent argument with her, there’s no escape. Iris must stay and clear her name even though the truth could ruin her reputation. With the police closing in, Iris has to find the real killer if she’s to keep her secret. Can she prove her innocence without revealing the identity of the one man who can provide her with an alibi?

Summer is in full swing in the picturesque Sussex countryside, and Maisie Cooper is bound for the annual Bitling Fair. Maisie expects to enjoy homemade cakes, a glass of cider and a spot of Morris dancing. But what she doesn't bargain for is the tensions running high between the villagers of East Bitling and the disagreements being stirred up by the high and mighty Lady Catherine, from the big house on the hill.

July 1923 - Iris Woodmore travels to Devon with her friends Percy Baverstock and Millicent Nightingale for her father’s wedding to Katherine Keats. But when Millicent uncovers skeletal remains hidden on the private beach of Katherine’s former home, Iris begins to suspect her future stepmother is not what she seems. The police reveal the dead man is a smuggler who went missing in 1918, and when a new murder occurs, they realise a killer is in their midst. The link between both murders is Katherine. Could Iris’s own father be in danger?

It’s 1922, and after spending a year travelling through Europe, Iris Woodmore returns home to find a changed Walden. Wealthy businesswoman Constance Timpson has introduced equal pay in her factories and allows women to retain their jobs after they marry. But these radical new working practices have made her deadly enemies. A mysterious sniper fires a single shot at Constance – is it a warning, or did they shoot to kill? When one of her female employees is murdered, it’s clear the threat is all too real – and it’s not just Constance in danger.

When the royal family of Selvina sets out to destroy magic through a grand and terrible inquisition, magic warrior-thief Renata - trained in the art of stealing memories - seeks to kill the prince, leader of the King's Justice, only to learn through powerful memories that he may be the greatest illusion of them all...and that the fate of all magic now lies in her hands.

Pemberley, 1799. When Miss Georgiana Darcy attempts to escape an unwanted marriage proposal, she isn’t expecting to end up quite so far from home. But after encountering a mysterious object in the nearby woods, she finds herself transported almost two hundred years into the future. Saltram, 1995. At a grand country house where a film crew are busy shooting the latest Jane Austen adaptation, a terrible crime has been committed. And Miss Darcy – newly arrived, impeccably dressed and thoroughly confused – is the only witness.

Can you feel it? That FANTASTICAL FIZZ of CURIOSITY? Lizzy Sparks has the spark, the spark of INVENTION, and she’s going to need it because her pet hamster Gizmo is MISSING! That's where Ruby, Lizzy's super-smart babysitter, comes in. She's going to show Lizzy how inventors NEVER give up … because there's an inventor in ALL of us. And maybe Lizzy can invent the perfect solution to find Gizmo.

Peggy could lose her beloved pub. Maggie her acclaimed restaurant. Maureen her business and her home. Everyone had something to lose. Whilst old friends try to come to terms with the shocking news, the younger generation continue to forge ahead in the swinging sixties. Relationships flourish and new opportunities blossom; the ever changing world becoming their oyster. But family bonds remain strong, after all, it's people that matter not the buildings.

When Iris Woodmore visits Winchester for their annual pantomime, murder is the last thing she expects to find. And there seems to be no valid reason as to why anyone would want to hurt lead actress, Rachel Lacey – kind and philanthropic, she organized the Christmas performance to raise funds for the Winchester Cathedral Great War Fund. Determined to uncover the sinister forces at play, Iris and her dear friend Percy embark on a perilous journey through the snow-lined streets of Winchester, where secrets lurk around every corner and danger looms in the shadows.

1914. Evie Munro is a Scottish fisher girl, working the herring season from Wick to Great Yarmouth. For Evie, every day is the same - gutting fish at the docks, shoulder-to-shoulder with her friends, followed by fresh bread, a warm whiskey toddy and an early night. But when Germany declares war, everything changes. As her village begins to empty of young men, Evie's life is marked by a heartbreaking tragedy. Her happiness destroyed, she vows to join the war effort as an army nurse, caring for wounded soldiers on the imposing hospital ship Britannic.

Brussels, April 1915. A beautiful young woman finds herself on the run from the enemy. Also being pursued is Ned Scott, a British army major who has been badly injured. The pair find themselves at a hospital run by the famous Edith Cavell, who agrees to treat the major while offering them both refuge and a false identity - she names the young girl Anna.

When hotel cleaning temp and poetry academic Megan Morrison finds out she's inherited an Italian villa and small fortune from her estranged great-great aunt Olwen, she doesn’t quite know how to react. That is, until she travels to Portofino to see Il Giardino delle Rose for herself. Then she knows exactly what she has to do: live there! Enchanted by the beauty of the house and gardens, fascinated by the history and more than a little intrigued by handsome hired landscape gardener Gideon West, Megan can immediately see the villa's potential as a dream home.

1898. Quinn le Blanc, London's most talented con woman, has five days to pull off the seemingly impossible... to trap a nobleman into marriage - and lift a fortune from the richest family in England. Styled as the season's most enviable debutante, Quinn enters the inner circle of the corrupt, charismatic Kendals. But as she finds herself increasingly drawn into their mysterious orbit, Quinn realises that she may not be the only one playing a game of high deception.

With the arrival of English prisoners of war on Marchese Ginori’s farmhouse estate, Rosa is immediately wary. Her husband was killed by the Allies and she will not trust any inglesi around her daughter. The marchese’s daughter, Emma, is thankful for the extra help. Especially when Italian soldiers are forced into hiding, fleeing the Nazis. Emma vows to protect her childhood best friend, Marco, at any cost. It’s a dangerous time to be harbouring fugitives, and as the POWs prove their allegiance in helping the Italian men, Rosa begins to become close to one in particular

It is 1933, and Europe is a place of increasing fear and violence. Young British photographer Elena Standish is on assignment in Amalfi when she meets Ian Newton, a charming Englishman with whom she falls in love. But what does she really know about him? Accompanying him on a train across Italy to Paris, she finds him critically stabbed and dying. He tells her he is a member of Britain's Secret Service, on his way to Berlin to warn MI6 so that they can foil a plot to assassinate one of Hitler's vilest henchmen and blame Britain for it, thus causing a devastating diplomatic crisis.

If Fran doesn’t nail this audition for a major TV role, she’s officially done as an actress. She just needs to tap into her inner seductress...who doesn’t seem to exist. Enter stage right: Jae-seung. To Fran, he’s just her landlord’s ridiculously hot nephew, helping her rehearse. To the rest of the world, Jae-seung is lead singer of global sensation, JYNKS – and he’s missing in action. Together, they embark on an international journey of discovery – Fran, to track down her estranged mother and unlock her tightly guarded heart; Jae-seung, to continue (reluctantly) with his tour rehearsals.

Lizzie has been in love with her colleague Dean for three years but he’s never given her a second glance. When a job offer in London promises to launch her art career, she finally feels ready to upend her life in pursuit of her dream…until the night of the office Christmas party when Dean confesses his love for someone else—Rebecca, one of Lizzie’s closest friends. A few days later, the police show up on her doorstep. Rebecca is missing.

Aly Meadows is a self-proclaimed 'catfluencer' using her two beloved pets to earn thousands of likes on Instagram. But behind the lens, Aly is broke, facing eviction and living a life that's a million miles away from the glamourous world of social media stardom. Rick Harvard, the CEO of talent agency Glimmer, has the power to change her life, but only if Aly agrees to dive in at the deep end. Can Aly come out of her shell and channel the confidence of her insta-famous cats? And if so, will she finally find the love and laughter she deserves?

When the young, beautiful Mademoiselle de Chartres comes to court, her primary objective is to find herself a husband. Upon her mother's recommendation, she accepts the advances of the Prince de Clèves, a rather average sort of a man. Unfortunately, soon after the wedding she finds herself to be in love with the dashing Duc de Nemours.... Against a backdrop of labyrinthine court politics, the naïve Madame de Clèves' pursuit of true love is a riveting and timelessly tragic tale.