Showing results by narrator "Patricia Gallimore" in All Categories

Santo Innis is developing a revolutionary engine to counter the effects of high-pressure steam. His backer is Richard Vaughan, heir to Frederick Tregarron, owner of the Gillyvean estate. His world is turned upside down by the unexpected arrival at Gillyvean of Melanie Tregarron, Frederick's illegitimate youngest daughter. Desperate to prove the viability of his invention, Santo persuades Richard to let him fit one at Gillyvean's brewhouse.

Dorset, 1917: If it’s not enough that a girl from a good background is forced to work as a maid, Livia Carr is then violated by the master of the house and becomes pregnant. Her only course is to marry the son of the house, Richard Sangster, a World War One hero who has returned home an invalid. He is not expected to live, and he offers Livia and the child legitimacy, as well as his name and estate. Livia grows to love Richard, and his death comes as a great blow to her. Into the breach steps Livia’s frist love, and Richard’s friend, Denton Elliot. But will he desert her when the secret of the child’s parentage is revealed to him?

When several shots are fired into the bistro where husband and wife crime-fighting duo Patrick Gillard and Ingrid Langley are meeting their boss, they discuss the shooting with their friend, Detective Chief Inspector James Carrick. Several years previously Carrick was also targeted by a criminal, Benny Cooper, who was eventually convicted of involvement in child pornography. Benny and his accomplice are now out of prison, and soon the intimidation of Carrick and his family returns.

As the Second World War ends, Faye Harvey struggles against the stigma of being a single mother. Then Mark Fuller, badly ravaged by his POW experiences in the Far East, arrives in Cornwall. Faye finds herself drawn to him - but the father of her son, a Scottish laird, turns up, offering marriage now that his wife is dead.

In 1849, the Poltraze Estate has been deserted by Squire Nankervis, and 16-year-old Clemency Kivell is stunned when her father, Seth, announces that he wants to buy it. Trespassing in the abandoned big house, rebel-in-spirit Clemency encounters Kingsley Faraday, who tells her he’s bought Poltraze, but will not be the new squire.

London, 1647. Lucy Wentnor, having been attacked by soldiers during the Civil War and rejected by her sweetheart, hopes to start afresh with her aunt and uncle in the capital. London, however, is in chaos and her uncle, once a well-to-do mercer, is now almost bankrupt. Lucy, unwilling to go home, finds a job in one of the few businesses that’s booming: publishing. She is soon assisting in printing pamphlets, an industry which the breakdown of the licensing system and censorship has left free as never before.

Ingrid Langley isn’t pleased when her husband, Patrick Gillard, late of MI5 and now with the Serious Organized Crime Agency, is sent on assignment just days after the birth of their son. She has no time to dwell on it though, what with nursing a newborn, overseeing house renovations – and discovering a dead body in the Church vestry.

The murder of Richard Daws, 14th Earl of Hartwood and a senior official at the National Crime Agency at his home - the highly secure Hartwood Castle - has sent shock waves through MI5, MI6 and the Met. Patrick Gillard and his wife, Ingrid Langley, face their most formidable task to date when Patrick vows to find his killer.

Having been deceived by her father and her fiance, Jenefer Trevanion values honesty above all things. After losing her father and her home in a devastating fire, Jenefer supports herself by book-keeping for various businesses in the Cornish village of Porthinnis and acting as agent for the Guernsey merchants who supply local smugglers. But her independence appalls the village’s well-to-do families.

Virginia Woolley is a determined lady, focussed on improving her lot in life by taking on the airs and graces of the middle classes. By doing so, she manages to snare herself a rich husband. But why stop there? A husband gained can easily be lost. Once a wealthy widow, she would be free to marry again, for even more money. But when two rich husbands die in suspicious circumstances, Virginia becomes the focus of a police investigation.

Folkestone, 1921. Newly-wed Maude Brent couldn't be happier. When her much-loved elderly housekeeper Aunt Biddy starts to grow forgetful, her husband Lionel suggests that Maude hire a companion - and he knows just the girl. Initially reluctant, Maude trials the young Alice, and soon it's as if she'd always been part of the family. But when Lionel takes Maude on holiday to Hastings, tragedy strikes and he disappears.

Free-spirited Clemency Kivell is proud of achieving ownership of a music shop in the industrial village of Meryen. The village’s young squire Matthew Faraday, who’s in love with Clemency, decides to hold a May Day festival. However, the event is spoiled – first for Clemency, when her cousin Jowan proposes to her and takes offence at her rejection, and next for Matthew himself, when he and Clemency argue.

It's 1942 when Cassie Taylor reluctantly moves to a Dorset farm to become a land girl. There she meets Robert and Stephen Denham, twins recovering from injuries sustained at Dunkirk. Cassie is instantly drawn to Stephen, but is wary of the more complex Robert, who wants to sack the inexperienced city girl. But Cassie learns quickly, and Robert comes to admire her courage, finding himself deeply attracted to Cassie....