Read by Janet Mc Teer. When the body of a young girl is found dumped on the banks of the Thames, even the police are shocked by the brutality of her murder: horrifically mutilated, severed in half & drained of blood, her death is a terrifying mirror image of a 1940s case in Los Angeles knows as ' The Black Dahlia'. That case was never solved, but now Detective Inspector Anna Travis must race against time to catch this 'copycat killer', dubbed ' The Red Dahlia' from the flower his victim wore in her hair. But there are no suspects & a media frenzy is spiralling out of control. Anna needs help from the brilliant & volatile Detective Chief Inspector James Langton, but the frictions of their romantic relationship are complicating the case. A second girl is murdered & as Anna & Langton close in on the prime suspect, they uncover a terrifying web of sadistic sexual evil & a family's murderous secrets. ...

Join your little one for a fantastic story-time with this Big Button Sound Board

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Read With Biff, Chip & Kipper is the UK's best-selling home reading series. It is based on Oxford Reading Tree which is used in 80% of primary schools. Read With Biff, Chip & Kipper Level 2 Phonics storybooks have been specially written to allow children to practise their letters & sounds as they do at school. Fun plots, familiar characters & carefully levelled text create the perfect combination to build children's confidence & enjoyment of reading. Level 2 practises single letter sounds like 'f' & two letters that make one sound such as 'ff' & combining those sounds to read simple one & two syllable words. These sounds are introduced at Level 2: s a t p i n m d g oC k ck e u r h b f ff l ll ss j x y z zz. Each book

Includes:: two stories as well as practical tips & ideas for you to use when you reading with your child & fun activities.

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Nathaniel Parker reads this funny, poignant & deeply insightful novel from bestselling author Mark Haddon Family, that slippery word, a star to every wandering bark, & everyone sailing under a different sky. After his mother's death, Richard, a newly remarried hospital consultant, decides to build bridges with his estranged sister, inviting Angela & her family for a week in a rented house on the Welsh border. Four adults & four children, a single family & all of them strangers. Seven days of shared meals, log fires, card games & wet walks. But in the quiet & stillness of the valley, ghosts begin to rise up. The parents Richard thought he had. The parents Angela thought she had. Past & present lovers. Friends, enemies, victims, saviours. & watching over all of them from high on the dark hill, Karen, Angela's stillborn daughter... The Red House" is about the extraordinariness of the ordinary, weaving the words & thoughts of the eight characters together with those fainter, stranger voices
- of books & letters & music, of the dead who once inhabited these rooms, of the ageing house itself & the landscape in which it sits. This is a complete & unabridged reading by Nathaniel Parker.
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This is a world dominated by The Wild. Man lives in pockets of civilisation claimed from The Wild. Within men's walls life is civilised, the peace punctuated by tournaments, politicking, courtly love & canny business. Beyond those walls men are prey
- vulnerable to the exceptionally powerful & dangerous creatures which populate the l&, & even more vulnerable to those creatures schemes. So when one of those creatures breaks out of The Wild & begins preying on people in their homes, it takes a specialist to hunt it down or drive it out.. . & even then, it's a long, difficult & extremely dangerous job. The Black Captain & his men are one such group of specialists. They have no idea what they're about to face.. . Forget George & the Dragon. Forget Sir Lancelot & tales of Knightly exploits. This is dirty, bloody work. This is violent, visceral action. This is a mercenary knight as you've never seen one before.
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Read by Emily Watson & Gareth Armstrong. In a novel of conspiracy, passion & cold-hearted ambition, Number One bestselling author Philippa Gregory has brought to life the story of a proud & determined woman who believes that she alone is destined, by her piety & lineage, to shape the course of history. Married to a man twice her age, & a mother at only fourteen, Margaret Beaufort is determined to turn her lonely life into a triumph. She sets her heart on putting her son Henry on the throne of England regardless of the cost. Feigning loyalty to the usurper King Richard III, she marries one of his faithful supporters & then masterminds one of the greatest rebellions of the time
- all the while knowing that her son is growing to manhood, recruiting an army, his eyes on the greatest prize.
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Young David Fernley is determined to escape the drudgery of his life as a Yorkshire farmh&. Setting off for the coast, his aim is to join the whaling fleet at Whitby, to earn his living on the stormy & icy Arctic seas. Although he has few sailing skills, a captain soon recognises his worth for David is strong & unafraid of danger. David is followed to the small fishing town by Ruth, his childhood sweetheart, her heart set on marriage. Passionate & proud, she is sure to be a worthy wife. Yet David is drawn to another's betrothed: the pretty, gentle Jenny. & it is Jenny's bright red shawl that David searches for on the cliff-tops on his return from the long months at sea. ...

The poetry that emerged from the trenches of WWI is a remarkable body of work, at once political manifesto & literary beacon for the twentieth century. In this passionate recreation of the lives of the greatest poets to come out of the conflict, Nicholas Murray brilliantly reveals the men themselves as well as the struggle of the artist to live fully & to bear witness in the annihilating squalor of battle. Bringing into sharp focus the human detail of each life, using journals, letters & literary archives, Murray brings to life the men's indissoluble comradeship, their complex sexual mores & their extraordinary courage. Poignant, vivid & unfailingly intelligent, Nicholas Murray's study offers new & finely tuned insight into the
- often devastatingly brief
- lives of a remarkable generation of men.

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Her name is Dinah. In the Bible her fate is merely hinted at in a brief & violent detour within the verses of the Book of Genesis that recount the life of Jacob & his infamous dozen sons. The Red Tent is an extraordinary & engrossing tale of ancient womanhood & family honour. Told in Dinahs voice, it opens with the story of her mothers
- the four wives of Jacob
- each of whom embodies unique feminine traits, & concludes with Dinahs own startling & unforgettable story of betrayal, grief & love. Deeply affecting & intimate, The Red Tent combines outstandingly rich storytelling with an original insight into womens society in a fascinating period of early history & such is its warmth & candour, it is guaranteed to win the hearts & minds of women across the world.

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Not all angels are heaven sent. I am one such angel, & I have come to pass judgement on the living, & the dead... A report of a rare & unusual gun
- a type favoured by assassins
- being smuggled into the country sparks Detective Harry Hole's interest. Then a former WW2 Nazi sympathizer is found with his throat cut. Next, Harry's former partner is murdered. Why had she been trying to reach Harry on the night she was killed? As Harry's investigation unfolds, it becomes clear that the killer is hell-bent on serving his own justice. & while the link between the cases remains a mystery, one thing is certain: he must be stopped.

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