Showing results by narrator "Robin Laing" in All Categories

Following the bombshell ending of Kill Your Darlings, Declan Walsh has a new job, a new office and a new remit—but when a City of London art gallery discovers the star of their latest exhibition dead, with only a signed, painted "kiss" on his neck to go on, Declan and his team must investigate a murder that involves brutal vengeance, a family linked to a painting stolen by the Nazis in WW2, and a long-forgotten promise.

Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. The death of his parents, when he was three years old, has always been shrouded in mystery—he has never been told how or where it took place and has only a distant memory of his mother. But he knows that the fate of his grandfather's brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day, a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death—a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all.

When legendary TV actor Montgomery Pryce is shot in the chest by an arrow and killed while on stage during a Robin Hood convention, Detective Inspector Declan Walsh and the team of the Last Chance Saloon are brought in to solve the murder, only to find that nearly everyone there holds a bow capable of loosing the arrow.

Every day, Mary wakes up before dawn to make breakfast from scratch. She tends the garden and feeds the animals. Every night, Mary makes sure she has dinner on the table for when her husband Cal gets home from work. She puts on his favourite lipstick and greets him with a smile. 'I've missed you.' It's not true and he knows it. But he likes to hear it all the same. Their cabin is hidden deep in the woods in the Scottish Highlands, and Mary doesn't remember the last time she saw another living soul. She tries not to think about her life before too much.

In a condemned tower block in Glasgow, residents slowly trickle away until a young man is left alone with only the angels and devils in his mind for company. Stumbling from one surreal situation to the next, he encounters others on the margins of society, finding friendship and camaraderie wherever it is offered, grappling with who he is and what shape his future might take. The Voids is an unsparing story of modern-day Britain, told with brilliant flashes of humour and humanity.

It's the run-up to Christmas, 1998. On the Isle of Mull, Sergeant Ivor Punch is losing himself in his vinyl collection, a tragic anniversary and too much single malt whisky. But news of a missing child soon brings him back to his senses. And as word spreads of more strange disappearances, an aircraft vanishing from the sky and a famous classical musician gone with it, it seems a sinister plot holds the island in its grip. Punch thought he knew the secrets of this place, its people and stories.

Dave Kellock is a pillar of the community in Portobello, Edinburgh. A tireless volunteer who never misses a chance to help others, he's just been recognised on the King's Honours List. Dave Kellock is also a fraud. A moment of panic, violence and blood twenty years ago plagues his dreams. He's been hiding himself in Portobello, terrified that his past will catch up with him. Now that his photo has been in the paper, collecting his award, the truth won't stay buried for long.

Andrew O'Hagan issues three bulletins from the porous border between cyberspace and the 'real world.' 'Ghosting' introduces us to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whose autobiography the author ghostwrites with unforeseen consequences. In 'The Invention of Ronnie Pinn' the author uses the identity of a deceased man to construct an entirely new one in cyberspace. And 'The Satoshi Affair' details the strange case of Craig Wright, the web developer who may or may not be the inventor of Bitcoin.

Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon is best-known for A Scots Quair, a trilogy of novels comprising Sunset Song, Cloud Howe and Grey Granite that are considered to be among the most important works of the 20th century Scottish Renaissance. Featured here are the BBC Radio dramatisations of the first two novels, as well as a special documentary feature exploring the landscape and legacy of Sunset Song.

In this enthralling book Jim Fraser gives a unique insight into forensic science and examines in detail some of the UK's most high-profile murder investigations in recent decades, including the deaths of Rachel Nickell, Damilola Taylor and Gareth Williams, the GCHQ code breaker. Drawing on his personal experience as a forensic scientist and cold-case reviewer, Fraser reveals how each of these cases unfolded as a human, investigative and scientific puzzle and how some were solved and why others remain unsolved or controversial even today.

Paramedic Andy Campbell has a secret he can't tell anyone, not least the police. But when his missing wife's image is found at the home of a suspected killer, detectives start asking questions, and they're not the only ones . . . The race for the truth leads them far from their Edinburgh home. But who will find her first, and will they save her life or take it?

The immense cultural contribution made by two maverick Scottish independent music labels, Fast Product and Postcard, cannot be underestimated. Bob Last and Hilary Morrison in Edinburgh, followed by Alan Horne and Edwyn Collins in Glasgow, helped to create a confidence in being Scottish that hitherto had not existed in pop music (or the arts in general in Scotland). Their fierce independent spirit stamped a mark of quality and intelligence on everything they achieved. Hungry Beat is a definitive oral history of these labels and the Scottish post-punk period.

The Ultimate Essays Collection is a wide-ranging collection of 30 classic essays analysing everything from war to love, journalism to race, travel to nature, and much more, read by an award-winning cast of narrators. Included here are essays by some of the greatest writers of all time, including George Orwell; Thomas Paine; Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Henry David Thoreau; Virigina Woolf; Sigmund Freud; Zorea Neale Huston; Langston Hughes; Jack London, and more.

The Goldenacre—a masterpiece by the painter and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh—has been given to the people of Scotland. The beautiful canvas, the last work by the artistic genius, enthrals the art world, but behind it lies a dark and violent mystery. Thomas Tallis, an art expert with a trouble past, is trying to uncover the truth about the painting's complex history, while dogged newspaper reporter Shona Sandison is investigating a series of shocking murders in Edinburgh.

Jamie was 19. He was an ambitious personal trainer who wanted to be a social media influencer. But now his hopes and dreams will never be realised. Jamie was found killed at the family home, discovered by his dad - who’s now been charged with his own son’s murder. In this gripping crime drama, revealed through recordings of sessions led by forensic psychiatrist Dr Alex Bridges (Lolita Chakrabarti), we hear from those closest to Jamie and find out more about the family’s secrets.

As the old chemical works in Leith are demolished, a long deceased body encrusted in phosphate rock is discovered. Seated at a card table, he has 10 objects laid out in front of him. Whose body is it? How did he die, and what is the significance of the objects? Phosphate Rocks: A Death in 10 Objects unravels the mystery using a mix of real life anecdote, scientific explanation and a touch of fiction, woven together to create a vivid account of the life and decline of a factory over five decades.

1838, England: When eighteen-year-old Frances Dickinson impulsively marries Lieutenant John Geils, all her hopes for her future are quickly shattered as she finds there is much about her husband she did not know. A cruel and violent man, John keeps Frances in isolation on his family's estate, while spending her fortune and preying upon their maids. Frances yearns to break free from her marriage but the law is not on her side. Only when John's abuse escalates can she set in motion a daring plan to secure her freedom.

Lewis and his best friend Rhona find themselves caught up in a dangerous adventure to save the world's last herd of wild unicorns. Fighting against dark forces, battling the wild landscape, and harnessing ancient magic, can they rescue the legendary creatures in time?

In 1720, the young William Neilson leaves Edinburgh to make his fortune in Europe, first sailing to Rotterdam and then on foot to Paris, where he meets and is immediately employed by the banker John Law. A day later he is in the Bastille, but not before he has encountered a young woman of surpassing beauty to whom Neilson will be devoted for the rest of his life.

When pickpocket Danny accidentally bids for Maharajah the elephant at an Edinburgh auction, he's swept up on an unforgettable journey. His new employer, a zookeeper, transforms Danny into a bejewelled Indian prince. As he rides Maharajah from Scotland to his new home in England, even Queen Victoria follows their journey with delight. But as a rival zookeeper wagers on their failure, Danny's shady connections threaten to overturn the mission....