Showing results by narrator "David Monteath" in All Categories

A sudden outbreak of maliciousness strikes the town of Lochdubh in the form of a rash of poison pen letters. Things turn deadly when the local postmistress is found hanged in her room... with a vicious note beneath her dangling feet. Though his superiors call it suicide, PC Hamish Macbeth pronounces it murder. But Hamish is soon distracted by Jenny Ogilvie, a friend of his ex-fiancee, who arrives in Lochdubh to seduce him. And then he's ambushed by local reporter Elspeth Grant, who sets out to land the story - and Hamish - for herself.

When her 18-year-old twins leave for university, single mum Nadia’s life changes in ways she never expected: her Glasgow flat feels suddenly huge, laundry doesn’t take up half her week, and she no longer has to buy ‘the Big Milk’. After almost two decades of putting everyone else first, Nadia is finally taking care of herself. And with a budding romance with new boyfriend Jack, she’s never felt more alive. That is until her son, Alfie, drops out of university, and Nadia finds her empty nest is empty no more.

Thirty-year-old Dee and her husband Luke are blissfully happy. Every day she makes her loyal parents incredibly proud. Jen has been her best friend since their days of teenage crushes, bad '90s makeup and huge hair. They are just like any other group of family and friends - living life and getting by. Until one day everything changes. Dee is gone, killed by a reckless driver, leaving the people she loved to deal with their grief in different ways. A marriage is rocked as a parent seeks justice. A husband struggles to accept the loss of his wife.

PC Hamish Macbeth can't help but admire the resourcefulness of the Highlanders during the recession - in tough times they have to lure tourists to their sleepy towns and the quaint village of Braikie has come up with a novel solution. It really doesn't have that much to offer apart from a place of rare beauty called Buchan's Wood, which the clued-up local tourist board director has rechristened "The Fairy Glen" and has had brochures printed with a beautiful kingfisher rising from a lake on the cover.

The unconventional Hamish Macbeth finds that his own impetuousness places him at the center of a murder investigation. Everyone in the Scottish Highlands village of Lochdubh called Randy Duggan 'the Macho Man'. Duggan went around the village and bragged about everything he had done and said he once was a wrestler in America and an explorer in the Middle East. At first his outrageous stories drew an admiring crowd at the local pub, but soon his bullying ways lead to anger and violence.

All Sergeant Hamish Macbeth ever wants is a quiet life in the tranquil surroundings of Lochdubh, his home village in the Scottish Highlands. Although the area he polices is vast, he's happiest when he's working alone, yet the police authorities insist he has an assistant. In the past, they have supplied a variety of problematic misfits, but they surpass themselves with their latest effort - an American named James Bland.

Lighthouses are striking totems of our relationship to the sea. For many, they encapsulate a romantic vision of solitary homes amongst the waves, but their original purpose is much more utilitarian than that. Still today we depend upon their guiding lights for the safe passage of ships. Nowhere is this truer than in the rock lighthouses of Great Britain and Ireland, a ring of 19 towers built between 1811-1905, so called because they were constructed on desolate rock formations in the middle of the sea, and made of granite to withstand the power of its waves.

Cal McGill is an Edinburgh-based oceanographer, environmentalist and one-of-a-kind investigator. Using his knowledge of the waves - ocean currents, prevailing winds, shipping records - McGill can track where objects came from or where they've gone. It's a skill that can help solve mysteries ranging from disappearances to murder. Two severed feet wash up on two different islands off the coast of Scotland. Forensics shows that the feet belong to the same body.

DI Jack Knox's Edinburgh team are busy dealing with a series of violent rapes when a man is found murdered on a residential street. The detective splits the under-resourced squad and follows up the murder himself, quickly establishing that there is no shortage of individuals who would have wanted the man dead. The victim had secured private investments for NewTech, a video games company that fell foul of copyright law. A lot of serious people lost serious money. Whilst Knox treads on eggshells and traces the finances, the rest of the team focus on the rape.

From the best-selling author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, a ghost story, a psychological thriller and a tale of love rediscovered. Elizabeth has been married to Michael for ten years. She has adjusted to a fairly monotonous routine with her wealthy, decent but boring husband. Part of this routine involves occasional visits to Beinn Caorrun, the dank and gloomy house in a Scottish glen that Michael inherited. There are memories there that Michael will not share with her. But then Michael begins to change. It starts when he thinks he sees, in a picture, the figure of a girl on a landing.

Now that Priscilla Halburton-Smythe has agreed to marry him, Police Sergeant Hamish Macbeth can't imagine a more perfect life. There's not much crime in his remote Scottish village of Lochdubh, nothing much at all to do but fish, drink coffee, and slouch around. And now to spend time with lovely Priscilla. But his days aren't as tranquil as his dreams. For one thing, Priscilla's renovation schemes are driving him out of his cottage. Not to mention her ambitious plans for his career as a policeman away from Lochdubh. This might be a good time to find out why Peter Hynd's arrival in nearby Drim was causing so much trouble....

When DI Jack Knox investigates his past, he discovers a long list of old flames. Quite the lothario, the victim left several pining women and jealous husbands in his wake. There is no shortage of suspects. So, who put an end to the gigolo’s antics? Meanwhile DS Mason, Jack Knox’s fiancée and colleague, has problems of her own. Someone has vandalised her car and flat. She fears it is a disgruntled customer of Edinburgh’s finest, looking for revenge.

Five walkers set out to climb Ben Lomond on a fine October day. Within hours the weather has taken a turn for the worst. The group find themselves lost on the mountain. Two of the climbers manage to make it back down and call for help. The following day a body is found. One of the female climbers has been strangled, and another man is missing without a trace. DCI Dani Bevan is called to the Loch Lomond town of Ardyle to lead the case.

Morag Merrilea is working at the Shopmark Fashions factory during her summer holidays to earn some extra cash. But when the art student complains to Hamish about the theft of her sketchbook in the pub, he doesn't take her too seriously. After all, she had been drinking and can't quite remember what happened... and then turns out to be snippy when Hamish questions her further. But then her body is discovered - and Hamish is forced to investigate a crime where the only witness has been murdered.

Jim Brennan is flying high. Against all odds he is a big man at the university, tipped for the head job and an office at the top of the ivory tower. He has a beautiful, accomplished wife and two healthy children. Jim drives an Audi, and his dog is a pedigree bichon frise. Not bad for the son of a hardman who grew up in a room and kitchen. But it is not easy to escape the past. Certain people have been keeping an eye on Professor Jim Brennan. When is son is arrested on drugs charges and lands in prison after breaking bail conditions, Jim is approached by men he thought he had left behind.

It's 1968, and the fishermen of Kinloch are preparing to celebrate the old New Year on the 12th of January. The annual pilgrimage to the Auld Stones is a tradition that goes back beyond memory, and young Hamish, first mate on the Girl Maggie, is chuffed that he's been invited to this exclusive gathering - usually reserved for the most senior members of Kinloch's fishing community.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Woman Who Walked into the Sea by Mark Douglas-Home, read by David Monteath. The daughter who nobody wanted learns the truth about the mother she never knew. Cal McGill is a unique investigator and oceanographer who uses his expertise to locate things - and sometimes people - lost or missing at sea.

When the body of Thomas Magner’s business partner is found dead in his car on the outskirts of Anstruther, all evidence points to suicide. And Magner himself, a wealthy property developer, is currently under investigation for a series of alleged rapes from thirty years ago. In total fifteen women are prepared to go to court to testify against Magner but one by one they inexplicably withdraw their complaints until only five remain. With the CPS now reconsidering its case, one of Magner’s accusers is killed in a hit-and-run – and the abandoned car is found to be registered to one T Magner.

When Joe Christie's fishing boat is swept onto Tentsmuir beach during a fierce storm, a man's mutilated body is found in the hold. DCI Andy Gilchrist of St Andrews CID is called in to investigate. But his murder investigation deepens when he learns that Joe Christie and his boat have been missing for three years. The police pathologist, Dr Rebecca Cooper, retrieves a five pound note from the dead man's throat. Is this the killer's calling card?

Detective Jack Knox is faced with a troubling case when a woman’s body is found on a beach near Edinburgh. Police match her to missing persons, because her personal effects have been swept out to sea. When she is finally identified, the victim’s last known movements are investigated. She was courted by a man who proves elusive, having evaded surveillance cameras. He has covered his tracks well. Was this her killer?