Iris Grey arrives at Pitfeldy Castle in the Highlands, at the request of the Baron, Jock MacKinnon. Jock has commissioned Iris to paint a portrait of his fiancé, an American socialite Kathy Miller, ahead of their New Year wedding. Kathy invites Iris into her confidence, she's received a series of threatening notes asking her to call off the...

In Sleep Like a Baby, the latest installment of Charlaine Harris's Aurora Teagarden mystery series, Robin and Aurora's newborn Sophie is proving to be quite a handful. They hire a partially trained nurse, Virginia Mitchell, to come and help the new parents for a few weeks when Robin has to leave town for work and Roe is struck with a...

Librarian Aurora Teagarden is basking in the news of her pregnancy when disaster strikes her small Georgia town: four children, including her fifteen-year-old brother, Philip, have vanished from the school football field. What's even more worrisome is the dead body found at their last known location. While the local police comb the county for the...

Spring 1940. With Britons facing what has become known as the Bore War - nothing much seems to have happened yet - Maisie Dobbs is asked to investigate the disappearance of a local lad, a young apprentice craftsman working on a "hush-hush" government contract. As Maisie's inquiry reveals a possible link to the London underworld, so the country is b...

An enthralling tale of love and war, terror and survival from bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear. When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert...

In the gripping new Baby Ganesh Agency novel, Inspector Chopra and his elephant sidekick investigate the death of one of Mumbai's wealthiest citizens, a murder with ramifications for its poorest. The Parsees are among the oldest, most secretive and most influential communities in the city: respected, envied and sometimes feared. When prominent indu...

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Dick Francis' pacey thriller starring Nigel Havers. At the annual party celebrating the success of the racing season, everything is running well to form - until a runaway horsebox ploughs into the marquee, causing terrible death and destruction. A witness to the tragedy, wine merchant Tony Beach presumes it is just on...

Two full-cast BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of Ngaio Marsh short stories. In 'Opening Night', a leading actor is found gassed in his dressing room. It looks like suicide, until it transpires that he was widely detested. Inspector Alleyn quickly realises that almost everyone in the theatre had a motive for his murder. 'When In Rome' finds Inspector All...

This case involves the Fergusons, who Paul and Steve meet while on the way home from New York. They are flying to England to visit their son Richard, a student at Oxford University. But at the airport, there is shocking news: Richard has been murdered, found shot dead in his room. The only clues are a postcard from Harrogate signed `Jonathan', and...

In a thrilling case that takes Paul and Steve to exotic Egypt, Paul Temple is called in to investigate a mysterious murder. The twisting trail takes them from London to the back streets and nightclubs of Cairo...

'The Chief Justice of Beauty' finds the ladies hired by a beauty contest judge to check up on the integrity of the finalists in a forthcoming competition, following the embarrassing arrest for shoplifting of a previous winner. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotsweis worried about her fianc‚, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. 'The Confession' sees Mma Ramotswe consulti...

'The Daddy' introduces us to Mma Ramotswe as she embarks on her first case and takes on a new secretary, the resourceful and talented Mma Makutsi. Together, they must find the truth about a Daddy who appears to have returned from the dead - as well as investigating a wayward teenage girl and attempting to find a vanished child. 'The Bone' sees the...

Warm, humorous and uplifting, Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular novels featuring Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Botswana's only female private detective agency, have become international bestsellers, sold over seven million copies, and been translated into 26 languages.These acclaimed productions, complete with vibrant music, bring the exot...

Two stand-alone BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas adapted by Alexander McCall Smith from his much-loved series 'The Kalahari Typing School for Men' opens with bad news for Mma Ramotswe - her agency has competition in the form of the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency, run by a man. Mma Makutsi has entrepreneurial ambitions too, and has conceived t...

'The Maid' sees Mma Ramotswe visiting the house of the mechanic she has agreed to marry, Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. But there is a shock in store for her... Back at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, there is the mystery of the erratic doctor to look into, and a 'cold case' involving an American who went missing from a communal farm. 'Tears of the Gira...

'The Return of Note' finds Mma Ramotswe in a compromising situation when her past catches up with her. But things are looking brighter for her assistant, Mma Makutsi, when she takes up ballroom dancing... 'The Ceremony' sees Mma Ramotswe's agency work under control at last, so she has time to take care of her own problems. Can she release her fianc...

'There is No Such Thing as Free Food' finds Precious Ramotswe, owner and founder of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, preoccupied both professionally and personally by the subject of food. 'The Best Profession for a Blackmailer' sees Mr Polopetsi, part-time mechanic and would-be assistant detective, taking on a case of his own; while Mma Makutsi f...

'A Very Rude Woman' finds Precious Ramotswe facing change at The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, while Mr J.L.B. Matekoni meets the rudest person in all Botswana. 'Talking Shoes' sees a new detective taking on a case for the Agency, while Mma Ramotswe, among others, has a problem with high blood pressure.

'The Wizard of Evesham': Agatha is alarmed when her new wizard of a hairdresser seems keen to take on more than just her split ends. She soon discovers that everyone in his salon has a secret and that he practices a very dark magic indeed. 'The Moment of Truth': Agatha must quickly discover the identity of the prisoner, but James is refusing to hel...

This is another six-part case for crime novelist and detective Paul Temple and his Fleet Street journalist Steve. First transmitted in 1965, it was the penultimate episode of the series, which on and off had spanned 30 years from 1938 to 1968.

A middle-aged man in search of adventure, Bobby Roberts answers an advert in The Times and is dispatched to Milan, to collect a harmless package from a scientist. However, he very soon gets caught up in a terrifying murder...