All are unabridged and most are read by Kim Hicks, except #3 which is read by Nicole Arumugam. 
All from CD except #1, which is from cassette tapes. 
48 kbps / 44kHz Mono Fraunhofer CBR, jetAudio 6+.

 

Born of Hungarian parents, but living in London, twentyish out-of-work actress Fran Varady walks that fine line between amateur sleuth (albeit, with attitude) and private eye. 

#1 *Asking For Trouble* [8 hours 11 mins] - 1997
Fran Varady is living in a "squat" (she's one of a group of illegal tenants in a building scheduled to be torn down -- they just pulled off some boards and moved in, because there's a severe shortage of housing in London and they can't afford to rent). Her dreams of becoming an actress, nurtured when her father and grandmother were still alive, seem a long way off. But the quietly resolute Fran, for all her youth and apparent vulnerability, is a survivor. The local housing council is on the verge of evicting them when one of the squatters is found dead -- it's made to look like an accident, but clearly there's signs of a struggle. The police suspect that the killer is one of the other squatters. Fran manages to finally convince them that none of them did it, but she sets out to find the killer. She ends up investigating the victim's family home in the english countryside, where being a city girl, she is truly a duck out of water, and nearly a dead one! ( Note - all the CD copies I could find of this title were defective, so I have been forced to use a cassette version for this first book - the sound quality is good though.)

#2 *Keeping Bad Company* [8 hours] - 1997
Fran Varady knows that making friends with down-and-out 'Alkie' Albie Smith on London's Marylebone Station concourse is probably not a wise move. But Fran, who knows what it's like not to have the price of a cup of tea, is a soft touch - and, apart from his personal hygiene, he's an entertaining enough companion. Albie, though, has a disturbing tale to tell with an unnerving ring of truth to it: he claims he's witnessed the violent abduction of a young girl, in a distinctively marked blue Cortina. So vivid is Albie's tale that Fran overcomes her instinctive reluctance and reports the crime to the police, only to be sent away with a flea in her ear. But later Fran spots a blue Cortina with a white scrape, parked outside a pub. Seeing its owners does little to allay her mounting suspicions - suspicions confirmed when she is warned off by her old sparring partner Sergeant Parry, and then approached by a self-styled old friend of her father, distraught over the kidnapping of his daughter. But this is only the beginning of Fran's investigation - days later, 'Alkie' Albie is found dead... 

#3 *Running Scared* [8 hours 56 mins] - 1998
When her close friend Ganesh, left holding the fort at his Uncle Hari's East End corner shop, decides to undertake some 'improvements' Fran is more than dubious about the consequences, especially since he insists on using their less than reliable builder acquaintance, Hitch. But she has no idea of the scale of trouble Ganesh's refurbishment of the shop toilet will lead to. For shortly after having allowed the apparent victim of a mugging to clean up in the old washroom they find a strip of negatives secreted behind the old tiles, and later, a message from the man who left them asking her to meet him. But by the time Fran has found him, the stranger is dead and she has discovered that the photos are of a financier on the run from the serious crime squad. And, with her landlady being pressurised to sell her home, Hitch wreaking havoc at the shop and her new friend, squat-dweller Tig, having gone missing again, Fran's troubles have barely begun....

#4 *Risking It All* [8 hours 50 mins] - 2001
When Fran Varady is approached by Private Detective Clarence Duke, she mistrusts him on instinct. But she can’t ignore what he has to say. Her mother, Eva, who walked out on Fran when she was only seven, has hired Clarence to find her daughter. And for good reason. Eva is dying. So Fran is reunited with the mother she hasn’t seen for fifteen years, and is soon to lose again. But the biggest bombshell of all is still to come. Eva has another child – a daughter she gave up soon after her birth – and she wants Fran to find her. It’s not an easy task when her mother has sworn her to secrecy and the only clue Fran has is an out-of-date address. And matters aren’t helped by the fact that slippery Clarence Duke seems intent on discovering what she’s up to. But it’s when he’s found dead in his car outside Fran’s home that the trouble really begins…

#5 *Watching Out* [7 hours 51 mins] - 2003
Fran Varady fell into private detective work by accident rather than design. Now she’s got a `real’ job at a trendy London pizzeria, she’s back on track with her acting ambitions, producing an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles with her friends and an actual dog, and she’s even found a nice flat to rent. But things aren’t as straightforward as they seem. The job, for a start: there’s something rather sinister about the way the pizzeria is run. And the play rehearsals aren’t going well: the cast members are at odds, the director is having a nervous breakdown, and Fran’s friend Ganesh just loathes dogs. As if all this doesn’t bring problems enough, Fran has rashly undertaken to help a young boy, illegally in the country, find an elusive people-trafficker called Max. When the trail Fran is following is suddenly and tragically interrupted by a horrifying death, she finds herself up against dangerous men and a ruthless organisation. Fran’s in big trouble this time...

#6 *Mixing With Murder* [8 hours 49 mins] - 2005
Fran Varady isn't keen to help seedy London club owner Mickey Allerton track down Lisa, a dancer who's done a bunk. But since Mickey's holding Fran's dog Bonnie hostage till the job's done, she doesn't have much choice. She quickly locates Lisa and they arrange to meet - but when Fran gets there early, the first thing she sees is a body floating in the river. It's Ivo, one of Mickey's nastier bouncers. If Lisa wasn't terrified already, she is when she gets this news, and Fran finds herself tom between helping the frightened girl and doing Mickey's bidding. And it's all about to get a lot more complicated...

#7 *Rattling The Bones* [8 hours 25 mins] - 2007
The much-loved amateur sleuth Fran Varady finds herself investigating an old love affair and a family quarrel. Edna, the dotty bag lady who Fran Varady used to see living in a churchyard with only feral cats for company, has crossed her path again. Now Edna is staying in a hostel, spending her days roaming as before. But Fran begins to see a method to her madness and, even though no one will believe her, she is certain Edna is being followed. Who could be interested in a harmless old lady? Determined to protect her from this hidden danger, Fran finds herself digging into Edna's previous life and an old love affair and family quarrel come to light. But by rattling the bones of the past, Fran has uncovered more than she bargained for...



Enjoy and Seed!!