Amazon.com: New-Slain Knight: The Haunted Ballad Series: Deborah Grabien: Books

From Publishers Weekly
In Grabien's enthralling fifth Haunted Ballad mystery, a tragedy in 1481 Cornwall has startling modern-day repercussions for musician Ringan Laine; his psychically talented significant other, Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes; and Ringan's beautiful adolescent niece, gifted violinist Rebecca Eisler. Becca accompanies Ringan and Penny on holiday to visit rakish, middle-aged Gowan Camborne, who invites Becca and Ringan to perform with his group, the Tin Miners. Gowan is shocked by Becca's resemblance to a lost love, while Penny senses something off about his St. Ives family estate. Then Penny and Becca encounter restless spirits seeking contact, apparently stirred up by an old folk ballad, and Becca becomes increasingly sensitive to the ghost of Jenna Camborne, one of Gowan's ancestors. The need to learn the truth behind a 500-year-old crime before another death occurs today gives Penny, Ringan and their friends a major challenge and provides Grabien's fans with another chilling psychic puzzler. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

It’s summer in England, and---with nothing urgent demanding their attention---Ringan and Penny are planning a quiet vacation alone together. Their plans change when Ringan’s niece, fourteen-year-old violin prodigy Becca, is dumped in their care while her parents deal with an emergency abroad.

Ringan has no idea what to do with a teenage relative. Penny points out that Becca is more a musician than a child, and suggests a musical holiday in Cornwall. Playing in front of a live audience with Ringan and a band will give the girl much-needed experience and confidence. It will let Ringan get to know his niece better, as well.

It’s a good plan, and everyone approves. And yet something about the St. Ives home of their host, Gowan, leaves Penny uneasy. She hears voices in her mind, speaking in Cornish, and has a horrifying vision through the eyes of a dying man. When, soon after, she finds Becca sleepwalking, Penny learns from Gowan that, many years earlier, his emotionally unstable lover hanged herself in this house. It may simply be the echoes of that tragedy disturbing both her and Becca. But after Becca has a seizure during a live performance of a seemingly harmless song, Penny and Ringan realize that a much older tragedy hangs over Gowan and his family. And if they can’t find the truth and lay to rest whatever ghosts still walk, they may lose Becca.

New-Slain Knight, the fifth in the Haunted Ballad mystery series, touches on the ties that bind: family, the past and the present, and the mystery that lies behind every story.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (November 13, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312374003
ISBN-13: 978-0312374006
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #214,876 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#73 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
damned song

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lucy Williams, Lord Randall, Cador Cann, Perran Camborne, Gowan Camborne, Aunt Penny, Uncle Ringan, Beryen Cann, Thomas the Rhymer, Jenna Camborne, Jory Cann, Duke's Own, Peter Menegue, Ringan Laine, Rebecca Eisler, Celtic Sea, Merlin's Cave, Broomfield Hill, Hedra Casibel, Tam Lin, New-Slain Knight, Ives Cambornes, Porthmeor Beach, Guinevere's Rest, Hywel Camborne

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5 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Put on top of your reading list, November 29, 2007

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Sharon Broom

The best laid plans... .

When musician Ringan Laine and Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes' vacation is interrupted by the arrival of Ringan's fourteen-year-old niece, Rebecca, it is suggested that they all could visit Cornwall. Rebecca is a violin prodigy and the musical holiday is something that would interest her.

Ringan arranges lodging with a musician friend, Gowan Cambourne. But Gowan leaves Penny with an uneasy feeling that borders on disturbed. When the song New Slain Knight is played, both Penny and Rebecca see the same vision.

The group learns that Gowan's lover committed suicide in the house. Even more disturbing is that Rebecca looks a great deal like the dead girl. During a performance, Rebecca has another vision and Ringan and Penny realize that there are some serious problems involving Rebecca. If the mystery isn't solved, Rebecca might become a victim.

New-Slain Knight is wonderfully chilling. It's a ghost story that rings true and completely envelops the reader, transporting us to a place where we `live' the experience. I will be reading the earlier novels in this series.

Armchair Interviews says: For a haunting good time, New-Slain Knight should be at the top of your reading list.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping, Chilling, Never Stale, November 18, 2007

By	A. L. Miller "windsparrow" (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Once again, Grabien brings us a lyrical ghost story, a haunting little mystery whose protagonists are centuries in the ground, found out by our old friends, Ringan and Penny. This time it isn't just them endangered by the shades of old murder ballads, but Ringan's 14 year old niece, Becca. As always, the peril of all is palpable, the love and friendship of the living members of the party real and joyous. Once again Grabien takes her own trope and gives it a twist satisfying enough to keep her series from getting old or campy. These books line up nicely next to Barbara Michaels at her best.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent haunting!, September 28, 2008

By	Karen L. Siegel "klsiegel" (Edison, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really like this series, in general; I read through all five of them within about a week. The tie to the song isn't always as clear and obvious as in the first few, but this one has an especially delicious chill in the ending. I hope we haven't heard the last of Ringan, Penny and their merry band.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable location but not her best
I enjoy Grabien's books for their atmosphere and enthusiastic writing but have come not to expect too much from their plots. Read more

Published 11 months ago by OmegaMint

5.0 out of 5 stars tense ghost story
A three week vacation with her lover is disturbed when his sister calls musician Ringan Laine to ask her to watch her daughter for two weeks. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Harriet Klausner

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