New Slain Knight

By Deborah Grabien

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312374003
• ISBN13: 9780312374006
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent haunting!

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.

Put on top of your reading list

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.

Gripping, Chilling, Never Stale

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.

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. His significant lover Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes does not mind that Rebecca is going to be with them; she suggests they go to Cornwell. Ringan arranges for them to stay with his friend and fellow musician Gowan Cambourne. He makes Penny feel uncomfortable and she and Becca share the same vision when the song NEW SLAIN KNIGHT is played. Gowan confesses that his lover committed suicide in the house and that Rebecca reminds him of a younger version of her. Becca performs NEW SLAIN KNIGHT with Gowan's band and has a vision of his ancestors who lived five centuries ago insisting murder, suicide and rape occurred. Before something deadly happens, a concerned Ringan takes his two women to Tintagell, but the visions continue. Only the truth about what happened in 1451 will free Becca and Penny. The latest "Haunted ballad" mystery is a ghost story that transports the mediums into a tragedy that happened centuries ago; in turn this enables the audience to experience the pain and heartache that led to crimes occurring and an inability to live with the consequences of what they wrought. The danger to the modern females is palpable as each vision and flashback seems more vivid than the previous one as if those long dead are trying to redo their errors through Penny and Rebecca. Deborah Gabrien spellbinds her fans with this tense ghost story. Harriet Klausner