Cruel Sister: A Haunted Ballad

The latest in Deborah Grabien's "Haunted Ballads" series lives up to its predecessors, combining history, music and the supernatural into a spooky yet enjoyable mix. This book takes place mostly in London, where Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes' older brother and his new wife have plans to build a Tudor-style home on the Isle of Dogs. They hire Penny's longtime love, Ringan, a traditional musician with a sideline in historic restoration, to oversee the project. This time, it's Ringan who finds himself drawn into a past tragedy that is only dimly remembered in the words of a traditional folk ballad, and Penny and their friends must uncover the real history behind the terrifying images that threaten to trap and destroy Ringan. Grabien's likable protagonists, thorough research, and swift pacing make for an fascinating read. The only problem with this series is that the first book (The Weaver and the Factory Maid) seems to be out of print. Hello, St. Martin's Press? How about a reprint--or better yet, a paperback run of the whole series?

In Somerset, period piece architectural expert Ringan Laine discusses with his girlfriend Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes, the wedding they just attended when her cell phone rings. It is her brother Stephen, who vanished two decades ago in Asia but now lives in London married to someone named Tamsin; he cuts off his stunned sibling demanding to speak with Ringan. Stephen asks Ringan to evaluate their plans to restore a Tudor home just across the Thames from one of the historical palaces of Henry VIII. Always excited to work on a restoration project and besides this is his squeeze's long lost brother, he agrees. However, on site, Ringan begins seeing unexplained happenings especially near the crater where a WWII bomb exploded killing a soldier. He observes a girl in a sixteenth century garb begging he assumes him for a haven from those with hounds chasing her while Penny is performing in Italy. If he fails to put the ghost that has assaulted his senses to rest in eternal peace, Ringan will be possessed. This supernatural mystery switches the possible possession from Penny to Ringan as a five hundred year old ghost demands he obtain satisfaction for her or she will haunt him forever. Ringan has no earthly idea how to proceed which adds to the fun as he fumbles before seeking help at Oxford and from Penny. Though the fascinating historical references and Oxford ground the tale in the mortal realm, the ghost steals the show in Deborah Grabien's fine fourth "Haunted Ballad" paranormal whodunit (see THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN and MATTY GROVES). Harriet Klausner

Fans of Grabien's Haunted Ballads know that while musician Ringan Laine is familiar with historical buildings and how to restore and sometimes repurpose them, it's Penny Wintercraft-Hawkes, Ringan's long-time lover and herself owner of the Bellefield Theater and manager of the Tamburlaine Players acting troupe, who's always been sensitive to ghosts. But something seems awry in this new offering; this time it's Ringan who's caught up in a tangle of ghostly mystery on the Isle of Dogs. And it's up to Penny, along with some secondary characters in welcome repeat appearances, to sort the clues given in the traditional ballad from which the book takes its name. Unused to being caught in cross-time webs of intrigue, romance, politics and danger, Ringan is pushed to the brink of endurance while Penny learns all she can about the historical facts behind the traditional lyrics. As masterful a storyteller as ever, Grabien gives "Penny and Ringan" fans another delightful read.

As usual for the books in this series, I read it quickly. It absorbed my attention completely while my nose was buried in it. The characters have individual, distinct and sympathetic voices, making them people the reader feels at home with. This book fits the established pattern in the series: Penny and Ringan find themselves a ghost (or two), clues to whose unrestful repose lie in one of the traditional folk songs that Ringan sings. Lest the readers, and one assumes the writer as well, get bored with a formula, Deborah Grabien has found a way to put a twist to this one. There was a time when I would have put Grabien in the same league as Elizabeth Peters, but I am finding that this comparison is less apt than it used to be: There is no hint of madcap in the Haunted Balads - wit and humor, yes, these are the functions of intelligent, fully formed characters, but there is no hint of over-the-top silliness as of the later Amelia Peabody mysteries.