A really good read. | The Famous Flower of Serving Men (The Haunted Ballad Series)

A born storyteller | The Famous Flower of Serving Men (The Haunted Ballad Series) | Deborah Grabien

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	• The Famous Flower of Serving Men (The Haunted Ballad Series) Deborah Grabien St. Martin's Minotaur, 2004 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

fabulous ghost story

Theater producer of the traveling troupe The Tamborlaine Players Penelope Wintercraft-Hawkes and folklorist and building restorer Ringan Laine never expected to deal with ghosts again after the exorcism of the latter's home. Penny is ecstatic when she learns she inherited Bellefield, a theatre on Hawthorne Walk in London. She hires Ringan to restore the place as she plans to put on the play Iphagenia.

However, from the moment that Penny sets foot in her new theatre she hears voices and sees visions of a woman on fire asking for a priest. The angry ghost hurt Ringan and indirectly caused the death of an art restorer. Until they can get rid of the ghost they cannot restore the place nor rehearse the upcoming production. With each passing day, the ghost grows stronger intending touse Penny as the means to leave Hawthorne Walk.

Deborah Grabien has written a fabulous ghost story in which the seemingly mean-spirited ghost will elicit fan empathy. The protagonists are likable and complex while brave enough to try to banish the ghost. Historical tidbits from the reigns of Richard II and the Regent John of Gaunt provide an authentic anchor to an enjoyable paranormal tale. Readers who enjoyed THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING MEN will want to obtain the first novel starring Penny and Ringan, THE WEAVER AND THE FACTORY MAID.

Harriet Klausner

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A really good read.

Ms. Grabien has a wonderful way of mixing history and music into a tense ghost story. I do wonder a bit, how many times she can make this formula work. But, there's a interesting cast of characters and well-done descriptions that add to the suspense. My only small complaint was the use of French without translation. But, for paranormal fans, it's a good read.

A born storyteller

I wouldn't be surprised if Deborah Grabien's characters walked off the page and into my living room, that's how absorbing her writing is. Right from the start you're swept up in her characters' lives; you root for them to solve the mystery and are sorry to see them go at the end of the story.

When I was a kid growing up I always wanted to go on a camping trip with Louis L'Amour just so I could listen to him tell tales around the campfire. With Grabien I'd want a scrumptious meal and fine wine; she's the kind of writer you want to settle in to enjoy.

This is the second book in a series of mystery novels. You don't need to read them in order, but you are going to want to read them both so you might as well buy "The Weaver and the Factory Maid" too while you're at it!

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Luscious, lyrical prose.

I've now read all three of Grabien's Haunted Ballad books (sadly, out of order), and while all are enjoyable, this is the most riveting. Her characters are extremely well-drawn and likable, which always adds to my satisfaction with a novel. Moreover, her writing style is fun to read, full of description and showing a beautiful command of language. The best part of this novel, however, is the plot. It twists and turns smartly, builds well, and has a great ending!

Wonderful Ghost Story

This was a very good book. Fast read. Wonderful ghost story like ghost stories should be done. I have bought and started reading the 2nd book and loving it. I hope to see much from this author.

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Certainly some of the events are real---or, to be more accurate, they are partly hidden in a genuine English ballad that was composed and sung centuries ago. Just as the song in Grabien's well-received first novel in this unusual series, The Weaver and the Factory Maid, tells a story that may or may not be based on an actual event---but that in any case reflects perfectly the world in which it is set. And once again our two very modern principals, Penelope Wintercraft-Hawkes ("Oh, please, just 'Penny' ") and her lover, Ringan Laine, find themselves in uncomfortably closer contact with a long-gone world than they would like.
It all starts when a solicitor informs Penny that an elderly aunt, a woman she never met, has died and left Penny some "property in East Central London." The "property" turns out to be a realization of Penny's dream. She heads a touring theatre troupe that performs classic drama to audiences all over Britain and abroad. But Penny has yearned for a "home"---a theatre in London where she could prepare her season and launch her tours. And now, wonder of wonders, Aunt Mary--- Mary Therese Isabel Heatherington - whom Penny has never even met---has given her the very thing.

At first look, the condition of the building is dismaying. It is very old and needs considerable work. But practical Aunt Mary has left money toward that purpose, and Ringan Laine is a well-known and very talented restoration architect, who when he isn't singing and playing old English songs with the other musicians in his own traveling troupe, eagerly applies his skills to Penny's theatre.

And then, when Ringan is working alone late one afternoon, he is surprised to hear someone singing, singing a song so drenched with sadness he shudders at the sound.. The voice begins to be heard often during the day, and not only by Ringan. Who is the singer, what is the song that seems to have soaked into the old building's walls? Penny begins to dig into the history books and learns that there was much violence at the site centuries ago, violence that has left frightening remnants in the present. It is clear that before Penny can use her heritage they must find what terrible thing happened to the woman whose story the song seems to be telling, and what they can do to lay her ghost to final rest. Only when that is done can the curtain go up without mishap.

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