Bardic Voices Series by Mercedes Lackey

Ghost and bard...With the proper schooling young Rune would be one of the greatest bards her world has ever seen. Even if only she knows it. Unfortunately, the daughter of a tavern wench at the Hungry Bear, no matter how talented, doesn't get much in the way of formal training. What she does get is frustrated.One night, to back up a brag she probably wouldn't have made if she weren't so mad, she went up to play her fiddle for the Ghost of Skull Hill... moreGhost and bard...With the proper schooling young Rune would be one of the greatest bards her world has ever seen. Even if only she knows it. Unfortunately, the daughter of a tavern wench at the Hungry Bear, no matter how talented, doesn't get much in the way of formal training. What she does get is frustrated.One night, to back up a brag she probably wouldn't have made if she weren't so mad, she went up to play her fiddle for the Ghost of Skull Hill. Everyone knows that no one who has ever gone up Skull Hill at night has come down again. Not alive, anyway.But when the ghost appears Rune strikes a bargain: if the ghost tires of her playing before morning her life is his; if he is still listening when the sun glints over yonder hill she will have earned both life and a sack of silver. Let the music begin... less

Something is rotten in the state of Gradford...After the affairs recounted in The Lark and the Wren, Robin, a gypsy lass and bard, and Kestrel, semi-fugitive heir to a throne he does not want, have married their fortunes together and travel the open road, seeking their happiness where they may find it.This is their story. But it is also the story of the Ghost of Skull Hill, the very ghost who gave Rune a bag of silver and her start in life rather than her death when she played the night away... moreSomething is rotten in the state of Gradford...After the affairs recounted in The Lark and the Wren, Robin, a gypsy lass and bard, and Kestrel, semi-fugitive heir to a throne he does not want, have married their fortunes together and travel the open road, seeking their happiness where they may find it.This is their story. But it is also the story of the Ghost of Skull Hill, the very ghost who gave Rune a bag of silver and her start in life rather than her death when she played the night away. Together, the Robin, the Kestrel, and the Ghost will foil a plot to drive all music forever from the land - but first, the Robin and the Kestrel must tame the killer Ghost. less

Closely related to the Bardic Voices series this book falls between The Robin & the Kestrel and The Eagle & the Nightingales.The power of choice...A strange pall has settled over Alanda. Everywhere representatives of the Church seek to ferret out unauthorized magic – and music, because it is magic at its roots, has come under suspicion. And that which is suspect, if it cannot be crushed altogether, must be stripped of its mystery, made tame and answerable to the power of the priests... moreClosely related to the Bardic Voices series this book falls between The Robin & the Kestrel and The Eagle & the Nightingales.The power of choice...A strange pall has settled over Alanda. Everywhere representatives of the Church seek to ferret out unauthorized magic – and music, because it is magic at its roots, has come under suspicion. And that which is suspect, if it cannot be crushed altogether, must be stripped of its mystery, made tame and answerable to the power of the priests. Throughout the lands the Free Bards, those who will not or cannot join the priest-condoned Guild, are being driven away. But all who are Free are free to choose: To flee or to fight. less

Let the king be king!Why is the High King of the Human kingdoms not doing his job - and thereby allowing the Church to fill the power vacuum in the human lands of Alanda? This is a matter of some concern to Nightingale and her friends: the Church is becoming ever more overtly hostile to non-human sentients (of which there are several species in Alanda) as well as to anything that that it does not at least indirectly control, such as gypsies and Free Bards... moreLet the king be king!Why is the High King of the Human kingdoms not doing his job - and thereby allowing the Church to fill the power vacuum in the human lands of Alanda? This is a matter of some concern to Nightingale and her friends: the Church is becoming ever more overtly hostile to non-human sentients (of which there are several species in Alanda) as well as to anything that that it does not at least indirectly control, such as gypsies and Free Bards.To discover just what is going on, she will join forces with T'fyrr, a birdman with the vistage of a raptor and the voice of an angelic choir. And before the King - and through him the gypsies, Free Bards and non-humans of the twenty kingdoms - is saved they, the Eagle and the Nightingale, will have become if not quite lovers then far more than friends. less

A fine feathered fiend...A magical maniac is loose in Alanda. The victims are always women, always lower-class, and the weapon is always a three-sides stiletto, most often found among church regalia. But the killers are never churchmen, and they always commit suicide immediately after the bloody deed.Tal Rufen is just a simple constable. But he really cares about his job, and when one of these muder/suicides happens on his beat he becomes obsessed... moreA fine feathered fiend...A magical maniac is loose in Alanda. The victims are always women, always lower-class, and the weapon is always a three-sides stiletto, most often found among church regalia. But the killers are never churchmen, and they always commit suicide immediately after the bloody deed.Tal Rufen is just a simple constable. But he really cares about his job, and when one of these muder/suicides happens on his beat he becomes obsessed. His superiors don't care - the victims will never be missed, and their murderers are already justly dead. But every instinct Tal Rufen has cries out that he has seen only one small piece of a bigger and much nastier puzzle. less