C B Heinemann

The Last Buskers of Summer C B Heinemann

When Gracie Ryan and her two misfit nephews, Alec and Eric, find themselves broke and wanted by the police on the streets of Europe, their troubles are just beginning. The three were on their way to perform at a music festival in France where, at the age forty-two, Gracie hoped to jumpstart her musical career. During their flight their money was stolen, and the passenger sitting next to Gracie died, leaving her a notebook containing deadly information wanted by Simon Montfort, the psychopathic leader of an organization planning to murder leaders of foreign workers groups in Europe. The police suspect Gracie of being involved in the passenger's death, while Montfort will do anything-anything--to get that notebook. What nobody knows is that Gracie-funny, impatient, and a brilliant musician-just suffered through a harrowing breakup with her husband, and recently learned that she has a medical disorder that is robbing her of her freedom. Alec, a virtuoso fiddler player who turns everything into a joke, falls in love with every girl they meet, but secretly struggles with an alcohol problem. Eric, who is studying to become a priest, wonders if he is cut out for that life, and runs headlong into temptation everywhere they go. Following clues in the notebook, Gracie leads her nephews-and Dora, an eccentric Australian woman they meet who plays a mean flute--on a comic, dysfunctional, but eye-opening journey through France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, where they perform on the streets in order to survive. When she learns that she is pregnant, Gracie must make the most important decisions of her life while on the run. As the police and Montfort finally close in on Grace, her situation spirals into catastrophe when she meets a charismatic older busker who not only knows about the plot, but holds to the key to her future.