Sting in the Tail (Carnival of Mysteries) MM Paranormal Romance by TA Moore ➱ Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway

NEW RELEASE BLOG TOUR

Book Title: Sting in the Tail: Carnival of Mysteries

Author: TA Moore

Publisher: Rogue Firebird Press

Cover Artist: Diane Theis

Release Date: October 4, 2023

Genre: MM Paranormal Romance

Tropes: Unfinished Business, First Times, Ticking Clock

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 87 000 words/ 130 pages

It is a standalone book and part of a linked series by 19 other authors.

It does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US | Amazon UK

The Carnival of Mysteries just arrived in Sutton County. They say if you cross the fortune teller’s palm with silver she can read your future like a map. Right now all Ledger Conroy wants to know is if he has a future.

Blurb

Back in Sutton after over a decade, Ledger’s plan had been to bury his father--recently deceased convicted serial killer and less-well known warlock, Bell Conroy--clear the property, and then finally wash his hands of being a Conroy. Instead there’s a cured human heart in the larder, a pissed off pretty boy who is definitely not human at the door, and a debt to the devil that Ledger’s just inherited.

Devil. Monster. Something like that. He’d not asked for its pedigree

Whatever it was, it's given Ledger a week to fulfill the terms of his father’s contract. Or else he’s never going to leave Sutton again. With pretty-boy Wren at his heels, more to make sure Ledger doesn’t skip town than to provide assistance, Ledger tries to track his father’s sins across Sutton. The problem is there’s so many of them.

Ledger is faced with old grudges, a Sheriff that thinks Ledger knows more about his father’s crimes than he’s ever said (and isn’t wrong), and a dead man with a book shop. Not to mention the on-going distraction of Wren, who can't decide whether to be a hindrance, a help, or just hot.

Luckily Ledger has a nose for this sort of work.

Sting in the Tail is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame's Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it's on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a dealer in dark collectibles, a man who's NOT people, and a monster with a debt it expects to be paid.

Excerpt

BELL CONROY HAD died alone and unmourned.

There was no one to write an obituary, but he was Sutton County, Ohio’s most famous son. His passing couldn’t go unmentioned, even if it was a “just the facts” death notice in the Sutton Herald.

He’d been fifty-six.

He’d been released from prison on compassionate grounds when he was diagnosed with cancer.

Cause of death: suicide.

The families of his eighteen victims would probably never get the bodies back.

Sorry.

Not famous. Infamous.

Ledger took the second turn after the red barn. The road was technically paved, but one of the downsides of being a well-known serial killer was that the county didn’t spend a lot of money on the upkeep of your properties. The rental car—the only one available on short notice—creaked and rattled as it jounced along the rutted, potholed road.

A half-hearted scarecrow had been strung up on the property line. It hung from a scrubby tree and stared at the road with Sharpie-cross eyes. A shock of red yarn hair had been stitched onto the burlap sack head. That was from the twenty-year-old mug shot. Between age, prison, and cancer, the hair had left this mortal plane years before Conroy had.

Ledger hit the brakes as he reached the gates and let the car roll over the cattle grid. He pulled onto the patchy grass outside the house, turned off the engine, and got out of the car. There was a white van parked in front of the house. Ledger rolled his sleeves down over his forearms and buttoned the cuffs as he stared at the vehicle.

He’d booked the flight the moment he heard the news about Conroy and driven straight here from the airport. It looked like that hadn’t been quick enough.

The vultures had beaten him to it.

Ledger snorted to himself.

One vulture, anyhow.

He started toward the house. The driver’s side door opened as he passed the van, and Benjy Hark scrambled out. The lanky gray-haired man fell into step next to him.

“You’re too late,” Hark said. “I’ve already spoken to the son and made an offer on it as a job lot.”

“A fair offer?” Ledger asked.

Hark took a beat. “Fair enough,” he said, pulling his glasses out of his top pocket. “As far as the son knows, anyhow. It’s not like this lot is worth anything to him. I’m doing him a favor, really.”

“Well, him and your wallet.”

Hark snorted. He lifted his glasses and breathed on them to mist the glass, then polished the lenses with the end of his tie.

“And what?” he said. “You’re going to walk in there and offer him the black market value on his inheritance? Don’t try and kid a kidder, Ledger. You’re not any fucking better than the rest of us.”

Ledger smirked briefly in response. He couldn’t argue with that. In their line of work—sourcing dark Americana for the sort of people that weren’t really people—it was hard to pretend otherwise. They were in this for the dirty money. Their only excuse was that the heirs had no way to capitalize on their dead relative’s collection. As a moral justification, it was thin.

To say the least.

Not that there was moral justification for much in their business. The Catholic Church had a monopoly on the bones of saints and the effects of the blessed. On the other hand, the trade in sinners and their leavings was an open market… and a profitable one. Who wanted to pray—and pay—for a miracle when they could wring a demon’s price from the junk that had soaked in a monster’s misdeeds for years.

And for the low, low price of cold, hard cash, Ledger would find it for them.

“I never said I was,” Ledger said. They reached the porch and climbed the three sagging steps to the door. Something had been scrawled on the wood in red paint, but it had been mostly scoured away. Killer? Murderer? It could have been either, Ledger supposed. Both were true. “But I know that Conroy’s heir isn’t going to take your offer.”

Hark slid his glasses on and squinted at Ledger through the lenses. Despite his best efforts, there was still a fingerprint on the glass. There always was. It was surprisingly easy to pick up minor curses in their line of work.

“You’ve already spoken to him?”

Ledger reached into his pocket. “You could say that,” he said as he pulled out the keys the lawyer had left for him. “I amhim.”

He unlocked the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind him in Hark’s face.

Look at that. It was like having your abusive, cultist dad drop dead was just all brightside and no downside at all.

This was a wild ride from start to finish.

It had a little bit of everything

a creepy carnival with an even more bizarre crew

a mysterious dealer

a monster(?) with a debt to collect

a whole lot of really strange and/or just plain high on the creepy vibe-giving scale supporting characters

a lot of clues each opening a new box of pandora nightmares

a romance that's as steamy as it is dangerous

It's the kind of book that will keep you up late at night, turning pages until you find out what happens next.

Ledger returns to his hometown after the death of his infamous father. Ledger wants to put the past behind him and move on with his life, but he soon finds himself chatting with a scarecrow and making a deal to save his life.

Turns out Dad had a little more going on than just un-aliving people.

What should have been a simple recovery turns into a dark and dangerous mystery involving a traveling carnival, some very strange characters, some dark collectibles, and monsters, one with a debt to collect.

This was packed with creative characters.

From the uniquely creepy to the oh-so-cuddly

This had a bit of everything. Great world-building!

The banter and smexual tension between these two was hot as hades and so believable.

The plot is full of twists and turns, and there are some genuinely breath-holding, heart heart-pounding moments.

Also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments as well.

So if you're looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, make your heart race, and make you laugh out loud all at the same time, then this is the book for you.

This is a standalone that takes place in the Carnival of Mysteries collection

Author Interview

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a Northern Irish author. I grew in a small, market town in the Ards Peninsula and I’ve never lived more than a five-minute drive from the sea. I’m scared of spiders, wasps, injections, and being trapped. One time I was trapped in a lift for about twenty minutes, and I was about ready to try and re-enact some sort of Leverage style escape montage. I was born on the 12^th July, which is a big deal in Northern Ireland, and as a little kid I thought the pipe bands were just for me.

Follow me on social media and you’ll realize I have two dogs. They’re Staffies, they are adorable, and the best dogs in the world.

What would people be most surprised to know about you?

I know this one! People have told me, before. It’s that I’m nice. That has come as a real surprise to people for some reason. I don’t know why, I’m a delight!

Do you have a favorite quote (either from your own books or one’s you’ve read)?

“This damned burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the natives.”
― Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest

I had to pick one quote from the book, but it wasn’t easy. Red Harvest is one of my favorite books and the language is so loose and evocative, yet pared down and clean at the same time.

Did you always want to be a writer?

For as long as I can remember. I don’t think I’ve really wanted to be anything else, other than a brief dalliance with the idea of wanting to be a jockey. Puberty saw to that one.

I think the first book I ever wrote was a children’s book about a piglet that was adopted by a short-sighted ballerina and raised with the other ballerinas. Apparently I thought being a ballerina was like being an orphan?

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

That people keep wanting to read what I write.

What’s your favorite part of writing?

When it’s over! Kidding!

I have two favorite ‘spaces’ in any book. One is the very start when it starts to come together outside of your brain for the first time, and you get a feel for the characters and the world. That’s when you find the ‘voice’ for the book.

The second is at the end. That sounds bad, but I enjoy writing the middle too. It’s just these are reliably the most exhilarating parts of the process. Anyhow, the end of the book is like tobogganing. Everything that you have written up to that point is now bearing down behind you, the choices you can make have narrowed, and there’s just the end bearing down on you. All you can do is hang on and hope your fingers can keep up.

If you also have a deadline, that adds a little something too!

Give the readers a brief summary of your latest book or WIP. What genre does it fall in?

Sting in the Tail is an urban fantasy about a man dealing with the sins of his father. There are a lot of them. One of them is a horrific cuckoo thing (I made my editor go, ‘Oh, Tammy, why’…that’s the good stuff) that doesn’t believe debts are dissolved upon death.

Give us a little insight into your main characters. Who are they?

Ledger Conroy has spent his life making do with what he’s been given. A traumatic childhood, an odd knack, and a touch of the family charm. It’s not the life he’d have chosen, but it’s the one that he was able to carve out of himself. He’s organized, in control, and doesn’t like surprises.

The whole book is really very hard on him.

Wren is more of a mystery. He’s very clear that he’s not human, but he’s not that keen to let people in on what exactly he is.

I mean, hot is obvious. But what’s under the skin?

He is an absolute gannet though. He’ll eat almost anything.

Will we be seeing these characters again? Is this book part of a series?

The book is part of the Carnival of Mysteries series, which is awesome and slightly daunting because there are some great books out there! There’s things on the horizon I’m not sure I can spill just yet, but suffice it to say you’ll definitely see at least one more book from Wren and Ledger.

Which actor would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?

James Norton!

What genre/s do you enjoy reading in your free time?

Anything that I’m not currently writing in.

What was the last book you read? What did you like about it?

C.S. Poe’s Subway Slayings. And I don’t like it, what’s to like…the complicated, bittersweet characterization, the history and place of New York being a character in itself, the slow-burn of relationship and healing going hand in hand?

*sniffs* She’s just talented. It’s not that special. :D

Have you held any interesting jobs while you worked on your books?

I worked for a documentary company when they were doing a documentary on Northern Ireland’s pathologist. That was really cool. Skin makes a really odd noise coming off a body, though!

How do you relax?

Mostly I walk the dogs. There’s a lot of green spaces near me, so I can usually just pile them in the car and then go and walk by the sea until my brain is all blown clean.

About the Author

TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer of romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance novels. A childhood in a rural, seaside town fostered in her a suspicious nature, a love of mystery, and a streak of black humour a mile wide.

Coffee, Doc Marten boots, and good friends are the essential things in life. Spiders, mayo, and heels are to be avoided.