Rating:5+🌈

TA Moore, what a story! I love this so much! Although I feel I should put a titch of a warning out there for anyone looking for a feel good, cozy hearted romantic tale that they won’t get the book they’re looking for here.

A whopping fabulous story that has huge elements of horror, murder, mystery, and the paranormal. A bittersweetness and just plain bitterness, yes. All so beautifully written. But warm and fuzzy? Uh no.

But you kind of have to figure that goes hand in hand with a story who’s centered around a dead serial killer and his son who has to deal with the ramifications of the father’s debts. Not that his son isn’t as morally ambiguous a figure as dear old dad. He’s just not a serial killer.

Not in the entirety of this collection or in any recent books I’ve read have I met as intriguing and layered a character as Ledger Conroy. Moore could write legions of stories about him and Wren and never be done.

Ledger, son of convicted killer, Bell Conroy, returned to dispose of the old family house and the ghastly things that his dad might have left hidden inside. Why? Because , considering what they are, they would bring a profit. Ledger’s in the business of selling darkness, in the form of items, to people and beings who can use them. Yes, magic is real. And dear old dad dealt with the worst.

Every paragraph, every page adds depth and clarity of purpose to our character and history. Even as we get more information, I begrudge the the space the author isn’t able to give to the small elements introduced to fill out Ledger’s backstory. I need to know more about that sister!

Then there’s Wren, an otherworldly figure in service to a truly horrifying creature. I’ll leave Earl to the book. Make no mistake, Earl is one of the scarier nightmares to haunt any narrative.

Wren is a very complex being. One whose relationship with Ledger grows them emotionally in an unexpected manner , but doesn’t change what or who they are fundamentally just as it doesn’t Ledger.

This aspect of the story is probably the most interesting part about this. Moore stays true to her creations, neither of them becoming something they’re not but continuing to act /or emotionally maneuver within their respective personalities.

The plot is fantastic, a hunt for an object that belongs to Earl. Plus a short timetable and a horrific bargain that was made by Ledger. During this process, the Carnival of Mysteries is introduced and employed in a perfect way that not only is important to the game but has a profound impact on the outcome. Another exemplary usage of the overall theme.

There are several different storylines woven into the main theme of that have compelling endings, almost endings. There’s a tenuous quality to them, a vagueness that’s so satisfying and horrifying because, that’s what this tale calls for. You wish it wasn’t so but how else would it end?

Ledger and Wren have made it clear of the present danger. That’s the only spoiler I’ll give.

But what wouldn’t I give for Moore to send Ledger and Wren off on more murderous magical missions. Horror awaits. I hope the author is listening.

I’m highly recommending this to lovers of dark fiction and paranormal romance. I only wish I could rate it higher.

Spectacular cover. This collection’s artwork is amazing.

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

✓ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr

✓ Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️

✓ Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️

✓ Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️

✓ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis ❤️

✓ The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky

✓ Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver

✓ You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill♥️

✓ Sting in the Tail by TA Moore ♥️♥️

✓ The Black Robe of Flanders by Sara Ellis

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy link:

Sting in the Tail: Carnival of Mysteries

Blurb:

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.

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.”

— Sting in the Tail: Carnival of Mysteries by TA Moore