Review Tour: Stoker & Bash #2: The Fruit of the Poisonous Tree by Selina Kray (Excerpt + Giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 100,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Tiferet Design

Stoker & Bash Series

Book #1 - The Fangs Of Scavo - Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

When will She open Rebecca Northcote’s box?

Finding lost poodles and retrieving stolen baubles is not how DI Tim Stoker envisioned his partnership with his lover, Hieronymus Bash. So when the police commissioner's son goes missing, he's determined to help, no matter what secrets he has to keep, or from whom.

When a family member is kidnapped, Hiero moves heaven and earth to rescue them. Even if that means infiltrating the Daughters of Eden, a cult of wealthy widows devoted to the teachings of Rebecca Northcote and the mysterious contents of her box. The Daughters' goodwill toward London's fallen women has given them a saintly reputation, but Hiero has a nose for sniffing out a fraud. He will need to draw on some divine inspiration to rattle the pious Daughters.

Like weeds gnarling the roots of Eden's fabled tree, Tim and Hiero's cases intertwine. Serpents, secrets, and echoes from Hiero's past lurk behind every branch. Giving in to temptation could bind them closer together—or sever their partnership forever. 

Blog Tour ~ Stoker & Bash: The Fangs of Scavo by Selina Kray (Guest Post, Review + Giveaway)

Blog Tour ~ Stoker & Bash: The Fangs of Scavo by Selina Kray (Guest Post, Review + Giveaway)

Hi, romance lovers! I'm Selina Kray, and this is the latest stop on the Stoker & Bash blog tour. A huge thank you to the lovely people at Bayou Book Junkie for hosting me today. I thought I'd talk a little bit about some of the inspiration for Stoker & Bash: The Fangs of Scavo, namely the detective duo.

Holmes and Watson. Poirot and Hastings. Adrien and Jake. Bryant and May. Whyborne and Griffin. We mystery buffs love our detective duos, and it's not hard to see why. As the Doublemint gum jingle goes, "Double the pleasure, double the fun!"

Putting on my writer's cap for a moment, one of the best pieces of writing advice I ever got was to give my hero a foil. The foil can be a villain or a friend or a love interest. The important thing is that their personality contrasts with that of the lead detective. Someone for them to banter with, bounce ideas off of. Someone to call them on their nonsense. Someone to rescue in a feat of derring do, or to be rescued by. This is particularly effective in a mystery novel, since there are so many clues and theories of the crime to be discussed. It's especially good in a mystery romance, where chemistry is everything.

While the lone wolf detective is also a classic of the genre, those stories tend to be bleaker, more tragic, exploring darker themes like revenge. But if you're looking to inject a little chaos into your narrative—not to mention a one-way ticket to character development—a detective duo, if not an entire team, is the way to go. And probably why both members of a given pair are equally beloved. For who is Sherlock Holmes without John Watson's humanizing influence?

In Stoker & Bash: The Fangs of Scavo, DI Tim Stoker is initially sent to investigate London's newest consulting detective, Hieronymus Bash. After a string of lucrative solves that embarrassed the detectives at Scotland Yard, i.e. the professionals, Stoker is sent undercover to find out whether Bash is indeed who he claims to be. And gets a lot more than he bargained for when sparks fly between them.

Falling for the man he's supposed to be discrediting could spell the end of Tim's career. Or the beginning of a partnership for the ages...

Release Blitz: Stoker & Bash: The Fangs of Scavo by Selina Kray (Excerpt+Giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | KOBO | B&N | GooglePlay | iBooks

Length: 100,000 words

Cover: Tiferet Design

Blurb

At Scotland Yard, DI Timothy Stoker is no better than a ghost. A master of arcane documents and niggling details who, unlike his celebrity-chasing colleagues, prefers hard work to headlines. But an invisible man is needed to unmask the city’s newest amateur detective, Hieronymus Bash. A bon vivant long on flash and style but short on personal history, Bash just may be a Cheapside rogue in Savile Row finery.

When the four fangs of the Demon Cats of Scavo—trophies that protect the hunters who killed the two vicious beasts—disappear one by one, Stoker's forced to team with the very man he was sent to investigate to maintain his cover. He finds himself thrust into a world of wailing mediums, spiritualist societies, man-eating lions, and a consulting detective with more ambition than sense. Will this case be the end of his career, or the start of an unexpected liaison? Or will the mysterious forces at play be the death of them both?

And just who is Hieronymus Bash?

Excerpt