Release Blitz, Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway: Stoker & Bash: The Death Under the Dark Arches by Selina Kray
Stoker & Bash, Book 3
Sing a song of sixpence A stage full of fright One two-faced blackbird Won’t last the night
When a phantom presence lures Hieronymus Bash into a deadly game, threatening to kill one of the players at his beloved Gaiety Theater each day until famed actor Horace Beastly returns to the stage, London’s premier consulting detective is on the case. The trouble? Horace Beastly is Hiero’s alter ego and the true object of this murderous obsession. When the current star of the show is struck down, Hiero has no choice but to risk everything by stealing back the spotlight.
After a golden summer together, DI Tim Stoker would do everything in his power to protect the man he loves from this fanatic and the predatory press. But a specter from his own past proves an unexpected, and perhaps fatal, distraction.
Scheming prima donnas, grudge-fuelled critics, and an axe-wielding theater ghost are all out for blood. Will Hiero and Tim unmask this menace before the final curtain call, or are they past the point of no return?
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As the others sped off to prepare for their imminent departure, a soft-skinned but meaty hand captured Hiero’s own. He glanced up to find his favorite pair of moss-green eyes limned with worry, the ends of Kip’s very thin, very kissable lips drooping downward. He vibrated slightly, or perhaps that was a fancy of Hiero’s. By now he recognized Kip’s vigor at the start of a new case, his eagerness to leap into action no matter how grisly the details. If aught, the more malicious the crime, the more forceful his need to bring the latest fiend to justice. But instead of running off to The Gaiety, Kip brought Hiero’s hand to his lips and planted a long kiss in its palm. With a shy but beseeching look Hiero’s way, he twined their fingers, rubbing a soothing thumb over Hiero’s knuckles. “How are you?” Hiero exhaled a long breath. “Horrid.” A gentle tug, and Kip slid onto his lap. He knit his slender frame so tight around Hiero that it felt as if they’d been cut from whole cloth. Hiero had, of late, found particular sanctuary in the crook of Kip’s neck. He found that favored nook again, breathing deep of his fresh, woodsy scent. The smell of home. “I feel as if I haven’t touched you in months.” Kip burrowed his face in the crown of Hiero’s hair, breathing just as deeply of him. “Was it only yesterday we lounged in bed till noon? Blast that note and its writer.” “I cannot object.” “Couldn’t they have been a bit more considerate in their schedule?” Kip quipped. “‘One will fall every week Horace Beastly…’” “‘Looks très chic’?” A chuckle from above. “Yes, very good. Of course, that would be every week. Unless you’d lower your standards to buy us more time?” “Not if the Queen herself were on the chopping block.” A traitorous snicker escaped Kip. He tipped Hiero’s chin up to meet his kiss, pouring new life into his sad and somewhat defeated state of mind. Hiero opened to this, their indelible connection, which for a moment transported him back to their sultry summer, with its lazy afternoons of togetherness and nights of endless conversation. This golden time lost none of its luster for having come to an end. Though by the heat in Kip’s consoling embrace, perhaps it had merely paused while other matters preoccupied. Hiero certainly had to repress the urge to chase after Kip when he pulled away. “Better?” Hiero considered saying no just to have his kiss again. “Restored.” Excerpt 3: Hiero rapped on the roof of the carriage. “To the front, Angus!” Slumped into the seat opposite, Kip grinned. “Putting on a show, are we?” “All the world’s a stage, my dear.” “And might I request a private viewing later?” “If the requisite homage is paid.” “I am, as you know, deeply devout to your particular brand of showmanship.” “As I am eager to entertain a patron of your… generosity.” The carriage lurched to a second stop at the curb end of The Gaiety’s covered walkway. A cylindrical glass canopy jutted out from the arched doors of the main entrance, supported by thin poles embedded in the sidewalk. Twin posters flanked the doors, announcing the double bill of The Tragedy of Abelard and Heloise and Don Juan Triumphant—and that the show would go on. Seeing the small circle of flowers and notes in tribute to Randolph Terriss on the sidewalk sobered Hiero for the task at hand. He remembered that the pomp and power of his arrival was in service of a greater good. Hiero stole a moment to center himself. He could feel Kip’s anxious eyes upon him, waiting to offer comfort and care, but, when it came to his performances, Hiero prepared alone. Like a racer at the starting line, he awaited the pistol’s crack. The door opened. Hiero leapt into the street and strode for the main doors, Kip but a half step behind. He crashed through the entrance. A ticket agent, quick on his feet, ran up to stop him, but Hiero flicked him off with a wave of his hand. He marched over to the foot of the grand staircase—by which time the entire front of house staff had collected around him—jumped onto the third stair, and whooshed around to face them with a twirl of his cape. “The manager of this establishment.” Hiero’s announcement silenced the din. “Inform him Hieronymus Bash has come.” With the grace of spooked dodos, they fell over each other to obey. Kip strolled through the scrambling mass, a smile playing on his lips. “Are you certain this strikes the right chord?” “My dear, I defer to you in matters of investigation, ergo…” “Apologies, maestro.”
To celebrate the release of Stoker & Bash’s third mystery, Selina is giving away a full e-set of Stoker & Bash (3 books) and 2 e-copies of Stoker & Bash: The Death Under the Dark Arches
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Selina Kray is the nom de plume of an author and English editor. Professionally she has covered all the artsy-fartsy bases, having worked in a bookstore, at a cinema, in children’s television, and in television distribution, up to her latest incarnation as a subtitle editor and grammar nerd (though she may have always been a grammar nerd). A self-proclaimed geek and pop culture junkie who sometimes manages to pry herself away from the review sites and gossip blogs to write fiction of her own, she is a voracious consumer of art with both a capital and lowercase A. Selina’s aim is to write genre-spanning romances with intricate plots, complex characters, and lots of heart. Whether she has achieved this goal is for you, gentle readers, to decide. At present she is hard at work on future novels at home in Montreal, Quebec, with her wee corgi serving as both foot warmer and in-house critic.
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Thank you so much! 🙂