Sting in the Tail

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.