Trifles and Folly Series – Tour with Excerpt

Cassidy Kincaide runs Trifles & Folly in modern-day Charleston, an antiques and curios shop with a dangerous secret

Welcome to one of the April 28th stops on the blog tour for the Trifles and Folly series by Gail Z. Martin with Silver Dagger Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Books

Tangled Web
Deadly Curiosities Book Three
by Gail Z. Martin

Published 13 May 2018
SOL Publishing

Genre: Supernatural Mystery Adventure
Page Count: 242
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

The ghost of a jilted lover, an accidental hell-mouth, a soul-eating monster, cursed needlework, and a rogue’s gallery of sullied spirits—all this and more awaits!

Wander the shadowed paths through this spooktacular collection of short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series.

An extension of the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy novel series, this collection can be read as a standalone. It contains two novellas and five short stories: The Adventure of the Melted Saint, Keepsakes, Catspaw, The Piper’s Song, Innocence Lost, Crewel Fate, and Heap of Trouble.

Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.

Trifles and Folly 3 is a wickedly wonderful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of cursed curios, stolen relics, haunted heirlooms, creepy castles, menacing monsters, magic, and mayhem.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Warning: This collection includes a Morgan Brice MM Paranormal Romance novella set in the Deadly Curiosities’ universe with scenes only appropriate for readers 18+.

Vendetta
Deadly Curiosities Book Two
by Gail Z. Martin

Published 14 January 2016
Solaris

Genre: Supernatural Mystery Adventure
Page Count: 459
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Curses, vengeance from beyond the grave, haunted curios, werewolves, and wicked faeries.

Walk on the wild side, deep in the shadows through these delightfully creepy short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series. Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats

An extension of the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy novel series, this collection can be read as a standalone. It contains three full novellas and four short stories: The Final Death, Predator, Fair Game, Fatal Invitation, Redcap, Bloodlines, plus three bonus stories: Among the Shoals Forever, The Low Road, and Steer a Pale Course.

Trifles and Folly 2 is a satisfyingly spooky set of dark urban fantasy tales full of Southern cemeteries, restless spirits, Voodoo, magic, supernatural creatures, pirate ghosts, vampires and vengeance.

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“This book is honestly as good as the first. I love it when a series starts out great and stays that way.“—T’s Stuff on Trifles and Folly 2

Excerpt

I ran through White Point Gardens as fast as I could. Behind me, teeth snapped, and feet crunched on gravel. The redcap was gaining on me. I turned and caught a glimpse of the creature that was hunting me, and let loose with a blast of cold white force from the athame in my right hand.

The energy bolt sizzled through the air, but the redcap was gone. They’re devilishly hard to hit.

Mocking laughter came from the shadows. The redcap was enjoying his game. He was toying with me, letting me get ahead of him, saving his speed for the kill. Legend says it’s impossible to outrun a redcap. I had hoped to draw him off, away from the homes that bordered on the garden, where there were fewer prying eyes and a lesser chance of collateral damage. I’d offered myself as bait to draw the redcap toward the waterfront. Now, I dodged around the statues and war memorial cannons, trying to out outwit a bloodthirsty pixie with a taste for human flesh.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the strangest way I had ever spent a Friday night.

The redcap was chattering in excitement, stoked about getting a good feast—me. I was predictably less enthusiastic about the possibility and determined to make sure he stayed hungry. The back corner of the park was coming up, where it was a darker thanks to a burned-out street lamp. Just a few more feet.

The redcap gave a feral cry and sprang at me, snapping his sharp teeth on my jeans and barely missing my skin. I wheeled and gave him a good kick in the face, knocking him a few feet away. The redcap howled in anger and jumped to his feet; eyes fixed on me as he sized up his prey.

A larger shape moved fast enough to blur, and in the next instant, Sorren tackled the redcap. Sorren hung on, using his own immortal strength to restrain the redcap, who despite being two feet tall and built like a stringy old man was as tough as a tiger.

“Now!” Sorren cried out.

Teag darted from behind a monument. I heard the redcap scream as Teag pulled the creature’s head back and swung his blade, neatly severing the vicious pixie’s head.

Deadly Curiosities
Deadly Curiosities Book One
by Gail Z. Martin

Published 24 June 2014
Solaris

Genre: Supernatural Mystery Adventure
Page Count: 456
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Haunted places. Cursed heirlooms. Vengeful ghosts. Dark Magic

Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats. Journey…if you dare…through these satisfyingly spooky short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series.

A collection of nine stand-alone adventures: Buttons, The Restless Dead, Retribution, Coffin Box, Wicked Dreams, Collector, Bad Memories, Shadow Garden, and Spook House.

Trifles and Folly is a fascinatingly frightful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of abandoned mansions, restless spirits, Hoodoo, magic, supernatural creatures and long-overdue revenge.

A companion to the Deadly Curiosities series. Can be read as a standalone.

Revised Edition 2, 2018. Includes an updated cover, minor edits and the BONUS section with three stories chronicling Sorren’s early days: Vanities, The Wild Hunt, and Dark Legacy.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

“A fabulous job of creating a world that was steeped with curses, lore, lure, deadly consequences, and magic.” —The Book Junkie on Trifles & Folly

Excerpt

“Why is your garden gnome in a cage?” I frowned as a plump middle-aged woman deposited a stone statue locked in what looked like a large “live trap” steel mesh box.

“Because this thing ate my cat,” the woman declared. “And I want rid of it before it goes after the dog, too.”

We see all kinds of things at Trifles and Folly, but even for us, this was a first.

“Are you sure about the cat?” I asked, warily eyeing the gnome. It looked much older than the brightly-painted resin figures on sale at the big national-chain garden supply stores. The statue was weathered, with some bits of lichen stuck to its body, and I wondered if it had been custom-made. Now that she mentioned it, the gnome did look a little creepy. The features looked sly instead of welcoming, and the set of the mouth seemed to hide sharp teeth behind the carved stone lips.

“I’m sure,” the woman said, slapping her palm against the wooden counter. “Fuddles never did like the statue. Always hissed at it when he walked by it. I should have taken that as a sign.”

“Where did it come from?” I asked, looking away from the creepy gnome and returning my attention to the lady who had brought in the caged decoration.

“My mother said she bought it from one of those architectural salvage places,” the woman replied. 

“Have you had other problems with it, before the… um… cat incident?” I’m sure she was embarrassed and believed I was secretly laughing at her, but I had seen much stranger things.

I’m Cassidy Kincaide, and I own Trifles and Folly, an antique and curio shop in historic, haunted Charleston, SC that is a lot more than it seems. The store has been in my family for over three hundred years, and we’ve got a secret. While we’re a great place to find beautiful old heirlooms and estate jewelry, our real job is getting dangerous magical and supernatural items off the market and keeping them out of the wrong hands. That means we see more than our share of cursed, unlucky, or possessed objects, so I was taking my hapless customer’s tale seriously. Her murderous gnome sounded exactly like the kind of problem we deal with every day.

About the Author

Gail Z. Martin writes urban fantasy, epic fantasy, steampunk and more for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Urban fantasy series include Deadly Curiosities and the Night Vigil (Sons of Darkness). Epic fantasy series include Darkhurst, the Chronicles Of The Necromancer, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, and the Assassins of Landria.

Together with Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of Iron & Blood, Storm & Fury (both Steampunk/alternate history), the Spells Salt and Steel comedic horror series, the Roaring Twenties monster hunter Joe Mack Shadow Council series, and the Wasteland Marshals near-future post-apocalyptic series. As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance, with the Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail, Kings of the Mountain and Fox Hollow series. Gail is also a con-runner for ConTinual, the online, ongoing multi-genre convention that never ends.

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