NEW TODAY FROM DARCI HANNAH!
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor (A Food and Spirits Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Hampshire, England
Publisher : Kensington Cozies (August 20, 2024)
Hardcover : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 1496747445
ISBN-13 : 978-1496747440
Kindle ASIN : B0CNYK7DRW
While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .
It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.
Disliking spooks but loving food, Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. It’s a sumptuous meal she hopes will entice the ghostly Mistletoe Bride to take a seat and join them while the cameras roll. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride has been given a special opportunity for her own cooking show with a new reality TV show Food & Spirits. She will team up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady and travel around the world to visit haunted places to hunt out any spirits that have failed to cross over and try to lure them to the table for a special meal prepared by Chef Bunny.
The first episode of Food & Spirits takes Bunny, Brent, Giff, and the rest of their team to Hampshire, England to investigate a historic house that has been turned into a famous haunted hotel, Bramsford Manor. It is said to be haunted by a young woman who died on her Christmas wedding night in the 18th century.
Bunny prepares a traditional English holiday wedding dinner to tempt the Mistletoe Bride to come to the table so Brett and Giff can do their thing but before that can happen, her custom-made boning knife is found in the chest very human dinner guest. She wasn’t sure about the whole premise of Food & Spirits but she never imagined she would find herself the top suspect in a murder investigation. Bunny now needs her ghost-hunting friends to help her hunt down the real killer with a big assist from her clairvoyant Grandma Mac.
This is the first book in a new series by Darci Hannah (Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries) and she introduces us to some very interesting characters. Bridget “Bunny” MacBride is a naturally gifted cook who was raised on a family farm in Scotland. She learned from her mother and at the age of ten she knew she wanted to be a chef. Years later a young Bunny MacBride arrived in New York City to hone her culinary skills. This helped her land a job as menu developer and guest chef for a show on the Mealtime Network where she was quite popular. This all leads to her “lucky day” when she was offered the job as host chef on Food & Spirits. We then enter her life and learn more about Bunny and her family, specifically her Grandma Mac who has a special gift. We also meet her co-hosts Brent Bloom and Giff McGrady and the people at Bramsford Manor. Some of the names may be familiar to Ms. Hannah’s fans. I found Bunny very relatable and genuine. Being just the first book in the series I know I will enjoy getting to know her and her supporting cast better as the series continues.
Ms. Hannah’s writing style makes it so easy to envision each person and scene both in past and present times. This story starts with an old mystery, the Mistletoe Bride, and then includes a new mystery of murder and more. The author twists them together with detail and precision. She also places bits of humor and romantic tension perfectly throughout the story. I found the current mystery to be complex with several suspects. I was kept guessing right up to the reveal. The past mystery was heartbreaking but had a heartwarming end.
As I turned the last page of the story and an author’s note about the inspiration for this book I was delighted to see “Bunny’s Culinary Corner: Recipes & tips to entertain your family & friends. (And ghosts, if that’s what you’re into.)” There are seven recipes, several I would like to try but I have copied the Rustic Apple Tart with Butterscotch Sauce for my personal chef husband to bake up soon. Hopefully, it won’t bring any spirits to the table. 😀
A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor has set this series off to a fabulous start. The theme for this series is unique. Cozy mysteries are wonderful places for food and ghosts. This book shows how entertaining putting them together can be. I am so excited to see this series continue and what the author has planned for book two.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About the authorCozy mystery author, Darci Hannah, is a native of the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. When Darci isn’t baking for family and friends, hiking with her furry pals, Ripley and Finn, or concocting her next cozy mystery, she can be found wandering around picturesque lakeside villages with her hubby, sampling baked goods, and breaking for coffee more often than she should.
You can learn more about Darci and her books at www.darcihannah.com
Also written by Darci Hannah
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