A Fatal Feast at Bransford Manor

A Food & Spirits Mystery

by Darci Hannah

Our theme for March was “Feasts and Feasting” at my thematic book group so I went to our handy Hoopla catalog and searched. This cozy mystery popped up and it sounded both intriguing and relaxing.

Bridget “Bunny” McBride is a chef on a food network. She loves her job but her boss is a bit jealous of her popularity and offers her the opportunity to have her own show – Food & Spirits. She’s led to believe it will be a travel show where she will work with the food of the place she is visiting and her co-host will handle the “spirits.”

Her obvious assumption is that spirits means alcohol. Of course, it has another meaning. One which Bunny is not okay with. You see, Bunny died in a boating accident in her home country of Scotland when she was about eighteen, but was revived. Her twin brother did not survive. 

It isn’t until she arrives at a meeting about the upcoming show that she learns what is really going on. She will be making meals to entice the “spirits” into manifesting while her co-host, ghost hunter Brett, tries to get proof of their existence. 

This is the last thing Bunny wants to be involved with, but she is in too deep to back out now. She is particularly unhappy to learn their “psychic medium” Giff is no medium at all, but an actor. Her own gran actually is a medium, so Bunny knows how real and serious this is. 

Bunny goes with the team to Bramsford Manor in England and throws herself into the cooking, determined to avoid the ghost side of things. Of course, they stick her in the very bedroom where the “Mistletoe Bride” is purported to manifest.” (That was a bit of a plot hole to me since the ghost hunting team should want to set up and monitor equipment in there.)

It becomes even more serious when a present day inhabitant of Bramsford Manor is murdered with one of Bunny’s chef knives, and Bunny becomes a suspect.

One of the really bright spots in this book is Bunny’s gran, who she calls to bail her out when she is arrested as the main suspect in the murder. Gran arrives and helps set things to right, getting the show back on course.

Another thing that I really liked about the book was that while Bunny can be a little overwrought she doesn’t just lie down and take it, she fights back.

Overall, this is a fun romp of a paranormal cozy mystery. More than anything, this story reminds me of Scooby Doo, where the whole “gang” is investigating the murder.

The mystery is well developed with a real investigation going on and lots of good interaction between the characters, as well as misdirection.

The actual writing itself could use a little more editing, but it didn't keep me from enjoying the story.

The writing and the reader on the audio can be rather melodramatic, but it certainly held my attention. I don’t think I’ll listen to another one right away, but I would certainly come back to it when I need something light to take my mind off other things.