Bridget "Bunny" MacBride is enjoying her time as a chef on a TV cooking show when she's approached to do a new show: Food and Spirits. She is told it is a cooking show where she'll be traveling around and creating meals based on the local area. She assumes the "spirits" part of the title refers to alcohol, so she's somewhat alarmed to find that it actually refers to ghosts. She wants no part of the hauntings, but she's already signed the contract and is on a plane to an old manor in England before she can extricate herself from the situation. Once in England, she becomes acquainted with her fellow hosts, who have previous experience with TV ghost hunting. The idea is that Bunny will prepare meals that will entice resident ghosts to the table. The house, Bramsford Manor, is known to be haunted by several ghosts, including the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who disappeared on her wedding night and whose skeleton was found locked in a chest 50 years later. The house is being run as a hotel by a brother and sister, and they have a resident historian who has been delving into the secrets of the house. Soon after arriving, the historian is found dead in the same chest where the skeletal bride was discovered. To make matters worse, he's been killed with one of Bunny's chef knives, and she's also the one who discovers the body. She soon becomes a suspect, although even the police are puzzled as to why she would kill someone she just met. Bunny's Grandma Mac, who has been known to convene with spirits (the ghostly type) in her time, comes to help Bunny find the real killer and also help the various ghosts to 'cross over."

I liked the premise of the story and the setting of the creepy old manor house. Bunny and her ghost hunting cohorts were also quite likeable. Once the body turned up, however, the middle of the book bogged down with not a lot happening. It also seemed as if a lot of things were repeated when we (the readers) and the characters were already aware of what was being explained. Still, it was an enjoyable enough (if somewhat plodding) story.

Chef Bridget "Bunny' MacBride is offered her own cooking show. The concept pairs gourmet meals and ghosts. With a team consisting of a ghost hunter and a medium the idea is to try and communicate with a ghost living in a haunted locale. It's a great opportunity. The only problem is Bunny hates anything having to do with ghosts.

Up first is Bramsford Manor in England. There Bunny and her team learn the tale of the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died tragically on her wedding night in the 1700's. Bunny wants nothing to do with that part of the show. Instead she focuses on creating a perfect meal. They're off to a great start until the murder of a dinner guest and Bunny becomes the prime suspect.

I was immediately drawn into this wonderful story. The characters are charming and I was instantly comfortable with them. They are not cookie cutter stand ins. Bunny is a refreshing lead character.

The writing is fantastic as well. The setting is perfect. The ghost element is well done. I also loved seeing what they were doing for the show.

I love how Bunny and friends worked together to solve the mystery which is quite layered. It has elements of a classic mystery.

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor is just so well done. It was a fast read because I didn't want to stop reading. Have you ever read a book where you keep telling yourself while reading that you love it? This was me every other page. It's a fantastic book that hits all the right notes. I can't wait for the next one!

An intriguing storyline with well developed characters. I found this to be an engaging read that flowed very well and kept me guessing until the end. Well worth a read.

Bunny MacBride is a TV chef who finds herself on a new show that combines travel, food, and -- surprisingly -- ghosts. First time out, she's cooking up a feast in an English castle haunted by several spirits. It turns out that Bunny has a special connection with ghosts, and things get complicated from there.

This book includes an appealing trio of likable young people, a clairvoyant grandmother, a perfect cast of potential victims and suspects including English aristocrats, servants, and academics, and lavish details of meals and manor house decor. The puzzle is complicated but hangs together through lots of twists and turns, ending up with a satisfying conclusion.

If there is one thing Scottish chef Bridget 'Bunny' MacBride won't consider getting involved with, or even talk about, it's spooky stuff! Everything from Halloween to ghouls and ghosts are off limits! She has however, always been quite happy working in Connecticut on one of the most popular shows on the Mealtime Network. Things have become a little frosty of late though and when she's offered her own show, Food and Spirits, Bunny is delighted to jump ship and accept. Unfortunately it seems she has agreed to be part of a ghost hunting show where her meals will be used to entice a ghostly presence and help them pass over into the spirit world!

Bramsford Manor, a beautiful, historic, five star hotel, in the heart of Hampshire, is where Bunny and her team will be filming first. Regrettably, after preparing a sumptuous meal for her part of the show, a body is discovered, with one of her knives being used as the murder weapon! Scared, Bunny contacts her Grandma Mac, a clairvoyant who still lives in her native Scotland, for help, while finally admitting to her own psychic powers which she has kept hidden for over a decade! Alongside her grandmother and new co-stars the hunt begins to discover the killer’s identity before their new show is cancelled and Bunny has to remain in England at His Majesty's pleasure!

Darci Hannah has written an excellent series starter and, after enjoying her Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, I was excited to read this. I wasn't disappointed. The mystery was fast moving, the main protagonists all well rounded from the start, and I like the premise of Bunny and her team visiting haunted properties across the globe for their series. There are also notes on the actual ghost story as well as some relevant recipes included at the end and I look forward to reading more.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Kensington Publishing, but the opinions expressed are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this and happily recommend it.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and the setting. The mystery kept me guessing. It will be interesting to see how the series goes from here.

A cozy book featuring gourmet food and a few ghosts

Bridget ‘Bunny’ MacBride has been working as a chef on the show of Mary Stobart (who feels a bit Martha Stewart-ish with a generous sprinkling of Oprah). Bunny’s young and talented, leading to perhaps a tinge of professional jealousy on Mary’s part. Therefore, when Bunny is offered her own show, “Food and Spirits” (a show about cooking and bartending, she thinks), she's thrilled. She’s a little dismayed when she learns a few weeks later that the ‘Spirits’ are ghosts, not alcohol; however, despite her not liking ghosts, she’s committed to the new show and can’t turn back.

Their first episode is at historic Bramsford Manor who’s claim to fame is a tragic game of hide and seek that took place about 325 years earlier, leading to the death of a new bride when she got trapped in a chest. Bunny’s role is to produce a meal that might entice the ghost of the young bride to appear. However, when filming starts, Bunny finds another body stuffed in the history chest, and since she found the body and it was stabbed by one of her knives that went missing earlier, she becomes the primary suspect. In order to clear her name, it takes the efforts of the whole Food and Spirits cast, along with the help of her clairvoyant Grandma Mac.

I enjoyed this book. As the start of a new series, I like the fact the show involves traveling, meaning each book can be set at a different historic house with a fresh set of suspects. The characters are likable, and I like seeing how Bunny is starting to evolve. As a bit of a foodie, I loved reading about all the dishes Bunny made. There’s also some background bits involving Bunny’s white rabbit which I see continuing on. The book is very PG - very mild language, for example - and told from multiple points of view which is a refreshing change. I look forward to reading others in the series.

Highly recommended. Even though this is a new series, it’s a spin off from a previous series but works as a stand alone.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

A fun start to a new cozy mystery series. I loved that a Darci Hannah used characters from the other series.
This story had great characters, a fun plot, and an interesting ending. Truly enjoyed.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Bridget "Bunny" McBride has signed on to be the chef on a new show, unaware that it is a cooking and ghost
hunter show. Her task is to recreate a meal to draw out the ghost being investigated. First stop is Bramsford
Manor in Scotland for the Mistletoe Bride. When the historian is murdered with her boning knife. She becomes the prime suspect. Fortunately, the tapes filmed prove her innocence. Bunny is able to see ghosts and spirits and contacts her grandmother to uncover the killer. As she, her grandmother and the ghost crew investigate, they seek to discover the big reveal the historian had planned and is most likely the reason for his murder.
Interesting characters - look forward to their next adventure.
#AFatalFeastatBramsfordManor #Kensington #NetGalley

TV/Film-industry, ghost-hunting, family, relatives, psychics, medium, paranormal, clairvoyant, new-series, first-in-series, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, murder, investigations, verbal-humor, situational-humor, Hampshire*****

The story is as gentle as the MC, not sassy like her Scottish grandmother. But it is as fun as her ghostly bunny and her denial that she is clairvoyant in any way. Not like the guy on the film crew who Knows he isn't but pretends that he is.
Bunny is a known American TV chef who has been talked into returning to the UK to be in a new series called the Food & Spirits with the first one set in picturesque Hampshire. So she wasn't prepared to find a recently dead body nor be tossed in the cells as the primary suspect. And then it really gets laughable! Did I mention that the "Spirits" means ghosts, not potables?
Great story in a new series from a fun author of cozies.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Kensington Publishing | Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thank you! Available Aug 20, 2024

I must admit I stayed on the fence about this first in a new series book pretty much the whole way through until the end. I did not immediately warm to the characters with the possible exception of Granny Mac. Interesting concept combining food and ghost hunting. Also a different concept with each future book taking place in a different location rather than the same town with all the same friends and neighbors. I considered giving it 3 stars but added one for originality. I do love ghost stories though so I will read the next book. I love the Beacon Bakeshop series and I have no doubt Darci Hannah will draw me in with this new series as well.

This is the first in a new series by a new to me author.

It has great potential, and I am looking forward to the next book already

A new mystery series centering on a television chef who creates meals to entice ghosts for her ghost hunting co-stars. Book 1 is set in an English manor house and includes some great minor characters. Loads of fun

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of A FATAL FEAST AT BRAMSFORD MANOR (Book 1 of the Food and Spirits mystery series) by Darci Hannah in exchange for an honest review. Bridget “Bunny” MacBride has a regular spot on a popular cooking show. When the hostess of the cooking show asks Bunny if she would be interested in hosting her own cooking series called Food & Spirits, Bunny thinks her dreams have come true and signs on the dotted line. Bunny is surprised, therefore, to discover the “Spirits” in the title have nothing to do with alcohol. Since Bunny is spooky-averse, she realizes she has been tricked into signing up for her nightmare instead of her dream. Their first episode brings them to Bramsford Manor to investigate the hauntings there. When one of their local experts is killed and left in a chest featured in the episode, Bunny is arrested for the murder. Bunny calls in her support, and her gran arrives to help Bunny and the film crew identify the killer before the episode wraps.

I liked this book and look forward to future books in the series. I am a fan of other series by Darci Hannah. I recommend this book to fans of cozy paranormal murder mysteries featuring historic locations, food television, and ghost hunting.

#AFatalFeastatBramsfordManor #NetGalley

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor has everything you could want in a cozy mystery series starter! There’s ghosts, murder, secrets, food, and a budding romance. It has several twists, most of which I didn’t see coming. It even has some recipes in the back that correspond with the food in the book.

If you’ve read the author’s other two series, Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries and Very Cherry Mysteries, then you may recognize a character or two. However, if you haven’t read either of the other two series, you won’t feel like you’re missing any information for this book.

I loved this book and can’t to see where the series goes from here!

Bridget "Bunny" MacBride is a Scottish chef who's come to live in the USA. She's part of a cooking show with a famous chef, having her own segment. But when she clashes with the woman, suddenly her life has changed. She's offered her own show -- Food & Spirits, -- and jumps at the chance. What she doesn't know until later is that the "spirits" part isn't about alcoholic beverages. It's about actual spirits. In other words, ghosts.

Bunny isn't happy about this, since she left Scotland to get away from ghosts of her old life. But soon enough she finds out that they're traveling to England to contact the Mistletoe Bride -- a woman who died on her wedding night at Christmas -- and there's no way out for her. What she really doesn't expect is to see the ghost of her white rabbit, Hopper, or to need the help of her grandma, who is an actual psychic. But here, the unexpected becomes reality, and she soon finds that reality isn't all what it's cracked up to be...

This is the first book in a new series by Darci Hannah, one of my favorite authors. It's a sort of a spin off from the Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries, in that Brett Bloom, who was a 'guest' ghosthunter in that series, and turns up again in this series, as part of the group. Saying that, let's get to the story without giving away any spoilers (if I can).

The crew is invited to the Manor by a historian who is chronicling the past of the manor and the tale of the Mistletoe Bride, and wants them to attempt to contact her. But on the night of the dinner -- being made magnificently by Bunny, and filmed by the ghosthunters, she sees the ghost of Hopper, and her life changes. Suddenly she's now a murder suspect, and calls her grandma for help. During the investigation, she doesn't know who believes her and who doesn't; but it doesn't matter anyway because she and grandma -- and the crew -- are trying to figure out who killed the person.

Unfortunately, it has to be someone who was at Bramsford Manor that night, which includes all of the staff, and even the owners. Can Bunny figure it out? But what's even more important, can she figure out what is going on with her, and can she stop running from herself at last?

I have to say that I just loved this book. It had all the elements of a good story -- a protagonist with a tragic background (explained in the book so no cliffhangers!); interesting characters all around, and the best, a little paranormal activity to keep you interested. And interested I was, finishing this book far too soon and wanting more! Giff is a hoot, and when he's with grandma, you have two hoots and a half...if I may say so (ha). Brett is a bit more skeptical, but being a ghosthunter, he'd better figure it out, and he does; but I think unwillingly, anyway. I also liked many of the secondary characters as well, which is a big plus.

When the ending comes and we finally figure out the murderer, I have to say that I was completely surprised by this. That's a good thing. I read far too many mysteries where I figure out the killer way before our protagonist does. But this also was intriguing in the fact that we find out more than the motive -- the killer gives us enough reasons to wonder how anyone in the manor couldn't even suspect them. They go to great lengths to keep it all hidden, and do so magnificently.

In the end, we are given a hint of what is to come in future books (which I hope will happen soon) and some truly delicious-looking recipes that I plan to try myself! Highly recommended.

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

an interesting premise of a ghost hunting show that combines serving a typical meal the ghost would have liked to try to bring them forth. Bunny is the newly hired chef of the first show as they head to England to film at a large manor house that was known to have a ghost of a young bride who disappeared on her wedding day to be found years later to have been trapped in trunk. When the local historian is found inside the trunk with Bunny's knife in his chest she is obviously a prime suspect. Enjoyed this one, but at times the ties to the heritage and who was who became a bit much to keep track of. Might just be me, as in here in the colonies this is not such a common occurrence. Still though, enjoyed the mystery and really liked Bunny's grandmother. Would recommend.

#AFatalFeastatBramsfordManor #NetGalley is a really good story that kept me guessing until the end.
Bunny doesn't like ghosts, but she loves too cook, so when the opportunity to cohost a paranormal reality show, she thinks it maybe fun.
Unfortunately, Bunny has to face her fears but while doing so, solves a few ancient murder mysteries.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

A FATAL FEAST AT BRAMSFORD MANOR is the first book in the brand-new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series by Darci Hannah. Oh my, what a fun romp through an English manor house with things that go bump in the night! Scottish protagonist Bunny MacBride is an accomplished New York City chef and has been offered a position on the new reality TV show, Food & Spirits. In her excitement, she misses that the “spirits” mentioned aren’t cocktail-based, instead it’s a ghost hunting show. Ms. Hannah’s way with words brings the descriptions to life in the most humorous of ways, and she sets up each scene for maximum entertainment. I loved each of the characters and found it especially charming that some of them have made previous appearances in the author’s other two series (Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries and Very Cherry Mysteries). Bunny is endearing as she struggles with her own tragic loss, which makes her seem relatable. I greatly enjoyed the addition of Bunny’s clairvoyant grandmother, who brings some much-needed comfort to Bunny and is the “team grandma” who guides the hapless ghost hunters with much entertainment.

The TV crew’s first stop is at an English countryside manor house, where a long-ago bride’s wedding day turned to tragedy. Bunny is soon in for a shock when she finds the house is not only haunted, but someone is a murderer and is out to frame her. I’ve always enjoyed long ago mysteries that need to be solved alongside current day murders. Ms. Hannah expertly weaves the two together, keeping the action and the intrigue moving at a fast clip. With shocking reveals and enough suspects to keep me guessing, I devoured the book, loath to put it down for even a moment. The one and only downside is that I don’t have the second book sitting by to dive into… I can’t wait to read what’s next in store for Bunny and the crew!

Bunny has thoughtfully included several of her recipes—sweet, savory, and libations—at the back of the book “to entertain your family and friends (and ghosts, if that’s what you’re into)”.

I was provided with an advance copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.