I don’t like ghosts, ghoulies, or spooky things. That’s exactly what I told my former boss, the aging foodie and lifestyle diva, Mary Stobart, of Mary’s Memorable Meals, when she asked me to go heavy on the gore for my Halloween segment on Bunny’s Culinary Corner. Bunny is a pet name my friends and family call me. I have bit of a complicated history with them, but we’ll get to that in a moment. The important thing to know is that shortly after I refused to go all in with spooky, Mary offered me my own travel cooking show called Food & Spirits. I couldn’t believe my good fortune! It was a dream come true for this Scottish-born chef! And I held onto that dream, fantasizing about all the exotic locations I was going to visit—all the delicious, locally sourced meals I was about to make—as I arrived at my first production meeting. I was excited to meet my mixologist cohost on the show. Because, as it was explained to me, I was the Food in the title. Someone else would handle the Spirits.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that Spirits wasn’t referring to actual mixed drinks, but to ghosts. As in spooky ghosts! Crivens! What had I gotten myself into? As we flew to our first location, I realized that I had just hitched my proverbial wagon to a team of ghost hunters. I was responsible for creating a meal designed to lure a ghost to the table. My cohosts, Gifford McGrady, the psychic medium on the show, and Brett Bloom (hunky Brett Bloom!) was the ghost tech guy. If my cohosts weren’t so entertaining, I would have fought tooth-and-nail to get out of my contract. But I didn’t, and that was the beginning of a very frightening yet highly enlightening journey for me.

After a harrowing week spent at Bramsford Manor in England, contacting the ghost of the forlorn Mistletoe Bride, and solving a murder, the lads and I are now heading for our next location, Dundoon Castle, in Scotland. This spooky old castle is haunted by the ghost of a bagpipe player. Unfortunately, it’s also close to my childhood home. I believe my gran, the clairvoyant Ella MacBride, arranged this visit for the team once she realized that I also have the Second Sight, as we call it in Scotland. I’ve been running from ghosts all my life, but at Bramsford Manor I was forced to face them. And that’s when I began seeing him again, the white rabbit. His name is Hopper, and he used to be my childhood pet rabbit. Now he’s the ghost that haunts me—the ghost I’ve been running from, and for good reason. While at Bramsford Manor, I had called Granny Mac, who came right away to help me sort out my burgeoning psychic gifts. I truly wish I didn’t have any gifts, but I do, and I now must live with them.

I’m still not a fan of spooky. I prefer to work in the kitchen instead of chasing ghosts. But now it’s also part of my job. Thankfully, Brett and Giff will be beside me as we face Dundoon Castle together. I don’t like bagpipes or ghosts, but the food will be delicious!

A SPIRITED SUPPER AT DUNDOON CASTLE
Series Name: A Food and Spirits Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: January 2026
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .

Includes Delicious Recipes!

About the author
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com. Instagram: @authordarcihannah. Facebook: Author Darci Hannah. YouTube: @darcihannah.