Death at Beresford hall by Emma Davies; published 07 Dec 2022
Audiobook by Bookouture Audio
Narrator Mira Dovreni
Colleen Chi-Girl on Goodreads

I was very interested and thrilled to receive this ARC from author Emma Davies, NetGallery, and the publisher, Bookouture Audio. Thank you for this audio, my preferred form of reading since pre-COVID. I haven't given up purchasing beautiful books or building my library! The narrator Mira Dovreni was fantastic and I'd probably enjoy any audio read by her. Note to GR: There isn't a category on Goodreads for an audiobook so it goes down as a Kindle book.

In the beginning, the characters are so lively and interesting in this cosy little mystery, which involves a televised cooking competition during the holidays before Christmas. A very beloved and famous female chef, Miranda Appleby, is heading it up, along with her producer, savvy, but ill-treated and over-worked, assistant Midge (I kept thinking they said MITCH on audio - lol), and of course included contestants, and other hardworking crew. We didn't learn much about the food itself or the other contestants, except the one who dropped out unfortunately. I did love learning about the production however and I was ready and in for this! I love food and watching cooking shows so this appealed to me in many ways. I used to watch Martha Stewart, Ina Garten, Julia Child, Nigella, and many others....

Publisher's Blurb: "Francesca/FRAN Eve, chef, caterer, and baker extraordinaire, has never desired the limelight. But when she’s accepted onto the country’s favourite cooking competition, she can’t help but wonder – what would it be like to win? The one thing she’d never imagined, though, was sharing the kitchen with a killer…" (Not entirely true....)

My note: Fran is hired privately and in secret by Miranda and her producer to find out who is leaving Miranda threatening/nasty notes and awful gifts. Soon Fran and her male assistant arrive on the set (undercover) under the pretense of researching Miranda's work life so they can write a memoir about her, when a contestant suddenly drops out of the competition due to pressure and stagefright. Fran is asked to "step in" as a contestant. If she doesn't go along with this, the whole production will fall apart and much money, fans, and reputation rides on this... Much tension!

For the first half, I was totally into it and couldn't wait to find out the background info of who is after Miranda, as well as more about each character and the contestants (and food!!). Then there's a murder....and thereafter it seems to lose momentum and becomes chaotic, full of bickering and pitting each other against each other. I found it no longer held my interest unfortunately. There also wasn't much going on in the dialogue other than repetitive complaining, accusing, whining, and fighting. I found myself wanting it to end and I am rarely negative about a good mystery; I am sad for the drawn out chaos and drama, which didn't hold up to the exciting beginning.

I am a fan of Emma Davies and am grateful for the ARC.

I first want to thank Netgalley the author and everyone involved with giving these audio books out for a review. I really enjoyed this book and the main character Fran was very likeable! I will need to look into the other books in the series. Listening to it made you feel like you were right in the middle of a murder mystery and fun cooking show. I really enjoyed the narrator's voice and beautiful accent. Thank you again for letting me review this fun audio book!

A cozy murder mystery set around baking is just my kind of book! I loved the characters and loved trying to figure out “whodunnit”. I listened to the audio of this book and loved the narration.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read an advanced copy.

friction, friendship, verbal-humor, situational-humor, amateur-sleuth, cosy-mystery, England, series, resentment, undercover, greed, closed-circle-mystery, law-enforcement, television*****

TV can be murder.
Francesca is the amateur sleuth/caterer recommended by the DCI to observe (undercover) some problems encountered by the star of a tv cookery competition (and her friend Adam comes along for support and sleuthing). The star turns out to be a less than pleasant person and does wind up murdered with an award which is a cake knife. Interesting red herrings and a sneaky plot twist or two. I enjoyed this addition to the series!
Mira Dovreni does a great job of differentiating the characters.
I requested and received a temporary digital audio of this book from Bookouture Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!

I have not read any titles by this author in the series but it sounded like an interesting plot. I found it easy and enjoyable but not great. I probably wouldn't read another one in the series because it sort of fell flat. However, the narration was nice.

An enjoyable cosy murder mystery set against the backdrop of a cookery show. Listened on audio and enjoyed it. On the cosier end of what I would usually go for but a nice winter warmer.

This is a fun, enjoyable cosy murder mystery set against the backdrop of a tv cookery competition. The title really does not tell you anything about the book as the hall itself is not really significant in the story which is a pity. I haven't read any of the series before but this did not matter as the story is complete in itself and does not rely on previous events other than in passing. Fran and Adam work very well together as amateur detectives - I liked Adam especially as he had good ideas and insights into the characters. The cast of characters is not huge but a lot of emphasis is given to a select few. The red herrings involving peripheral characters were dismissed very quickly which is a shame as this might have helped to muddy the waters a bit and raise the tension. A little bit more action involving all the contestants, a suggestion of sabotage, a raising of suspicion perhaps might have added a bit of a spark. The story did become a little repetitive at times as rounds of the competition progressed and the same ideas were re-hashed. Had I been reading this I might well have been tempted to skip to the end to see whodunnit but the narrator was so entertaining, breathing life into the characters in a very chatty and endearing fashion that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the story.

The hostess of a popular baking show has been receiving strange gifts. Fran and Adam go to the set where they are taping the holiday edition of the show to investigate. Miranda doesn't want anyone to know so Fran is undercover as an author who is writing a book about Miranda and the show. Will they be able to discover the culprit before he or she escalates to more than just sending gifts?

I enjoy Bookouture's cozy mysteries but they have so many that I can't keep up. I've been hoping that would offer some of them as audiobooks for review. So I was thrilled to see Death at Beresford Hall available.

It is book 4 of the Adam and Eve series. I haven't read the previous books but it was easy to jump right in with this one. If you are mostly reading Christmas books, this one will fit right in. It isn't quite Christmas time but they are filming the Christmas baking show.

I liked the characters. Fran and Adam make a good team. Fran is good at what she does but I liked that she doesn't take herself too seriously.

The mystery was good. I didn't figure out who did it, but it made sense when revealed. I liked how they walked us through their reasoning and clues to figure it out.

The audiobook was well done. Mira Dovreni does a wonderful job as the narrator. I was able to tell the characters apart easily.

I don't know if I have time to read another cozy mystery series, but I would definitely listen to more books in this series.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Wednesday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/12/death-at-beresford-hall-by-emma-davies.html

A reality cooking show, death of the host - entire crew and all contestants on suspect list.

The book is a mystery thriller revolving around 2 main people. A secret detective (Francesca) hired to find out who is sending the host horrible gifts. But no sooner had she arrived the host is murdered. Francesca's character was build up well, but I was a little disappointed with the way the murder mystery was solved. Looked too putout!

Overall a decent read and for the lovers of reality show, this book does give you insights on how things are being shoot in the background.

Thankyou @netgalley @bookouture for the ARC

Genre: #mystery #thriller
Rating: 3/5 ⭐

#DeathatBeresfordHall #NetGalley

This book was sufficiently creepy, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I listened to this in one sitting because I couldn’t stop.

A fun cozy set at a Christmas cooking competition. Definitely listen to it on audio -- the reader is fantastic and does wonderful voices.

If you drew a Venn diagram of people's interests, I'm pretty sure there'd be a good degree of overlap between the 'reading Cosy Crime novels' and 'watching TV cooking show' circles. So a cosy crime genre book set during a fictional TV cooking show is sure fire winner. That's the premise of 'Death at Beresford Hall', which is fourth in a series. I haven't read any of the preceding books and I don't think that really mattered, there aren't any particular spoilers for the earlier ones and it's easy to pick up the characters.

The novel's amateur sleuth, Fran, is a caterer by trade, as well as solving the odd murder on the side. She and her assistant, Adam, are asked to investigate nasty 'presents' being left for a beloved celebrity chef. They soon discover said chef's real life personality is a lot less likeable than her television one, and when she's duly bumped off the day after they arrive, there are no shortage of suspects. Unfortunately they all have an alibi, apart from one person, whom neither of them believes did it. To complicate matters further, Fran has been roped in to competing in the TV show after another contestant drops out.

Before you think it all sounds too utterly unbelievable, there is a police inspector investigating too, although plausibility is never something you want to dwell on too much in this genre. Let's admit, ordinary people don't go round solving crimes. But it's fun to read about them doing so, therefore you have to suspend your disbelief to some degree.

It's a well written plot which does keep you guessing as to who was responsible - there are plenty of suspects and twists and turns. I semi-guessed the correct culprit but I think I suspected everybody at some point! The solution to the mystery is satisfyingly clever without being ludicrously far fetched. Fran is a likeable protagonist, and there are lots of likeable supporting characters too. It's easy to read and draws you in straight away. In fact I was overall very impressed by the quality of the writing and how much I enjoyed it.

The audiobook narrator does a very good job. It's an easy story to listen to and follow. The narrator differentiates between the characters well with different voices and accents, none of which sound overdone. She reads at a good pace and with a warm tone that suits the story.

I enjoyed this immensely and will definitely be searching out the earlier novels in the series. If you enjoy 'cosy crime' books this is worthy one to add to your reading list.

From the summary of this book I could not wait to dive right into it. It’s a murder mystery that surrounds a cooking completion show. I love murder mysteries and I love cooking shows so I was immediately sold. Unfortunately, nothing in this book truly grabbed me and drew mom in fully.

It follows a usual formula. A murder takes place and you start to discover that everyone could have a motive. I like stories like this since they always keep me guessing who I think the killer will be. The sequence that leads to how the murder took place that involved time was extremely clever and very well written. That was my favorite detail of the book.

As someone who watches a lot of cooking shows and also as someone who knows their way around a kitchen, I expected that the cooking parts would suck me in but they didn’t. It really didn’t capture how it is being in a kitchen.

Nothing about this book was bad, but nothing with the exception of how the mystery was solved in the end stood out.

I was give. A chance to listen to this audiobook thanks to NetGalley, and I could t be more pleased. I was in a book slump, Death at Beresford Hall was just what I needed to refresh my reading/listening! When I initially saw the cover art I thought the book looked intriguing. Then I read the description and found that the show took place at a cooking competition in Great Britain. If there are two things I love, they are mysteries and cooking shows…especially a certain popular cooking contest that takes place in Britain! I found the mystery to be well plotted with many suspects to keep you guessing! An added bonus is that this book is number 4 in a series! I am looking forward to reading the first three. Though it is part of a series, it could be read as a stand alone as well! Grab a copy! You won’t be sorry!

A must for all fans of the Great British Bake Off! And with a festive twist, Contestants on a bakery show compete to bake to win, but the death of the main presenter throws a spanner in the works.. could one of the contestants be the murderer? Or one of the crew …?

I was completely immersed in this audiobook and had honestly no idea ‘whodunnit’. I was kept guessing with all the twists and turns and the whole plot set up made for great reading. It was super entertaining and I loved the baking element of it. Real GBBO vibes with an added touch of murder…

I liked the two main characters as they were placed amongst the show to find out who had been leaving ominous little ‘gifts’ to the star of the show. They were tasked with getting to the bottom of this mystery when suddenly there was a bigger drop at play.

I didn’t realise this was number four in a series but I didn’t feel at a disadvantage. The author did a great job at ensuring I got the measure of all the characters and was caught up on anything that had importance to the story. All in all, it was great and thoroughly enjoyed!

I listened to the audiobook ‘Death at Beresford Hall’. This book is a great cozy mystery that takes place while filming a Christmas Cooking competition. All Is good until someone has ended up dead and the hunt for a killer begins. There is a great cast of characters and it kept me guessing until the end.

The audiobook was an easy listening book. It kept my interest until the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good cozy mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an opportunity to review.

Book Title: Death at Beresford Hall
Author: Emma Davies
Series: Adam and Eve Mystery Series #4
Audiobook Narrator: Mira Dovreni
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Mystery/Thriller,
Pub Date: December 7, 2022
My Rating: 3.3 Stars

Adam and Fran AKA Eve are investigating some sinister gifts and threats that are being sent to Miranda Appleby the presenter and chef of a popular baking competition.
They are working undercover under premise of writing a book. In order to carry this off, Fran is persuaded to be a contestant on the show. Francesca Eve is a chef, caterer, and baker and has never had a desired to be in the limelight but after being convinced and being accepted into the country’s favorite cooking competition, she can’t help but wonder – what would it be like to win?

I am a big audiobook fan but am a snob when it comes to the narrator. I was not all that pleased with this narrator. She sounded so angry and made the characters sound angry. I finally got used to her voice and hung in there.

Want to thank NetGalley and Bo0kouture for this early e-Galley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 7, 2022

When Miranda Appleby, presenter of A Country Cooks Cook, starts receiving some very strange unwanted gifts, Fran and Adam - two amateur detectives, are called in to do some undercover snooping. However things take a change for the worse when poor Miranda ends up dead and it is now a MURDER!! Fran and Adam are faced with a multitude of potential suspects but the question is Whodunnit? The teamwork between Fran and Adam is great - a fabulous pair of detectives that lead you into and around the story hunting for the killer. A perfect cosy crime. The audiobook is narrated by Mira Dovrena who made it thoroughly enjoyable! This audiobook is the perfect way to spend an afternoon being an armchair detective and thinking about cake! Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
So I have not read or listened to previous books in this series but I certainly will now
I really enjoyed this audiobook and it was easy to follow despite not having listened to or read the rest in the series.
Narrator did a great job as well.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of Death At Beresford Hall by Emma Davies. There are people who love cozy mysteries. I am not one of them. I thought the middle was over written. This could have been shorter.