This is not my usual beat. Let me just say that upfront.
I'm a person who listens to audiobooks in the dark and debates whether psychological dread or cosmic horror is the superior subgenre. So when I tell you I spent a Saturday afternoon reorganizing the horror section at the library while listening to a cozy mystery about ghostbusting and a pug terrified of a lion — and that I genuinely enjoyed myself — you should understand the weight of that confession.
Ghosts, Trapeze Artists, and a Giant Sausage Roll
Mystery at Maplemead Castle is book two in Kitty French's Chapelwick Mysteries, and it knows exactly what it is. This isn't horror that crawls under your skin. This is horror's bubbly cousin who shows up to the family reunion with prosecco and gossip. Melody Bittersweet runs a ghostbusting agency — the Girls' Ghostbusting Agency, specifically — and the central haunting involves Britannia Lovell, a trapeze artist who plunged to her death a century ago and now repeats that fall every single night in Maplemead Castle.
That image? A woman falling to her death on an eternal loop? That's actually horrifying if you sit with it. And French seems to understand this, because underneath the comedy — the cake pipeline going AWOL, assistant Artie's fixation on an enormous sausage roll, the love triangle that has Melody stumbling around in what she describes as a "pink mist of lust" — there's a genuine ghost story with a heartbreaking resolution. I wasn't expecting to feel something. I did. The moment when Britannia's secret is finally uncovered has real emotional punch, and French earns it by not rushing to get there.
But let's be clear: this is primarily a comedy. The dialogue had me snorting at my desk more than once (my coworker gave me a look — I deserved it). French writes banter the way good sitcom writers do, where every character gets their moment. The dynamic between Melody, her best friend Marina, and Artie feels lived-in and warm. And the two love interests — Leo Dark (scoundrel ex, name says it all) and Fletcher Gunn (infuriating reporter, also exactly what the name promises) — create this chaotic romantic tension that's honestly more entertaining than it has any right to be.
Cat Gould and the Art of Not Overdoing It
Here's where I have to be honest: I don't have a ton of specifics on Cat Gould's performance because the research came up pretty thin on narrator details. What I can tell you is this — nobody complained. And in the audiobook world, especially for a comedy with this many characters and this much tonal whiplash between funny and genuinely sad, silence on narrator complaints is actually notable.
Gould has to handle rapid-fire British humor, emotional ghost scenes, romantic tension, and a terrified pug. That's range. At nine hours and forty-five minutes, this is a comfortable single-day listen if you're in the mood, and the pacing never dragged for me. The comedic timing landed — which matters, because comedy in audio is unforgiving. If the narrator doesn't nail the beat, the joke dies. The jokes didn't die.
I'll say this: I wanted more. More vocal distinction, more moments where the performance surprised me. Gould is solid and she serves the material well, but she doesn't elevate it the way the best narrators do. The narrator commits — mostly. There were stretches where I wished she'd lean harder into the absurdity or give the ghost scenes a bit more atmospheric weight.
Who's Going to Love This (And Who Should Keep Walking)
If you're a cozy mystery person who wants genuine laughs and a ghost story with actual heart, this is your book. If you loved book one and you're worried about sequel letdown — don't be. Multiple listeners say this one is funnier. If you scare easily, you're completely safe here. If you don't scare easily and you're looking for something to listen to while doing mundane tasks that won't require your full attention but will keep you entertained? Perfect fit.
If you're here for serious horror, hard-boiled mystery, or anything approaching dark — keep walking. This is light. Deliberately, joyfully light. And there's nothing wrong with that. The same-genre crowd who wants something with more edge might gravitate toward Dance of Death, which sits closer to my usual corner of the audiobook world.
Shirley (My Cat) Would Hate Chapelwick
Look, I came into this expecting background noise. What I got was a genuinely funny, surprisingly emotional ghost story wrapped in cozy mystery packaging. It's not going to haunt me at 2 AM. It's not going to make the podcast. But I laughed out loud reorganizing Dewey decimals, and the ghost of Britannia Lovell stuck with me longer than I expected. Sometimes that's enough. Sometimes that's pretty great, actually.
My podcast listeners are going to roast me for this one. Worth it.
