ARC Review: Dungeons and Danger by Elizabeth Penney

Dungeons and Danger
Author: Elizabeth Penney
Series: The Ravensea Castle (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (May 26, 2026)

Description: The second in Elizabeth Penney's Ravensea Castle cozy mystery series, set in a haunted castle-turned-B&B in Yorkshire, UK.

As Halloween approaches, Ravensea Castle is bustling with excitement as Nora Asquith welcomes the fall season guests to her family's newly converted bed and breakfast. A historian studying the movements of the Vikings has traced their exploits to Ravensea. A certain Viking woman, known as the Red Maiden, landed here and the historian believes she buried a treasure hoard before the castle was built. He is hopeful he can find the hoard now. Nora can't help but wonder if the enigmatic castle ghost she's always referred to as the woman in red could be this very Viking?

Meanwhile, a team of four ghost hunters is coming to stay at Ravensea for the filming of Britain's Got Ghosts. Former students of the historian, the group arrives with their own rivalries and baggage. They try to see who can make the most paranormal contacts and end up getting more than they bargained for.

When the historian is murdered during a Viking festival on castle grounds and his notes go missing, Nora can't help but wonder if the treasure was why he was killed . . . and could it be connected to the visiting ghost hunters? Additional "accidents" befalling the hunters raise the stakes as Nora races to find the killer―and the treasure―before another death occurs.

My Thoughts: Nora Asquith and her family are trying to turn the castle the family has owned for 1000 years into a bed & breakfast. In this episode, they are hosting four twenty-somethings who are trying to film the castle ghosts for an episode of Britain's Got Ghosts and her father has signed a contract with a college professor who is convinced that he can find the Viking horde left by the Red Maiden who is another of the castle's ghosts. 

Unfortunately, the two groups of guests know each other and don't at all like each other. Brady, who is the young filmmaker, has accused the professor of stealing his research into the Red Maiden. Despite being warned of their safety, Nora keeps finding all of them wandering in parts of the castle that could be dangerous from the dungeons to the battlements. It seems that all of them are treasure hunters searching for the Red Maiden's horde. 

Nora and her family would also like to find the horde because keeping up a 1000-year-old castle isn't cheap. Nora would like to restore more rooms so they can have more guests. So, they are willing to put up with some unauthorized exploration. But when one of the young crew appears to have been poisoned with local mushrooms, Nora wants them out. Then the professor is found dead in his room during the first annual Viking Fest hosted by Nora's brother. Now it's murder and Nora's police inspector boyfriend has to turn over the investigation to "By the book" Hook who isn't eager for Nora's help and is suspicious of all - guests and family. 

This was a fun cozy. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.