When the world's finest restaurateurs need assistance, they know they can rely on the Gourmet Detective's discriminating palate to get the job done. After a family of eccentrically dysfunctional British aristocrats hires the sleuth to design a menu for their medieval-theme castle resort, he anticipates a great opportunity to explore a forgotten but nonetheless mouth-watering cuisine. A cake walk? Maybe not, but with the bloodshed of the Middle Ages centuries past, it should at least be safe . . .

Wrong again. Exploring new variations on succulent recipes for fresh venison with traditional frumenty-a pudding made from wholewheat grains, chopped almonds, egg yolk and saffron-the discerning sleuth finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation! It seems that a professional joust re-enactor's goose was cooked after he finished one of the investigator's feasts, and authorities have determined the cause of death: poisoning. To make matters worse, the dead actor had stood in at the last minute for the scion of the infighting noble family . . . had the poison been meant for him? And why would someone want to kill him?

Before he can answer these questions, the intrepid Gourmet Detective will have to dodge stray arrows, escape a flooding dungeon, avoid the authorities' suspicion, and nab the crooks-all while finding a way to get four-and-twenty live blackbirds under the crust of a pot-pie already filled with chicken, bacon, mushrooms, raisins, and cloves. Can the Gourmet Detective solve the crime, save his skin, and design an authentic assortment of medieval Europe's most prized delicacies in the meantime?

One way or the other, it won't be a banquet.