A famous chef, a missing husband - what did happen all those nights ago when he disappeared?

This was such a delightfully dark and delicious story. I liked Thea, our main character, as she's made some mistakes and still trying to keep her life together. I liked her struggle as a mom, her frustration with her husband, her disbelief as she tried to save her job.

Once she arrived to the farm, I loved how isolating and confusing it was. I lost track of night and day as Thea lost her own sense of placement. I liked the mystery of the family and the confusion of the screaming and the mysterious tea. As Thea devoured more chapters, I was right there with her wondering what was real and what wasn't.

There's also a simmering rage, just as an undercurrent. It's easy to slide right into, to roll your eyes or seethe with the disbelief of what some of us have to put up with. It was so good, so well done and so easily woven into the story. I started this as an audio and it was also fabulous - but I wanted to devour this book, so I flipped to a hardcopy and just had fun. What a fun little dark read, I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

this book is deliciously strange, weaving food, memory, and horror together. sometimes the structure jolts you out of the flow, but that only adds to the uncanny vibe. valentine proves again that she’s fearless in mixing genres.

This was such a fun read! Definitely more plot than character heavy, without relying solely on the plot to do all the heavy lifting. I found myself wanting to know how this would end, even when there was some predictability to the ending. There were a few plot holes that I wished had been wrapped up a little more concisely, but overall for a quick thriller this pleasantly surprised me. Definitely would recommend this to anyone looking for a palate cleanser between heavier books, or just someone who loves thrillers.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark & NetGalley for the arc.

This was a great read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I love reading far and wide and hope to put a more indepth review on my socials! Thank you for allowing me to read and review.

Maria Capello is a famous celebrity chef and cookbook author. Her past is shrouded in speculation if she murdered her husband. No one can figure out why she is willing to write a memoir now and why she wants Thea Woods to be the editor. Thea is the most confused of all. They work at Maria's remote farm and everything is going smoothly. When Thea finds out why Maria wanted her to be the editor she is torn between publishing the truth and protecting her family. An enjoyable read.

Darkly funny and clever. It’s got that perfect mix of satire and suspense. Definitely not your typical thriller. The narration nailed the sharp, witty tone. It was like listening to someone spill secrets over cocktails. Loved it!

4.5 stars
this was a great thriller! i loved the premise with maria and the set up for thea being her editor. the twists were good but believable to the story and important to the plot. it was a slow start for me personally, but once we got to the farmhouse it was easy to get into it. overall a very good thriller, with some good twists and from the looks of it, delicious recipes!

Thank you to Net Galley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an e-ARC.

This is one of those rare mystery thrillers that can really pull off the book within a book trope. Think Verity by Colleen Hoover but the writing is actually something that evoked that, "eugh," feeling and wasn't misogynistic in its undertones. I really enjoyed reading from the truly unlikeable characters, and as always, I support women's rights AND women's wrongs.

Thank you to sourcebooks landmark via Netgalley for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fun read it had thriller elements and real recipes throughout. I thought the characters were well written and loved the plot. Definitely recommend to others who love a fun thriller.

What a "juicy" thriller! I loved that this was a book about a book and it gave snippets from the book that the famous, Ina Garten level chef and tv personality, Maria was writing. I also loved the dual timeline. I would not categorize this book as "horror", I would say it was a good thriller though. "The Dead Husband Cookbook" follows Thea who is an editor at a publishing house who has been tasked to edit the highly secretive memoir of famous chef and celebrity Maria Capello. In 1996 Maria's husband disappeared under suspicious circumstances that the police deemed a suicide, but the public isn't so sure about that. Thea starts to unravel Maria's secretive past, and lots of twists and turns ensue. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good thriller. Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this eARC.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went back and forth on this one for a lot of reasons. I liked how there were basically “two stories” in the book. Liked the premise of the storyline. That being said. I really didn’t like or identify with any of the characters. The story started to drag a bit in the middle, but in the end there were a couple of major twists that saved the storyline for me. I also liked that there were recipes included for each part of the book.
3.5 rounded up

The book was amazing. It was not at all what I expected it to be. I was hooked from the beginning and did not anticipate the ending at all. Highly recommend this booking. Danielle gave us a great book.

Included in August Chill Quill at BookTrib: https://booktrib.com/2025/08/12/the-chill-quill-august-brings-the-heat-and-the-horror/

I was excited to read this after having read and really enjoyed DELICATE CONDITION by the same author last year (or maybe the year before? idk, whenever it came out), but didn't immediately clock that this was a thriller more than a horror. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think because of that I went into it with the slightly wrong expectations. Don't get me wrong, Valentine can write a great thriller, and I certainly found myself wanting to flip the pages, but overall I found it slightly lacking in delivering what I was expecting. I wanted a cannibal book, and this wasn't really it. So if you go into the book expecting that, you're going to be disappointed. And while I was disappointed on that front it was still an enjoyable enough read that I don't feel like I wasted my time at all by reading it. And I certainly have to admit that Valentine can write some fairly eerie stuff. There wasn't really a lot of horror imagery in the book, but the feel of it was still unsettling. I think my main complaint here (if you can even call it that) is that the book as a whole was somewhat forgettable. I read it maybe a month or so ago and I honestly am not sure I could tell you anything more than very broad plot point. Which again, is not a bad thing. I don't regret reading it, and it never felt like a waste of my time; I enjoyed it while I was reading it and found it engrossing enough, but it didn't stand out amongst all of the other things I have read and will read in the future. I'll still be more than happy to praise it should a customer ask about it, and I wouldn't feel bad about pointing it out or recommending it if someone asks for something that I think it will fit, but I'm not going to go out of my way to champion it because it didn't blow me away. I'll still be curious to see what Valentine comes up with next, and I have my fingers crossed it falls more in the realm of horror than thriller, just because that's more my genre.

**Special thank you to the publisher for providing me a copy of this for an honest review via Netgalley!**

If you're a fan of fast-paced thrillers (a la Freida McFadden) and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, then THIS is the book for you!

The Dead Husband Cookbook follows Thea, who gets the opportunity from a famous chef Maria Capello, to work with her on her memoir. Maria isn't just any chef, though... her husband disappeared years ago, and there've been rumors for ages that Maria might've had something to do with it, if you're catching my drift.

One issue I normally have with thrillers is that they aren't paced well, but I didn't have that problem at all with The Dead Husband Cookbook. The plot kept me guessing the whole time, the characters were incredibly interesting, and the setting made me feel like I was losing it along with Thea.

I really liked the story within the story and how we also got to fully read Maria's memoir throughout. It was fun getting snippets into her past and seeing how things lined up (or didn't) with what other characters were saying throughout. I also thought it was fun that the different recipes were throughout the book, too. It was definitely making me hungry!

My only small gripe is that I unfortunately guessed all of the plot twists and saw them coming from very early on. It may very well be because I read a lot of thrillers, but even with knowing the twists, I thoroughly enjoyed this book enough to rate it 4 stars, and will happily look for more thrilling books by Danielle Valentine in the future.

There is a method to the madness, but don’t believe everything you hear…

Maria Capello’s recipes have become world famous thanks to her cookbook empire, though the mystique that surrounds her is always shrouded in the mystery of her husband’s disappearance decades earlier. Rumors abound about Maria’s role in his disappearance, making her an even more enigmatic and captivating character for her fans. Notoriously reclusive, she finally agrees to write her memoir, but will only allow one editor to work with her on this much coveted book.

Thea Woods is a good editor but is on the cusp of losing her job after she is caught slightly tipsy and sharing secrets about a politician’s book she’s been working on. When Maria picks Thea, of all people, to edit her memoir, it gives Thea the reprieve she needs to claw back her standing in the industry. Since it is a boon to her publishing house, she is given this one chance to redeem herself.

But the position comes with strings…she has to live at Maria’s farmhouse while working on the manuscript, leaving behind her husband and little girl for the duration of the job. Maria doles out the pages at a maddeningly slow pace and Thea increasingly feels imprisoned on the property. Her paranoia swirls as she fixates on the rumors about Maria’s involvement with her husband’s disapperance, and the spooky goings on at the farmhouse frighten her as things become seemingly more sinister.

The story goes a little off track for me here, as we learn the reason why Maria chose Thea as well as what happened to her husband all those years ago. The secrets shared between Maria and Thea bind them together in a mutually destructive kind of way–should either of them talk it would destroy them both–and bring an ending to the book of a shared understanding between the two women.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was fantastic! Yet another spectacular thriller from Danielle Valentine. This one had me flipping pages so fast, hungry for the next chapter ;) The start had me so intrigued, with so many questions I couldn’t even begin to make sense of. Towards the middle of the book, I read with a constant pit in my stomach, filled with eerie dread and a nonstop claustrophobic feeling. There were twists I didn’t see coming as well as zingers thrown in until the very end.

Clever, uniquely formatted, and a wild ride!

Thank you to Sourcebooks, Danielle Valentine, and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

Out now!!

This book had me hooked from page one! The premise is deliciously dark—celebrity chef Maria finally agrees to write her memoir, teasing that she may finally reveal the truth about the night her husband disappeared. The official story is suicide, and that’s the version Maria has always told. But as her new editor Thea (who is on the verge of losing her career after a past scandal) moves into Maria’s secluded farmhouse to work on the book, everything about the project feels off. No WiFi, eerie rumors about Maria’s “secret ingredient,” and the looming question of whether the memoir will expose the real story of Damien’s death.

I loved how the tension built in every chapter, with the mystery unraveling piece by piece. The unique touch of including a recipe after each of Maria’s chapters—connected to what just happened—was such a clever and chilling addition. And best of all, the ending landed perfectly. I often find thrillers frustrating when they leave things dangling, but this one wrapped up beautifully without losing its sharp edge.

Creepy, atmospheric, and unputdownable—this is exactly the kind of thriller I love. Five stars, and I can’t wait to pick up more of Danielle Valentine’s books!

The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine is a deliciously dark and unsettling thriller that hooked me from the very first page.

When infamous chef, restaurateur, and television personality Maria Capello’s husband died, the media frenzy was relentless, with rumors swirling that Maria had murdered him to build her culinary empire. The fact that Damien Capello’s body was never found only added to the speculation. Years later, when aspiring writer Thea Woods is chosen to help Maria pen her memoir, she’s brought into the isolated Capello farm where secrets simmer just beneath the surface. What should have been a dream opportunity quickly turns into a nightmare as Thea uncovers chilling truths about the family’s past and why certain people seem to vanish without explanation.

This book was so well written and flowed effortlessly. I especially loved the integration of Italian recipes throughout. It added such a unique layer of richness, and I found myself wanting to try a few of them myself. As a dedicated thriller reader, I’m rarely caught off guard, but the ending left me completely blindsided. It’s wild to see just how far people are willing to go in the name of family loyalty. Clever, atmospheric, and filled with tension that builds with every chapter, this is one of those thrillers you’ll want to savor like a perfectly prepared meal.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley & Sourcebooks Landmark for the chance to read this book

Very entertaining fast paced read. One thing i really liked this book is the second you think you have ANYTHING figured it out, bam another plot twists, It was full of them and they all kept you on the your feet! Def worth the read!