Holy cow! This is quite a sleigh ride of a read that kept me guessing and surprised me more than once. A glass of wine led to disgrace for Thea, a book editor and so she's shocked when rather than being fired, she's asked to edit a memoir being written by Maria, a chef who was one of her childhood idols. There's a condition however. Thea must work on the book at Maria's farm, the same place from which Maria's husband Damien famously disappeared. All seems sort of ok at first but then it gets scary. Valentine does a terrific job of amping things up and then cooling them with sections of Maria's memoir. What really happened to Damien? What is it about the freezer? Oh so many more questions but I'm not going to spoil this one. So many twists. The characters are great, the atmospherics wonderful, and while it's a wild one, it never goes over the top. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this.

2.5 stars

I'm kinda big sad about this rating. I really thought this book was going to be a knockout for me. I thought we were going to get feminine rage and serving up men the revenge they deserve: literally and figuratively. But, we really get none of that. This is less of a thriller and more of a mystery and any promised horror elements don't really come through until the very last chapter and it felt a little too late at that point. It also felt like too much explanation for something that was never delivered throughout the rest of the book. I think that this does have some interesting things to say about motherhood and the concept of the "invisible load" but the reveals were pretty lackluster. I wish that this had leaned more into the bloody and gory elements it hints at instead of falling into some pretty common traps and tropes of domestic thrillers.

This wasn't a bad book and I'm not disappointed to have read it but I think that it could have delivered a lot more than it did. A true middle of the road book for me.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is one of those thrillers that I did not want to put down. I had many interruptions, but they did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this one. Author Danielle Valentine's writing and building up of the characters had me going through the same thought process as Thea, an editor in need of a career reboot due to some unfortunate circumstances in her past.

When Thea was asked to write the memoir of a celebrity chef, Marie thought of a Martha Stewart type—she did it with some hesitation. There are rumors about Marie’s past regarding what happened to her husband, but those have been long dismissed and have not impacted Marie’s career. Thea goes to Marie’s farmhouse where she raises everything, again think Martha Stewart—pigs, cows, etc. And they are slaughtered there. Yep. That’s when Thea starts asking the hard questions, for the book.

Secrets come out, truths unfold, and so many twists—it was a great read. When Thea’s flabber was gasted, so was mine. When she said, “I have to sit down for this,” thankfully, I was. There are recipes throughout the book. It truly does work with the story. I wouldn’t say The Dead Husband Cookbook is a dark thriller compared to what I’ve read. But to some, it may be due to some graphic details of animal slaughter and the mention of cannibalism. But I’m okay with all that and loved the story!

Disappearances, murder, cannibalism, what’s true?? Famous chef Maria Capello has been a staple TV personality for decades, think Martha Stewart and Joanna Gaines. Maria usually publishes cookbooks but she’s finally ready to tell her story. She tapped flailing editor Thea to edit her memoir, where she promised to reveal what really happened to her husband 30 years ago.
-
I Ate. This. Up. (No pun intended). Took me about 6 hours to finish, I couldn’t get enough of it. This book is full of the most delicious and most disgusting smells and food. I couldn’t get enough of Maria’s manuscript, I couldn’t believe what I was reading! Watching Thea struggle with finally meeting her idol was so interesting to watch. And then we really start to get into the weird stuff and you truly do NOT know what to believe. I’m not kidding this had me guessing right up to the acknowledgements page. I loved her YA novels so much, but this blows them out of the water. I am obsessed with the dead husband cookbook and I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone!! It’s scary, it’s gross, it’s tense as hell, and it’s SHOCKING. Obsessed.

4.5 stars! You will quickly become embroiled in this novel. Danielle Valentine writes utterly fascinating women. Maria Capello and Thea Woods are no exceptions.
Maria's husband Damien was a darling in the culinary world, until his disappearance in 1996. A suicide note is found, but Damien's body never was. Maria quickly surpasses her husband in the world of food, becoming almost mythic in the kitchen. But there have always been whispers of cannibalism and the reason that there is no body, is that Damien is the secret ingredient. Her cookbooks and shows are on fire, but she has never spoken of the night Damien disappeared. Until now.
Thea Woods is chosen (by Maria) as the editor for Maria's new memoir. She cannot imagine why she was chosen, as she works for a small press and is still trying to get out from under a controversy that pretty much ruined her career in publishing. Thea agrees to all Maria's strange demands, as she knows this is her last chance in her career. She is quickly spirited away to Maria's mansion in upstate New York, and cut off from the rest of the world.
Pretty soon, Thea realizes that not all is kosher in Capello-land.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks/Landmark for this digital e-arc.*

4.5 stars

The nitty-gritty: Family secrets, unreliable narrators and a tell-all memoir make up the bones of this twisty, deliciously entertaining tale.

I’m happy to say that The Dead Husband Cookbook hit many of the same highs for me as Danielle Valentine’s Delicate Condition, a book I absolutely loved. In her latest, the author has taken two seemingly unrelated elements—cooking and publishing—and turned them into a surprisingly effective thriller. She also utilizes the epistolary format, which I loved. If you’re a fan of Rachel Hawkins’ The Heiress, I think you’ll love this book as well. The stories are completely different, but there are similarities in the way the authors tell their tales. This was a blast from start to finish, with only one small side plot near the end that didn’t work for me, hence my half star deduction.

Thea Woods is an editor at Hanes House Press, but her career is on the rocks after a scandalous blowout involving the author of the last book she worked on. With her future teetering on the brink, she’s called into a meeting with her boss Cassandra Hanes, thinking she’s going to be fired.

Instead, Cassandra tells Thea that Hanes House has just acquired the memoir of the infamous food guru/chef Maria Capello, a woman known primarily for the mysterious disappearance of her husband Damien thirty years earlier. This could be the book of the year, since Maria’s fan base is vast, and the rumors surrounding Damien’s disappearance range from suicide to the most outlandish one of all—that Maria killed Damien and made meatballs out of him! But Maria will only work with Hanes House on one condition—she insists that Thea edit the book. To say that Thea is shocked is an understatement. She practically grew up watching Maria on TV.  But she also knows this could be her redemption, provided she can get Maria to give her the real story of what happened to Damien.

But Maria has a few other rules. She insists that Thea edit the book at the Farm, Maria’s vast property in Woodstock, NY and the filming location of her popular TV show, Dinner at the Farm. When she arrives, Maria takes Thea’s cell phone away, claiming she doesn’t want to risk details of her book getting out before publication. Other odd things put Thea on alert: the Wi-Fi at the Farm is spotty at best, and without it, Thea won’t be able to report back to Cassandra. Instead of giving her the complete manuscript, Maria only gives Thea one chapter at a time to edit. With Maria holding back the important details of Damien’s story, Thea begins to get restless and decides to investigate on her own. All is not as it seems at the Farm, and and it’s up to Thea to root out the truth.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is a complex, layered story with a huge cast of unreliable characters, told in two different timelines. Valentine masterfully wrangles her many story elements into a thrilling, fast-paced story where many of the characters are connected in shocking ways. Most of the chapters are from Thea’s point of view and follow her experiences at the Farm, while alternate chapters are excerpts from Maria’s book, The Secret Ingredient. I loved this formatting, especially the flashbacks into Maria’s past, as she tells her story about meeting and falling in love with Damien Capello, how they started an Italian restaurant together, and their eventual falling out when Maria catches Damien cheating early in their marriage. There’s quite a detailed backstory about the couple’s Italian heritage and their love of food and cooking, and I loved that at the end of each book excerpt is one of Maria’s famous recipes (complete with evocative names like “Tell Your Cheating Husband You’re Pregnant Veal”).

Maria herself is something of an enigma. On the outside, she comes across as a sweet, grandmotherly type, but inside she’s as hard as steel. After Damien disappeared, she built herself an empire and became famous for her TV show (think Martha Stewart-type fame). Her narrative paints a picture of an unappreciated wife and mother who struggles in the background while her husband gets all the accolades and attention. Damien is a talented chef, but it’s Maria—at least according to her—who’s created all the recipes and keeps the restaurant running. But is Maria telling the truth? Or is she lying? That’s the big question, and Valentine uses it to her advantage by keeping the reader guessing for most of the story.

I love stories revolving around publishing, and while those details aren’t the main focus of the story, the author includes just enough information about the ins and outs of getting a book to market to make things interesting. Not only is Thea on a deadline to get a first draft manuscript of The Secret Ingredient to Cassandra, but she finds herself caught up in a decades-old mystery surrounding the Capello family. Simply put, she’s pretty stressed out!

A bunch of side characters round out the cast, including Maria’s grown children Enzo and Issie, her granddaughter Ava, Maria’s butcher friend Hank, Enzo’s scheming girlfriend Amy, and of course, the specter of Damien himself, who looms large over the story. Rounding out the cast is Thea’s family, as well as an emotionally charged backstory involving her deadbeat father. As you can see—and I’ve barely scratched the surface—there is a lot going on, but Valentine does a great job of keeping all her ducks in a row.

As for the thriller/horror aspects of the story, the Farm itself feels menacing from the moment Thea arrives. And here’s where I need to add a trigger warning for sensitive animal lovers, because a big part of the story involves meat and where it comes from. Damien Capello insisted on a “farm to table” lifestyle, meaning he built a slaughterhouse on the property. The author includes graphic descriptions of the process, which I’ll admit upset me, but she also uses slaughterhouse props to great effect, like bloody cleavers, blood-stained aprons, and racks of meat hanging in the walk-in freezer. All these visuals went a long way in giving the story a creepy vibe, but do be aware if this subject matter bothers you.

One big twist near the end completely upended my theories of what really happened to Damien, and I loved the ending, which ties everything up, but not in the way I was expecting. The title of Maria’s memoir hides a hint about the truth, and I thought it was brilliantly done. The book itself is a cleverly designed package (including those recipes I mentioned earlier), and even the section titles (“Antipasto,” “Meat,” and “Just Desserts”) tie in with the themes. Overall, I highly recommend The Dead Husband Cookbook for readers who enjoy twisty, multilayered stories.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Wow. I loved this book. I just finished it this morning and I just read the ending so I am in shock a little, you will have to forgive me.

Thea is a book editor with a problem. She has her hands full in her home life with her husband and small daughter, but she also has a career that's on the brink of collapse. However, as things seem to, a break has come her way. Celebrity chef Maria Capello wants HER to edit her memoir, which could just save her career, but why does Maria want her? Not only that, Maria's celebrity didn't come about just from her culinary expertise, her husband who was a very popular chef himself all but disappeared one day, and to no one's surprise, the public has always whispered theories about what Maria did to cause that to happen.

Not only that, but when Thea shows up to Maria's house to begin work, can we just say Red Flag City? It's like this place immediately is Six Flags but not in a theme park sort of way, but a WARNING, WARNING, WARNING kind of way. So yeah, Thea may save her career with this book, if she can survive Maria, her family, and this whole experience.

And just when you believe as a reader that you have things figured out, trust me, you don't.

I definitely recommend this book. I loved it. It's very realistic when it comes to dynamics between woman and man, husband and wife, what it feels like to be a mother, and how much it takes for a woman to bottle up the rage, the pain, and carry on caring for her loved ones with grace and a smile. What an excellent book, the best one I've read this year so far!

This was a twisty and twisted psychological thriller and I gobbled it up!! Definitely a new fav by this author. I was enthralled by the story within a story and getting to the bottom of the 'secret' ingredient in the famous chef's best-selling meatball recipe. Good on audio and a great thriller for fans of domestic suspense stories and angry wronged women. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely impossible to put down! A years old mystery creeps its way into Thea’s life and I loved going along for the ride! I found this to be compulsively readable, especially with the included newspaper articles. I’ll be recommending this to everyone! Thanks for the opportunity to read!

This book was phenomenal!! By far exceeded my expectations. Just from the title and cover alone I knew I needed to read this book. A dead husband cookbook check I’m sold. Then I started reading the book and was blown away by how hooked I was from the start. The story follows Thea a book editor in need of a big break and the opportunity to be the editor of Maria Capello new memoir comes knocking on her door she just couldn’t resist. The book is told in Thea POV and alternating chapters with the narrative of the memoir. As the story continues secrets begin to surface and it becomes more than she bargained for. This was so enticing I read it in two days. I highly recommend this book it was such a great read and the twists were so good! Highly recommend this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so interesting and different than any others I've read. I gave it 4 stars and highly recommend it. It kept me interested throughout the entire book. Thank you for the ARC. The storyline is about Thea Woods writing famous chef Maria Capello's memoir. Thea soon finds out more about Maria's missing husband and family secrets.

Editor Thea Woods is on the verge of losing her job and already precarious financial stability when she receives the opportunity of a lifetime. Beloved cookbook author and TV star Maria Capello is ready to publish what’s sure to be her bestselling memoir, on one condition: that Thea be the person to edit it.

Decades ago, Maria’s husband Damien – a handsome restaurateur and chef himself – disappeared after the couple threw a lavish party for their nearest and dearest. Maria had had to take their son Enzo to the emergency room after he’d accidentally broken his nose at the party, so had an ironclad alibi for Damien’s disappearance. That didn’t stop the rumors from swirling, however, as to her having murdered her husband and cooked him into the dishes that would soon skyrocket her to national fame.

Now she’s ready to tell her side of the story. Famously prickly, she’s walked away from interviewers and editors who’ve tried to get her to open up before. So it’s a coup for Thea’s boss at Hanes House Publishing to be approached for this. No one is more surprised than Thea, however, by Maria’s demand that Thea be the only one to read the book in edits. Paranoid of leaks, Maria insists that Thea come to her farmhouse in upstate New York to read any of the manuscript at all.

Thea is understandably reluctant to leave her family behind for who knows how long it’ll take to read Maria’s work, but she’s also adored Maria from afar her whole life. The image Maria has projected of cozy domesticity is something that Thea has always longed for, especially given her own parents’ toxic dynamic. Plus there’s no denying that editing Maria’s book would make Thea’s entire career.

When she finally arrives at the Capelli farmhouse, the remote estate is not at all what Thea thought she’d find. Neither are Maria’s children, now grown but back home for the weekend. Growing up, only child Thea had fantasized that the Capello children – a mainstay of Maria’s cooking show – were her siblings, too. The reality of them is far different from what she expected, as is Maria herself. Feeling more and more isolated by the day, Thea has to sort fact from fiction in the pages of the memoir that Maria is slowly feeding her, even as she fears that the food and drink she’s consuming may contain ingredients that she’s definitely not ready to learn the truth about either.

This juicy murder mystery twists expertly through its many shocking scenarios, intertwining Thea’s increasingly claustrophobic struggles with Maria’s winningly written chapters. Danielle Valentine seeds clues throughout the narrative with panache, making this my favorite read of hers so far, even before we get to the ten delicious recipes included. Tempted as I was by the spiced pear galette, I decided to try making a savoury this week:

QUOTE
Maria’s “Prosaic” Baked Ziti With Sausage

2 tablespoons olive oil, and more as needed
1 ½ pounds sweet Italian sausage links
5 cloves garlic
2 (28-ounce) cans of crushed tomatoes
1 small bunch basil, leaves only
1 pound ziti
¾ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup heavy cream (optional)
½ pound hard mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease baking pan

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Prick the sausages all over with a pin (or, failing that, a fork) and sear on all sides in the hot oil, about 10 minutes.

Pour the fat out of the pot and replace with 1 tablespoon fresh olive oil. Lightly crush the garlic cloves and add to the hot oil, stirring until lightly browned, then pour in the crushed tomatoes.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Partially cover with a lid and braise the sausages for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove the pot from the heat and then add in the basil, tearing it into small pieces and dropping them into the sauce. Remove the garlic cloves and discard. If the sauce is too thick, loosen with a bit of water, then season to taste with salt and set aside.

While the sauce cooks, preheat your oven to 325°F and prepare the pasta. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and salt aggressively. Drop in the pasta and cook 4 minutes less than the package directions. You want the pasta to be not quite al dente. (It will finish cooking in the oven.) Drain and set aside.

Remove the sausages from the sauce and cut into bite-sized pieces. Mix the sausages in with the pasta, and pour in 3 cups of the tomato sauce.

Smear a 9”x13” baking dish with butter, spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce evenly over the bottom, and then pour the pasta mix into the dish, distributing evenly with a spoon. Pour an additional 1 to 2 cups of the tomato sauce over the top.

If using the heavy cream, mix with the ricotta in a large bowl. Plop large spoonfuls of the ricotta into the ziti, nestling them down into the pasta. Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the top, then sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over. Cut the butter into small cubes and distribute over the cheese.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and pop into the oven to bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is browning on top and the sauce bubbles lightly around the edges of the dish.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot.
END QUOTE

My only real note for this recipe would be to add more sausage! Perhaps it’s because I used a chicken and kale sausage instead of a more traditional pork, but I did feel that a little more protein would have been welcome here. That aside, this is a delicious baked pasta with the perfect ratio of carbohydrates to cheese. I definitely recommend using the heavy cream, and I did ask my Italian American friend for permission to leave in the garlic cloves: I did and they were fantastic!

Next week, we bake up a traditional treat with a tropical twist, while investigating the explosive death of an entrepreneur. Do join me!

A book within a book. This was wild, unpredictable, unexpected, full of twists and turns I didn’t see coming.

Thea, an editor, has been asked to edit celebrity chef Maria’s memoirs. Maria’s husband disappeared years ago and she had been accused of killing him.

This was a thrill from start to finish. It was chilling, charming (a bit), chaotic and addictive. Filled with secrets, unreliable narrators and a mixed media format, the tension was intense.

This book will make you both hungry and nauseous and question what is on your plate if you eat out. There are some triggers within the book.

If you love thrillers with dark humour then you will enjoy this.

📚 ARC BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Dead Husband Cookbook
By Danielle Valentine
Publication Date: August 5, 2025
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded Up To 5⭐)

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Landmark for the #gifted BookMail and to NetGalley for this #gifted e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

If you're looking for a twisty thriller that is morally gray and deliciously salacious (pun absolutely intended!), you CANNOT miss out on The Dead Husband Cookbook from Danielle Valentine, publishing August 5th.

This book is the perfect recipe for summer thriller reading! Start with a handful of morally gray characters. Add in a tablespoon of desperation, a teaspoon of celebrity followed by a teaspoon of fame, an ounce of the publishing world, a pinch of a creepy family, a pound of long-buried secrets (best if they come with rumors on Reddit), and a dash of increasingly unhinged plotlines -- and stir together well. Sprinkle with rising tension and locked room vibes. Read approximately 322 pages thoroughly, without putting the book down. And voila -- one very satisfied reader.

All cooking puns aside, this book initially seemed like a wild concept, but I thought it was incredibly well-written and really captivated me. The story is told in alternating POVs: one part from Thea, an assistant editor at an independent publishing house whose career is one bad book away from being over, and one part Maria, a world-renowned cooking/lifestyle guru (think Martha Stewart meets Joanna Gaines). Some of Maria's story is included as drafts of chapters from her soon-to-be-released memoir, a book within a book sort-of thing.

The first half of this book was a slow burn, but the pace really picked up in the second half. And these twists!! I'm telling you, this was one of those reads where just when I thought I figured out what was happening -- a twist popped in and left me stunned. Again and again. Though the plot is not similar AT ALL, the locked room vibes and creepiness of the family and house in this book was reminiscent of the vibes I got while reading We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. Maybe that was just a me thing, but regardless -- this book pulled me in and kept me completely immersed in its storyline.

If you're a fan of morally gray characters or plotlines that have you questioning just what secret ingredient this family might be adding to their famous meatballs, you've simply GOT to read The Dead Husband Cookbook when it publishes on August 5th!

#TheDeadHusbandCookbook #DanielleValentine #SourcebooksLandmark #gifted #ARC #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #bookreviews #bookrecs #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #booklover #bookaddict

I’ve seen some mixed reviews for this one but I was HOOKED. I was guessing the entire book and while I guessed some of the twists, I for sure did not guess them all. This was a wonderful book and my first of this author. Thanks so much for the gifted ebook.

Maria Capello is a world famous chef with a glamorous career built on cookbooks, TV shows, and signature sauces but her fame really took off after her husband Damien mysteriously vanished twenty years ago. Now, for the first time ever, Maria is ready to tell her story and picks a small, obscure publisher and editor Thea Woods to help her write it. Thea, a longtime fan, travels to Maria’s remote estate, hoping to learn the truth behind the gossip that Maria killed her husband for his recipes. Now that she is there, she has to decide what is the truth and what is rumor as well as can she figure out what the secret ingredient is… WHAT. A. BOOK. From the moment I picked up this book, I was hooked. The title alone had me curious, but the twists and secrets inside had me gasping more than once. I loved how captivating the setting was and how Thea slowly got pulled into Maria’s strange and secretive world. This felt more like a juicy thriller than horror, and I only guessed one twist correctly.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher Sourcebook Landmark and Dreamscape Media for the gifted ARC and ALC of this book!

The Dead Husband's Cookbook got me to do something I almost never do - read the entirety of the recipes included in a book. While I don't think I'll be trying any of these recipes, it was a nice touch, and excellent way to break up the telling of the story. Overall, this was an enjoyable read. There are many twists and turns, a book within a book with an unreliable narrator, and main character Thea's tension is palpable. While I was along for the ride the entire time ultimately, it didn't feel completely successful in the end. Maybe there was a bit too much going on, or too many over the top accusations thrown about. I can't exactly pinpoint what didn't work. The idea was great. Who wouldn't want to read a memoir about a famous chef whose husband disappeared, especially when there have been rumors she turned him in meatballs? This book was fun, but it just didn't live up to the potential of such an interesting concept.

The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine will make you think twice about ordering Italian meatballs.

"Thea has hit a couple of professional bumps as a professional editor. She has no idea why Maria Capello wants her to edit her memoir. After her husband, famous chef Damien Capello, disappeared, Maria was accused of killing him and even using parts of him as ingredients. Thea is spirited away to the Capello farm and begins to feel isolated and cut-off from the world. Thea feels trapped and afraid.
There are reasons Damien's body was never found...and why Maria has never revealed her secret ingredient."

Valentine makes you wonder to the end about the secret ingredient. She does a nice job creating some paranoia with Thea. (a thump on a freezer door - a creepy basement room - who knew a pig could scream like that?) She shows what happens when people are cut off from being able to access the Internet or call whenever they want. The recipe names at the ends of the chapters will make you chuckle (and I'm interested in trying some of them without any secret ingredients) There's a couple of big twists and a wild ending.

Good for suspense fans.

This book is a trip! It kept me uncomfortable from the first page, and I never really found my footing. Five stars for this creepy, mysterious, and ultimately shocking thriller!

Thea Woods is a book editor who is off her game. An incident at work has put her job on the line, and she is keeping secrets. A new job opportunity with one of her idols - Maria Capello - is offered to her. She jumps at the chance to get back on track.

Maria Capello wants to tell her story, and she wants Thea to do it. To say that Maria had secrets is an understatement of epic proportions. She is finally ready to tell the story of her marriage to famous chef Damien Capello, and she also wants to discuss the mystery surrounding his death. Maria is also the head of the family cooking empire. She has a lot to say, and you will not believe the cards Maria is holding. The twist at the end is really something - I did not see it coming!

I’m being light on the details because you should really go into this one blind. There are many players in this story, and the twists and turns never stop coming. The story includes the chapters Maria has written for her book, as well as her famous family recipes. I loved this format.

Also, Maria uses a “secret ingredient” in all of her recipes. You will want to read fast to find out just what it is.

This book is sharp, fast, creepy, and will keep you off-balance until the very end. It is fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this one! Danielle Valentine is a new author to me - I will be adding more of her work to my TBR list. This book is out on Tuesday - August 5th - pick it up. I highly recommend it!

Danielle Valentine's "The Dead Husband's Cookbook" is a twisty thriller that blends mystery, suspense, and a touch of dark humor. The story follows Thea Woods, a young woman unexpectedly pulled into the orbit of famed chef Maria Capello, who is known to have a scandalous past. After the mysterious death of her husband, Damien, decades earlier, Maria's reputation has been tarnished by suspicions of foul play. Now Thea is tasked with helping Maria write her memoir. This seems to be the opportunity of a lifetime, but quickly turns nightmarish as Thea delves into the background and secrets of the Capello family.

Valentine creates an eerie, desolate atmosphere by setting the story on a remote farm and expertly builds tension with Maria's cold, calculated persona, which masks a darker, far more disturbing truth. As Thea uncovers the unsettling details of Maria’s life, she finds herself questioning everything and fearing for her own safety. The narrative and pacing do a fantastic job of keeping readers on edge, letting the mystery unfold while sprinkling in enough clues to keep readers guessing.

"The Dead Husband's Cookbook" is not just a mystery; it's also a deep dive into the complexities of fame, ambition, and the things people will do to protect their secrets. The plot is unsettling and the writing is sharp and compelling. Readers who enjoy disturbing thrillers with a strong, sinister atmosphere are sure to love this one.