After her husband's mysterious disappearance, Maria Capello stepped into the spotlight he once occupied and became a household name; a celebrity chef with dozens of cookbooks and weekly television show, and a line of bestselling supermarket sauces. However, Damien's disappearance is the one thing she has never spoken about, but that's about to change, now that her memoir/cookbook is in the works.

I went into this not really knowing what to expect, but I was honestly pleasantly surprised with what I got. It's such a fun, silly, intriguing story, and such a pleasure to follow as the story unfolds. While it took me about half the book to get into Thea's perspective of the story, Maria's hooked me right from the beginning, and I flew through the pages in anticipation of the memoir's extracts.

The writing is witty, fun, and so engaging, making the story flow easily, which really helps when you consider the heavier topics covered. The characters are interesting, and well developed; I particularly liked Maria. It was easy to feel there was something off, it was always looming in the background, even in her nicest moments. Thea is also interesting and at times very relatable, and also has her unreliable moments, which I liked a lot. The entire cast of characters was fun, and used in the perfect way. Some of the twists really got me, some were somewhat predictable, but not in a boring, lazy way. Overall, it truly was such a fun time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

For some reason I thought this book was a black comedy. It isn't but it is quite a good thriller. The mystery is quite intriguing and more or less believable. There is a sense of tension and menace, particularly when Thea finds the unlocked room. I quite liked Thea, like many modern main female characters she has a lot on her plate as well as her job - a largely oblivious, whiny sort of husband and a badly behaved child.

Usually I would say recipes are better at the end of a book (although I probably wouldn't read them there!) but in this case I actually quite liked the recipes throughout the book, the dishes sound delicious although I would never make them personally as they seem to involve a lot of work and faff.

One thing I will say is that there is a lot of blood, many mentions of animal slaughtering and some fairly grim descriptions of the slaughtering and the slaughterhouse. These parts are not for the faint hearted. I don't know if they had a deeper, more symbolic meaning than I was aware of but I felt they were added just for the sake of gruesomeness.

All in all, not a bad read.

This is such a good read that I devoured it in one very short sitting over a couple of hours, and when it ended I was disappointed. I also haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished it.
It is full of suspense and mystery with twists that just kept coming and just kept me guessing.
My only complaint was that it made me hungry while reading it but I couldn't put it down to make myself some food

twisted and dark and does a fabulous job at it. this book hits all the right taste buds, is one to saviour and deserves stars of another kind.
the thriller brings us to Maria Capello a famed chef for her food by also for far more than that. Maria has built a cooking empire around her you name it shes got it,done it, has it branded. but shes done this all whilst keep tight lipped about one thing. and its quite a major thing really. the disappearance of her also famous chef husband decades ago.
but now out of the blue shes ready. she says she ready. and wants to tell it all in her memoirs. but she doesn't want to do this to the famed publishing houses no matter the money they offer. no, she wants to go smaller with someone who very much needs a win right now. why, noone knows and that what makes us alllllll want to know more! and so the story unfolds like the most scrumptious dish. its got all the little bites, all the big gulps, all the sensations and buds firing. this is a dis best served read. read now.
i loved this book. dont doubt whether to read it. just do it and have the best time.

Set in parts this was a book that I was very much looking forward to. I tried very hard to keep reading even when the only tangible character was Thea.

This book is written to shock, and while there are twists and reveals, I found most of them really predictable. I didn’t feel surprised or thrilled at any point.

I am sorry to say that this is a miss for me, but may well be suited to those who haven’t spent 30 years reading thrillers.

This book is so readable! Feels super original and fun to read. Perfect summer horror from an author I'm definitely excited to read more from.

first of all, thank you to everyone involved + NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

i was so excited to read this book, the premise of it alone had me hooked.

from the beginning, i loved thea. the other characters were a little hard to keep up with at first while also trying to absorb the ‘maria’ of it all, but i grew to enjoy most of them, too.

i got through part one quickly, but did begin to struggle during thea’s stay at maria’s house. it took me a while to get through it, because it was a bit too slow paced for me personally. the writing was still beautiful, though!

then… oh. then, part three. i devoured part three in about an hour. it was perfectly paced, had me gasping every other page, and those satisfying thriller-reading moments of yelling, ‘I KNEW IT!’
totally made up for my struggle through part two.

you-know-who got what he deserved, in my opinion.

and that last line was iconic. giggle-and-leg-kicks-inducing as i highlighted it. love. would read part three again.

an enjoyable book altogether!

4.5 stars rounded up

Oh this was soooo much fun!

It's very much a book within a book. I thought it was going to be a straightforward thriller but it's more involved than that. The 'thriller' aspect I suppose has already happened, and Thea is reading about it in this book within a book. And yet there is still a psychological edge about the present scenes.

What is most impressive is how gripping it is. Because at about 1/4 of the way through, it becomes quite reflective, with Thea trying to work things out via a manuscript, and that's the key focus for a large chunk of the book, and you'd think that would get quite boring and monotonous but it doesn't. You're as gripped as she is within the context of the plot.

I wasn't too sure about Thea as a character. I liked her on the whole, she's been burned a few times, personally and professionally, and not always due to her own faults, but I did find her quite naïve at times, but then on the flip side she was quite brave and confrontational.

Maria was an interesting one. She has this reputation behind her, she's basically a culinary legend, but there's clearly more to her than this cute, grandma-looking chef. She was smart, calculating, intriguing - almost an enigma.

It is full of twists and turns and surprises, some I anticipated and some that came out of nowhere. It is a quiet thriller, more psychological, gentle, but no less impressive than an all-guns-blazing plot.

It is dark and tense and dramatic, quite...over the top in some ways, and yet subtle in others, which balances really well.

I have a copy of Danielle's book Delicate Condition but I haven't read it yet; it might have been bumped up my TBR list having finished this.

The chapters were longer than I like but that's personal choice. If you like thrillers that are a bit different, but still give you everything you want from the genre, then I highly recommend it.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. I enjoyed the premise of this book but have mixed feelings about its execution. Maria and Thea were interesting characters, as were the supporting cast, but the storyline did not seem as fluid as I'd have liked, making it difficult to really engage. There were some unpredictable twists and some excellent foreshadowing, but it felt like there was something missing.

This was my first book by Valentine and I enjoyed it. I loved the addition of the recipes throughout and I found myself reading those thoroughly just in case it said something interesting.

Dark, twisty and kept me confused. Some of the twists were a little predictable but when you’ve read as many thriller/mystery as I do, it’s hard to be shocked.

The book did drag a little bit and I found myself reading it for the sake of getting to the end. It was a bit repetitive but in the end I enjoyed it.

Thank you to the publisher and thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this e-ARC. Full review will be available soon

First of all thank you for approving my request!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The authors writing style had me hooked throughout this book.

I didn't want it to end, a book I really couldn't put down.

Really enjoyed this book. Brilliant mysterious element to it, storyline was easy to follow and kept me guessing right until the end!

Danielle Valentine’s The Dead Husband Cookbook is a wickedly sharp, darkly comedic thriller that blends domestic suspense with culinary flair in the most unexpected ways. It’s the kind of novel that grabs you with its unique premise and keeps you hooked with its twisted secrets, disturbing reveals, and eerie sense of humor. Think Gone Girl meets Top Chef, with a dash of Hannibal.

The story centres around Thea Woods, a somewhat disgraced book editor trying to redeem herself, who’s unexpectedly selected to edit the memoir of celebrity chef Maria Capello — a woman long surrounded by whispers and scandal ever since her husband Damien vanished under mysterious circumstances three decades earlier. Though Damien’s disappearance was ruled a suicide, his body was never found, and some people still suspect Maria had a hand in it. When Thea travels to Maria’s isolated farm to work on the manuscript, she steps into a gothic culinary nightmare, complete with a locked phone, a creepy granddaughter, a slaughterhouse next door, and recipes that begin to raise serious questions.

The novel is steeped in slow-building tension, with alternating perspectives and an eerie atmosphere that keeps you on edge. Valentine masterfully plays with reader expectations — just when you think you’ve got a handle on the story, she throws in another wild twist, each one more jaw-dropping than the last. By the final chapters, you're left reeling, half-laughing in disbelief and half-horrified.

One of the book’s most distinctive elements is the inclusion of recipes sprinkled throughout the narrative. Some readers may love this (I was one of them) creative touch for how it deepens the immersion and enhances the book’s culinary horror aesthetic. Others might find it disrupts the pacing — especially when the content of the recipes starts to feel suspicious in the best (and worst) possible way.

Beyond the thriller elements, Valentine delves into themes of motherhood, legacy, and the generational transmission of trauma and rage — especially the kind born from navigating a world shaped by toxic men. But don’t expect any easy moral lines; the female characters here are just as terrifying as they are fascinating.

If you're looking for a thriller that’s completely off the beaten path — equal parts creepy, clever, and hilariously macabre — The Dead Husband Cookbook is a feast worth devouring. Just be warned: you may never look at a cookbook the same way again.

Thanks to NetGalley, Serpents Tail, Viper books and Profile books for the advanced copy.

Absolutely delicious!
This book truly kept me guessing the entire time and I can’t say that happens very often.
The tension was like a simmering pot, continuously ramping up until it boils over at the end and I loved how the recipes were sprinkled throughout.
I read in almost one sitting, definitely recommend!

Up on Goodreads now, live on the blog on 7 July:

I became an instant fan of Danielle Valentine’s books when reading my first one, which was Delicate Condition. I read her debut shortly after, and when I noticed halfway through reading The Dead Husband Cookbook that I had missed a book last year, I ordered myself a copy right away. Such is the bookish magic this author wields.

The Dead Husband Cookbook, for me, is reminiscent of authors like Delilah S. Dawson and Rachel Harrison: it has a feminist angle but not in the manner you’d expect. And that might be the best way to describe this entire story: it’s what you expect, but then it isn’t, but then it is, or is it? Confusing? Good! Go in blind, do not even leaf through the book, trust me.

The structure of The Dead Husband Cookbook is like an Italian cookbook. We start off with antipasti to whet our appetites, then we get to the meat of the story in the Meat section, and we end with Desserts, whether these are just or not, that’s up to the reader to decide. There are even a few recipes included, to try at your leisure. Or maybe not.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is mostly told from the POV of Thea. An error of judgement pretty much torpedoed her career as editor, and at this point, editing The Dead Husband Cookbook by celebrity chef Maria Capello is the only thing that may save her. However, this job turns out to be unlike any other editing job Thea has ever had. As she is drip-fed the entire book, chapter by chapter, so is the reader, and I can tell you, I was just as desperate as Thea was to find out more. Are the rumours true? Did Maria actually kill her husband all those years ago? Did he really end up in her meatballs?

Throughout the entire book, there’s an insidious sort of creepiness. Is Thea imagining things or is there something off about Maria, her book, her family? I never quite knew what was true and what wasn’t, until the very ending. Was my own imagination running away with me, or did I have these characters pegged?

I had an absolute ball with The Dead Husband Cookbook! Without ever being overly explicit or particularly gruesome, it is a deliciously dark, horroresque thriller that I would happily recommend.

The Dead Husband Cookbook is out in hardcover, digital formats and audio on 7 August.

Massive thanks to Viper Books and NetGalley for the DRC. All opinions are my own.

This was deliciously dark, delightfully unhinged and honestly? I ate it up. The story follows Maria Capello a celebrity chef, sauce empire queen and the widow of the very famous (and very mysteriously missing) Damien Capello. She’s been quiet about what happened to him for years… until now. Enter Thea, a book editor who gets invited to Maria’s remote farmhouse to help write her juicy tell all memoir… but the longer Thea stays the more she starts to wonder if Maria’s memoir is just a story or a full blown confession… and the more weird stuff starts happening, the harder it gets to tell what’s real and what’s part of the “perfect recipe” for murder. This book had me flipping pages like I was frantically searching for a missing ingredient. It’s sharp, clever and just the right amount of creepy. The tension between Thea and Maria was SO fun to read full of passive aggressive politeness, hidden agendas and “omg get the F OUT of that house” moments. Why 4 stars? A couple of twists felt a bit extra even for this spicy murder stew and I wanted a tiny bit more from Thea emotionally BUT it was still such a ride and I genuinely had no clue what was coming next.

This was my first Valentine book but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I really liked the additions of the recipes throughout, they really added that special element to the book that made it that much more interactive with the audience. I also liked the breaks I also enjoyed the changes in POV and differing chapters for each character.

Did I see the twists coming? Yeah but I feel like if you are an avid thriller/mystery reader, there were probably enough clues for you to piece it together in the first place. Despite that, I still very much enjoyed this book and would love to read more of Valentines books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viper for this ARC.

Maria Capello and husband Damien have run their restaurant Polpette Della Nonna in Woodstock, New York together until Damien disappeared one night in 1996 after a party. He left a suicide note but rumours remained - did Maria kill him after all? In the intervening 30 years Maria has become a celebrity chef in her own right with countless successful cookery shows and cookbooks to her name.

Thea Woods, editor at Hanes House, has once made a mistake that cost her dearly so when her boss calls her into the office, she doesn't expect good news. But Maria Capello has written a memoir and she wants none other than Thea to be her editor. This is so unexpected that Thea doesn't dare say no when Maria invites her to her house to read the book there, to prevent any leaks. She does get spooked though when there is no internet and she has to surrender her phone. Plus this farm has a creepy slaughterhouse right next door, and a pale little girl called Ava who is Maria's granddaughter.

The story is weird and gets going very slowly. There is obviously a reason why Thea has been asked to edit Maria's book, and when we finally get there, the twists are so outrageous that I had to laugh out loud in disbelief. Maria turns out to be such a horror show, you have to ask yourself who hurt the author. And the secret ingredient - eugh. Plus I really didn't need the actual recipes disrupting the flow of the book - if you must have them, put them at the end please.

There is a lot about female rage and revenge against bad men but it makes the women very bad too - some things women shouldn't learn from their mothers! There's a lot about mothers and fathers and how they shape us, plus what we would do for family. If you like really twisty dark thrillers with a horror element, you might eat this up, but it helps to have a strong stomach!

3.5 stars

This book was literally made for me. So that will affect the way I review it but we’re all biased in our own way. The title and cover are very eye-catching and promise a good time (if you like twisted media like I do). Happy to report it didn't disappoint. Actually, the more I think about the book, the more I like it. That's the biggest sign that tells me a book deserves 5 stars. I also want to talk about it with everyone but have to wait until it’s available for them to read it.
Weird piece of advice, though. It's important to have snacks around while reading because this book made me so hungry. All that talk about the beautiful Italian food…my mouth was watering. And it has actual recipes! The author didn’t lie when naming the book “cookbook”. It was a fun surprise.

Seeing the structure of the book made me laugh because ever since a very popular book used it, it seems no other book can. According to some book reviewers, anyway. As if it hasn’t been done for a long time. But it’s such a good structure/formula, I totally understand why authors go back to it. And the way it was done in this case led us to this feeling of not knowing how much we could trust the narrators. That adds to the mystery but can be a little annoying, of course. I don’t feel like it was done in a “let’s just confuse every reader” way but with the intention of making the story a bit more complex. The mystery itself is pretty simple: did Maria kill her husband or not? The actual plot isn’t as simple. And that’s why I feared the ending could be a little convoluted and not satisfying. I’ve been burnt before. It’s so hard to have an original twist, authors can overcomplicate the endings just to shock the readers. I also kept reading and wondering what answers we were going to get or if we would end up not getting all the real information. But the moment I read the last word, I laughed and thought it was brilliantly done.
Of course, as it happens with every mystery, not everyone will be satisfied with the resolution. I can only speak about my personal experience and it was positive. I was trying to read the book slowly, since I hadn’t been feeling so great due to a virus I caught, but I had to read the second half of the book all in one day because I needed answers! The moment part 3 started and I noticed what was going on, I accepted I wasn’t going to sleep until I finished the book. And when it was almost 2 am, I finally had my answers and could sleep like a baby.

I never explain the premise in my reviews because I post them where those premises can be found so what’s the point? It’s repetitive. But I will say there’s a lot more to the book than what the premise explains. There’s the mystery and then there’s a lot of social commentary. A huge aspect is the talk about motherhood and as someone who doesn’t plan on ever becoming a mother, this could have been a negative but it wasn’t. At all. The way different types of mothers are being analysed and compared is extremely interesting. How we were raised will obviously affect the way we raise children as well, in both a positive and negative way. Thea as a character is a textbook example of having the best intentions but maybe not always doing the right thing. Her relationship with her mother affects every aspect of her life and the way that links with Maria’s story was unexpected but brilliantly done. I highlighted every mention of society's expectations for mothers and fathers. All the differences.
But also, I have to say that the book doesn’t tell us what to think about topics. Some of the characters might have more extreme views on different topics, but it doesn’t come across as preachy. It just shows people have different opinions. And that it isn’t all just black or white. I appreciated that.

Can I say I stan Maria? I think anyone picking up a book with this title will allow me to do that. The author must also know this is a reaction that readers will have after reading it. I would not say whether she killed her husband or not because that’d be a huge spoiler but I kept reading and thinking “could we blame her if she did?”. And the thing is that Damien is a secondary character we see only through the POV of other people. Still, the author manages to add nuance to his character but I finished the book thinking he was the problem. Men like him are the problem. And female rage is very trendy at the moment because the world is fully realising they’re the problem and saying “good for her” very often. Through the character of Thea, we also get to explore this idea of men and how they approach being a partner and a parent. As I said, very interesting and nuanced despite how extreme the content is in this book. But Thea herself is learning throughout the story so being in her first person POV makes us feel a big part of her character growth. I felt so proud of her at a specific point in her journey.

Speaking of extreme content, I love being unsettled by a horror or mystery book. Isn’t that the feeling these books should make us feel? And we crave that experience too, hence why we pick them up rather than going for a fluffy romance. This book plays a lot with some ideas that we don’t really know if they’re true or not but we know they’re a little disturbing. I wouldn’t add this book to a list of very disturbing books personally but I’m desensitised. I still don’t think this book’s content is the most extreme, even if some might find certain scenes too much. But the way certain parts are described can be upsetting for some readers. It’s not the main thing, though. And the story is worth it so even if someone reads about the pigs in the slaughterhouse, for example, and feels overwhelmed, it’s worth going through that feeling to enjoy the rest of the story. But even if it makes some uncomfortable, those scenes were really well written. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been as upsetting.

The side characters are mostly in the story to either add context to specific moments or to be red herrings. I like that. I saw another book by this author is described as “Scream meets Happy Death Day” and I love those fun slasher movies so using a similar formula here works well for me.
They also work to build this idea of how important family is, which plays a big part in the story. And, in general, it creates this comparison between Thea and Maria which is key to understanding the story, the characters and the decisions they might make. I stan Thea too.

I’ll be honest and say I hadn’t heard about this author but I had heard about one of her books before, not knowing who had written it. But when I was maybe 25% done with this book, I already knew I wanted to read the rest of her books. Not knowing yet whether I would like this book or not but the premises sounded so good. As I said multiple times, they sound like the perfect books for me. So I cannot wait to get to those soon.
And as for “The Dead Husband Cookbook”, it gets an emphatic thumbs up from me.