Review: The Dead Husband's Cookbook - Danielle Valentine

Review: The Dead Husband's Cookbook - Danielle Valentine - August 2025

There's something wonderfully cozy about curling up with a book that centers around food, recipes, and the warmth of a kitchen until that comfort turns deliciously sinister. That's exactly what Danielle Valentine serves up in The Dead Husband's Cookbook, which I devoured on the Libby Library App.

I'd already fallen for Danielle Valentine's YA thrillers, so I was eager to see what she'd cook up for adult readers. Let me tell you, this didn't disappoint. What makes this book particularly charming is how it weaves actual recipes throughout the story and it's like getting a cookbook and a thriller all in one satisfying package. The book-within-a-book structure reminded me of Catherine Ryan Howard's The Nothing Man, adding layers of intrigue that kept me turning pages late into the night.

The premise is absolutely mouthwatering: Maria Capello, a beloved celebrity chef with her own TV show, cookbooks, and supermarket sauce line, has built an empire from her stunning Italian-style kitchen. But her success carries a dark shadow , twenty years ago, her famous chef husband Damien mysteriously disappeared, and Maria has never spoken publicly about it. Until now.

When Maria decides to write her memoirs, she refuses lucrative seven-figure deals from major publishers, instead choosing a small press with one peculiar condition: her editor must be Thea Woods, a lifelong fan who's never even met her. Thea, who had been ready to quit her job that very day, can't resist the opportunity. Who would? She's invited to Maria's remote farm to work on the manuscript, and suddenly she's thrust into a world where the line between admiration and obsession blurs, where recipes might hide secrets, and where rumors swirl about whether Maria killed Damien for his recipes and that legendary "secret ingredient."

You're drawn into Maria's kitchen, enticed by the aromas and flavors, all while questioning everything. The recipes scattered throughout aren't just decoration , they're woven into the story's DNA, making you wonder what ingredients, literal and metaphorical, go into creating the perfect crime.

This is the kind of book that makes you want to cook something delicious while simultaneously looking over your shoulder. It's warm, it's twisted, and it's thoroughly entertaining comfort food with a deadly aftertaste.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZTelCC