Take a photo of a barcode or cover
beate251 's review for:
The Dead Husband Cookbook
by Danielle Valentine
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment