Goodreads

Release date: August 5, 2025

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

She has the recipe for the perfect murder…

Maria Capello is a celebrity chef like no other. A household name, an inspiration, an icon. Her dozens of cookbooks and weekly television show, broadcast from her beautiful Italian-style kitchen, not to mention her line of bestselling supermarket sauces. And of course there’s her history. Once just the timid wife of famous chef Damien Capello, she stepped into the spotlight after Damien’s mysterious disappearance twenty years before. An event she’s never spoken about publicly until now, when it is announced that she is looking for a publisher for her memoirs.

Why is Maria willing to finally break her silence? Why does she turn down seven-figure offers from large publishing houses and sign up with a small press? And why does she do so on the condition that it is edited by Thea Woods? Thea is a lifelong fan but has never met Maria and can’t figure it out, plus she had been planning to hand in her notice that very day. But when she is invited to Maria’s remote farm to work on the manuscript, she can’t resist. After all, she may finally learn whether the rumours are that Maria killed Damien for his recipes and the legendary ‘secret ingredient’…

A deliciously rich thriller, perfect for readers of Bella Mackie’s How To Kill Your Family and Alexia Casale’s The Best Way to Bury Your Husband

Review:

If you’re hungry for a thriller that’s equal parts delicious and disturbing, The Dead Husband Cookbook serves it up with flair. This addictive page turner blends a cold case mystery, a twisted psychological undercurrent, and mouthwatering culinary details into one unforgettable read. Maria, a celebrity chef with a glossy public persona and a past full of secrets, finally agrees to write the memoir her fans, and the public, have been desperate for. But she’ll only work with one editor, Thea, setting the stage for a tense collaboration that peels back layers of both women’s pasts.

At the heart of the novel is Damien, Maria’s husband who vanished years ago without a trace. As Thea digs into the memoir process, it becomes clear that Maria’s cookbook is far more than a collection of recipes, it’s a breadcrumb trail of clues. The “book within a book” structure is brilliantly executed, with excerpts from Maria’s writing adding depth, intrigue, and a creeping sense of dread. Every chapter is laced with recipes and food descriptions so vivid you’ll crave a snack, and possibly question what’s in it.

Smart, suspenseful, and infused with shades of horror, this novel keeps the tension simmering until it boils over. Danielle Valentine delivers sharp twists, complex female leads, and a deliciously dark premise that’s both unsettling and impossible to look away from. The Dead Husband Cookbook is a feast for thriller lovers, just maybe don’t read it before dinner.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.