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by Danielle Valentine
One husband, well done.
When infamous chef, restauranter, and television personality Maria Capello's husband died, the media circus was intense…and quick to cast the blame. Whispers claimed Maria murdered her husband to build her culinary empire on his bones, and that there was an all-too-grisly reason his body was never recovered. Yet for the past few decades, the Capello family maintained their stoney silence―until now.
Thea Woods has no idea why she was chosen to work with Maria on her sure-to-be-infamous memoir, but she doesn't question her luck. Spirited away to the Capello's rustic upstate farm, she's soon embroiled in the mystery―and cut off from the rest of the world. It should be the job of a lifetime, but something's not quite right with the close-knit clan, and Damien Capello isn't the only one to go mysteriously missing over the years. As the true story of Maria's past unfolds and the stench of rot hidden behind the kind coastal grandmother veneer rises, Thea finds herself trapped...and desperately afraid.
Because there are reasons why Damien's body was never found...and why, in over thirty years, Maria Capello has never revealed the secret ingredient in her most famous recipe.
"A tasty and wildly macabre story that foodies and horror fans will devour, probably in one big gulp...Valentine scatters an enjoyable assortment of recipes throughout the narrative that will tempt the reader into heating up the skillet." —Booklist (starred review)
"Deliciously dark...Valentine ratchets up the suspense, deploying all manner of horror tropes—including animals screaming in the woods and rustling footsteps in the house—to build a sense of dread...Suspense fans won't be able to put this down." —Publishers Weekly
This information about The Dead Husband Cookbook was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Danielle Valentine is a pseudonym for the young adult novelist Danielle Vega. Her work, which includes The Merciless series and How To Survive Your Murder, has been optioned for film and television by Lionsgate and Warner Bros, and has been translated into dozens of languages worldwide. Danielle lives outside of New York City with her husband, daughter, and two ornery cats. Delicate Condition is her first adult novel.
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