Absolutely loved this book- there’s something about it that drew me in from the very first page, and it did not disappoint. I thought I had the plot figured out early on, but I was completely mistaken. Danielle Valentine masterfully leads the reader in one direction, only to twist the narrative in such an unexpected and satisfying way near the end.

Everything about The Dead Husband Cookbook worked for me- the intriguing title, the unique storyline, and especially the way the recipes are tied into Maria’s life. Each one added depth and texture to the plot, blending domestic detail with an undercurrent of darkness.

It’s a cleverly written, dark, twisty story that keeps you hooked throughout

A fabulous read that often feels like a heart-warming memoir until it surprises you with the darker twists surrounding the mystery at its core. Stylish, darkly humourous and thoroughly entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

The sheer horror throughout this book that is explained away by our main character and the plot twists that slow burn were absolutely incredible. I loved the recipes interspersed throughout the chapters and each character felt so fleshed out - the POV chapters changing didn’t feel awkward or abrupt, I was absolutely gripped by each POV change which is rare for me!

A must read for the feminine rage lovers!

I was expecting a juicy thriller full of dark humour but unfortunately I found it a little underwhelming. It's more a mystery than anything.

Although there are lots of twists as the secrets came out, I wasn't overly taken aback by them. The slow pacing at times had me wanting them to just get on with it and tell us rather than feeling gripped by it. I didn't feel much connection to the characters, at least, not enough to care much about the outcome.

With the addition of Maria's book chapters, it was like a book within a book and I thought the multiple recipes weaved in throughout the book was a nice touch. I don't think I'll be looking at meatballs the same ever again though.

I loved the premise, I was just hoping for a bit more fire in the execution.

Thank you to Viper books for the advanced copy

Tough one - the mystery is good and keeps you guessing and second guessing throughout. But as a few others have said, some things are just hard to believe and you have to suspend belief a bit. I did spot one fairly big twist, which I’m happy about (though see above regarding suspending belief about how that came to be…).

Overall, a good book. If challenging given some of the book’s content… hope that’s suitably vague!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A famous chef with a dark past and an editor ready to uncover all their family secrets. I enjoy books that touch upon the publishing process.

This was a fantastic read, I love thrillers that keep you on your toes. I was thinking of so many theories that I didn’t even see the actual twists coming. There’s some horror aspects that were really well integrated into the mystery.

The book mixes a couple of povs and recipes that sound delicious, maybe I should try to make some of them.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to thriller and horror fans!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Maria was incredible frustratingly and I predicted the plot twist quite early on. But an amazing book and I had a blast reading all of the ingredients!!!

The Dead Husband Cookbook is a deliciously dark page turner.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Viper for the ARC!

Thea is a book editor, trying to recover from a career scandal, when she is given an ultimatum by her boss: take on this celebrity memoir or get fired. Luckily for Thea, the author of the memoir happens to be her favourite chef, the enigmatic Maria Capello, who became a household name after her husband, Damien, mysteriously disappeared. Maria has never spoken about what happened to Damien, so why now? And why Thea?

What follows is a dark, twisty web of deceit. I absolutely loved how this book was written, particularly the recipes! If you’re a foodie, you will really appreciate the craft that has gone into that aspect.

Life on Maria’s farm was gripping; I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what happened next.

This book probably isn’t for the faint of heart, there’s a few descriptions that may turn a sensitive stomach!

Overall, a dark, unique, gripping family thriller with a difference. You’ll probably never want to ask what a secret ingredient is again 👀

Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy of The Dead Husband Cookbook. I absolutely loved this book. It has everything. Beautifully written, twists and turns, romance and ethical dilemmas. And to add to an already fantastic read, some amazing Italian recipes which I cannot wait to try out— I think I’ll stick to traditional ingredients for the meatballs though!
Would definitely recommend, so easy to read and well written I thoroughly enjoyed.

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