A Taste of Murder (Hardcover)

by Jo Grossman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Penzler Pick, March 2000: Okay, okay, it's not a mystery. It's a recipe book. But these are recipes from some of the best storytellers of our time, so you can expect a little more than a list of the 435 ingredients of a first-rate cassoulet and the 23 steps requiring an equal number of hours to produce it.

No, here we have the recipes for such culinary challenges as Kinsey Millhone's Peanut Butter and Pickle sandwich, with secrets that include informing the would-be Paul Prudhomme that the peanut butter should be spread on a slice of bread, covered with sliced pickles, and then (and this could be the key to it all) covered with a second slice of bread. Whew! If you're not exhausted yet, there is also Susan Silverman's recipe from Robert B. Parker, who declined to provide anything more ambitious because a Spenser cookbook is in the works. (Note: It has been in the works for 15 years.) The recipe is for boiling water.

But there really are some superb recipes from a talented corps of writers who know how to cook, and there are delicious anecdotes, some sound advice on where and when to eat what you've just learned how to cook, and even recipes for foods you've never heard of (like Liza Cody's Bacon Buttie, the perfect tidbit that provides the thrill of risking a coronary).

Among the contributors are Lilian Jackson Braun, Donald E. Westlake, Anne Perry, Tony Hillerman, Carol O'Connell, Parnell Hall and, of course, Anthony Bourdain, whose hilarious culinary mysteries are a sidelight to his real life as a master chef. --Otto Penzler

Review
Poisoned Pen Press in Scottsdale, Arizona, recently published two cookbooks made up of recipes donated by mystery authors: A Taste of Murder and A Second Helping of Murder. Dubbed Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers. Each book offers 150 recipes with brief stories about how they relate to the writers' books...Broken into sections like A Criminal Past-a and Meating Out Justice, the recipes in the books manage to be both usable and entertaining...Chock full of quirky and delicious recipes and cooking lessons (like Anthony Bourdain’s How to Cook Pasta without Getting Whacked) these books are a feast for gourmands and mystery lovers alike. So belly up to the bar, name your poison, have a snack of red herrings and enjoy some murderously good food. -- Mark Terry, The Oakland Press (MI) Note: A portion of the profits from both books is being donated to Wholesaler to the Hungry, -- Review --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Dell; Complete Numbers Starting with 1, 1st Ed edition (September 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440508428
• ISBN-13: 978-0440508427
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,469,767 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yum! Cooking for a good cause., September 27, 1999

By	Maureen Tan ([e-mail]) "maureent@voliti... (Illinois) - See all my reviews

What great fun it was to participate in this very worthwhile project and to discover that my fellow mystery writers are such fantastic cooks. The recipes are varied, well presented, and easy to follow. But even if you're not interested in stirring up something diabolically delicious, "A Taste of Murder" also serves up entertaining vignettes and bits of insider information with every recipe.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous cooking, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

Great recipes from great writers. You simply must try Patsy Ward Burk's Taco Soup. You can't get thru the winter without it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Taste of Murder, July 2, 2002

By	Marilyn Marshall "mmarshal41" (Hays, KS United States) - See all my reviews

What a delightful book! Beside including some hiliarious recipes like "Susan Silverman's Boiled Water" from Robert B. Parker, there are interesting recipes from a number of mystery writers and places associated with mysteries. I plan to try the Tea Scones from Brown's Hotel (Agatha Christie's Bertram's Hotel) first. This is a must for mystery readers.