A textured hardcover with many full page photos, and recipes from the most famous mystery writers alive today. Some are family recipes, some were inspired by fans who want the recipe for a dish their favorite characters enjoyed, so the author worked it out. The categories include breakfast, salads, entrees, even cocktails. Authors who provided recipes include Brad Meltzer, Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, and about sixty more. There pages that discuss the writer's trade and mystery tropes. ( )

Have you ever found yourself wondering how to make Richard Castle’s pancakes or Kinsey Millhone’s peanut butter and pickle sandwich? If so, this is the cookbook for you! It showcases recipes from more than one hundred mystery authors, and chances are at least one of your favorite mystery authors contributed a recipe. Each recipe includes an introduction from the author, which may include a family history or personal anecdote, connect the recipe to the fictional world or characters associated with the author, and/or rhapsodize about the delights of food. Brief snippets throughout the book explore connections between food and the mystery genre that are likely to educate and entertain. While a few of the authors are foodies or have formal culinary training, novices have nothing to fear. Many contributors proudly declare their preference for quick, simple dishes! There are color photographs throughout the book, but the number is relatively small, so if you like to browse cookbooks for the photos, you’re likely to be disappointed. I enjoyed reading the fun, often humorous introductions to the recipes and enjoyed the playful tone of the cookbook.

Rachel H. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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Great book with insight on some of my favorite authors. Filled with good recipes and bits about what the recipe means to each author. I didn't "read" this in one sitting, but it is something I will pick up over and over again. ( )

The Mystery Writers of America Wickedly Good Meals And Desserts to Die For is a cookbook that everyone is going to want in their kitchen. This cookbook, edited by Kate White, is broken down in the usual manner: Breakfast, Appetizers, Soups and Salads, Entrees, Side Dishes, Desserts, and Cocktails. What's fascinating about this book is that all the recipes are from fantastic mystery writers. Over one hundred to be exact. The first recipe I came across--rum soaked Nutella French toast--told me this was a cookbook that a novice like me could master.

Each recipe is proceeded by a little history as to why the author chose to include it in this cookbook. This aspect gives it a personal touch that every reader can appreciate. White also includes a homage to departed authors such as Agatha Christie and P.D. James, as well as some fascinating facts on the art of murder and food. I also can't fail to mention the delicious photos taken of some of the recipes finished results. They will make you want to lick the page--but don't. It's just paper.

If you buy one cookbook this year, The Mystery Writers of America Wickedly Good Meals And Desserts to Die For should be it!
Read more at http://www.toreadornottoread.net/2015/07/review-mystery-writers-of-america.html#... ( )

I was expecting this cookbook to be a bunch of hoity-toity recipes that I'd probably never try. But, I was surprised to find many that look easy and yummy... will definitely try them. The list of celebrated mystery writers credited with these gems is long. Some of my favorite authors (Harlan Coben, Sue Grafton, JA Jance, and Sara Paretsky) submitted recipes. James Patterson's "Grandma's Killer Chocolate Cake" looks so much like my own Grandma's chocolate cake that I might have to see how it compares. Great idea! Great recipes! ( )

Wonderful book! I hope to try each and every recipe in it. Wish there were more pictures of the meals, but the ones there are are quite nice. ( )

This is a book I will never finish reading. Not only is this book chock full of delightful recipes each author shares a personal bit so even when you've prepared the food and are awaiting the finished dish there is still plenty to amuse the reader. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, food, and just a touch of chat. ( )

This cookbook is a collection of the favorite recipes of some well-known mystery writers. The hardbound book is very nice and even has a ribbon bookmark. The photo doesn't do it justice! Each recipe begins with a short note from the author that explains the origin of the recipe or just some personal information.

The recipes are a wonderful variety of recipes from gourmet to family fare. The first recipe I tried was Gillian Flynn’s Beef Skillet Fiesta. She started her paragraph with “Be warned: I am no gourmet.” Her recipe was certainly not gourmet, but it was just what I was looking for that night. It was a good, easy, fast, and delicious family meal. This cookbook is now filled with bits of paper making all of the recipes I want to try. Not ever recipe has a photo, but quite a few have nice full-page photos. This one has earned a place on my permanent cookbook shelf. ( )

What a nice job Quirk Books has done with this book: beautiful binding, thick pages, good layout, good type size, and an attached ribbon as a place marker. A LARGE number of authors are included (though many are not known to me). Each recipe is introduced, in a paragraph or two, by the author. Only a small number of the recipes have pictures, something I always like to see for every recipe. Let me recommend Thomas H. Cook's Past as Prologue (Vegetarian) Chili--a new favorite (but cut way down, or eliminate, the 1/2 tbsp. of red pepper flakes!!). I am looking forward to trying more recipes in this lovely book. ( )

I'm a mystery fan and cooking fan, otherwise I wouldn't be reading The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook: Wickedly Good Meals and Desserts to Die For, right? So, I thought I'd have a passing knowledge of the writers in this book. Well...let me tell you, there are more well known mystery writers than I had a passing knowledge of. Sure, some of my favorites are included in this book, such as Thomas H. Cook, Sue Grafton, Laura Lippman, Louise Penny and Karin Slaughter. But there are a heck of a lot more that I haven't heard of, such as Beth Amos, Alison Gaylin, Rita Lakin and L. J. Sellers...which of course, now adds to my mystery reading list.

Some people have called me obsessive. When I get ahold of something, I don't let go until I've exhausted the topic (for those of you who read this, you might have gotten a sense of that from all the pulp mysteries I've written about). And, I could have sworn I've previously read a cookbook with recipes by mystery writers. But looking through my looseleaf binder of recipes, I couldn't find it. So, I used my resources to try to find it and lo and behold, mystery author/character cookbooks are a hot topic (no pun intended). There's a Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook, a Murder She Wrote Cookbook, a Cop Cookbook. There's The Cat Who Cookbook by Julie Murphy, a Food to Die For cookbook by Patricia Cornwell, and Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes, which I'm putting on my reading list. Of course, none of these are the cookbook I was thinking of. So, I've requested A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers, A Second Helping of Murder: More Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers and Writers' Favorite Recipes because I'm hoping one of these is the cookbook I was thinking of. I vaguely remember an Ed McBain recipe in the book.

Finally, my thoughts on The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook. It's definitely worth looking at. If you're not a sophisticated chef (which I'm not), the cookbook is great because all the recipes are easy, such as Bill Pronzini's Nameless's Italian Garlic Bread and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone's Famous Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich. The recipes run the daily eating range from breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert with a section on drinks. There are also recipes that sound intriguing such as Karen Harper's Zucchini Bread, Brad Meltzer's Italian Chicken, Greg Herren's Greg's New Orleans Slow-Cooker Meatballs and Bill Fitzhugh's Spicy Beans.

To spice up the book (yes, pun intended), each section begins with a photo of an old fashioned typewriter with a page from a manuscript. Interspersed with the recipes are pages about various authors' writing such as PD James using poison as a means of murder, Nero Wolfe on Food, Poe Waxes Poetic on Food, and Lee Child's Recipe for a Delicious Best Seller.

Since the recipes are based on mystery characters who like cooking or recipes mentioned in books, there's a short intro preceding each recipe telling the reader what book or character it comes from. There's a short author bio at the end of each recipe.

This book has everything a mystery lover, cooking aficionado would want. Information, recipes, pictures and more. Be sure to get a copy for your bookshelf.

P.S. I also found a new blog to subscribe to...Mystery Fanfare by Janet Rudolph, which is where I found the names of all these cookbooks. ( )

My favorite fiction genre is the mystery. My favorite non-fiction books tend to be cookbooks. When you throw the two together, it is like magic. This volume, edited by Kate White, includes recipes from many American mystery writers. I've heard of many of them; others I had not. The recipes are organized in much the same manner as a traditional cookbook, but each is prefaced with a story or comment by the author about the recipe. Each recipe also includes a short biography of the author. There are many photos in the book but not all recipes were photographed. There are many additional pages that explore things like "red herrings", tips on writing bestsellers, or a character's love of food. Most of these were written by the editor, but a few come from other writers. There are several recipes that I want to try in the pages. The binding is nice. The book has a very nice ribbon bookmark to keep your place. This is a great book for all mystery fans who like to cook and for cookbook collectors. I received the book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers with the expectation that a review would be written. ( )

THE MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK REVIEW from
http://wordstormcasserole.com/2015/04/themysterywritersofamericacookbook/

The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook appeared in my mailbox the other day, and I had no idea why it had been sent to me. Fortunately, the mystery was solved with the included letter: I’d won it on a LibraryThing.com giveaway. But were the recipes any good? I began my investigation.

Word to the wise: there are affiliate links in this article. If you click a link and buy a book, I’ll get a tiny sum of money. Thank you. Additionally, because I won this book, I’m under no obligation to give it a good review. Heavens knows not all cookbooks are created equal.

First I looked at the 175-page hardcover book. It’s published by Quirk Books who claims the cookbook features “hard-boiled breakfasts, thrilling entrees, and cozy desserts…” While I know Lee Child, Mary Higgins Clark, Harlan Coben, Sue Grafton, Scott Turow, James Patterson, and others can write like nobody’s business, can they cook? Or write a recipe to satisfy my curiosity? I perused and selected a handful of recipes to explore.

Grand-Mere Marie’s Root Vegetable Vichyssoise by Wendy Hornsby takes some patience what with cleaning the leeks and chopping celery, carrots, and other root veggies like turnips, parsnips, winter squash, and rutabagas. But with a base of thick-cut bacon, a splash of white wine, and a dash of butter, this soup is a winner. Perfect for a late spring when there are brave crocus blooming amidst a spattering of light wanna-be snow.

No, more than that.

It’s to die for.

I couldn’t help myself. It really IS that good.

Likewise the Latvian Solstice Squares while perhaps not totally authentic to Latvia culture, deserve a place in your dessert back pocket. With preparation similar to Eagle Brand’s illustrious Magic Cookie Bars. This version uses a mixture of German chocolate cake mix and butter as a base, then throws in semisweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, and almond brickle chips. Heck, my German chocolate cake mix included a pouch of dry ingredients to create that luscious coconut frosting – I threw that in with the base mixture and was delighted with the results. Oooeee gooey goodness.

The Mystery Crackers by Sandra Brown are as easy as can be, and certainly tasty. Definitely something you’d want to make if you hate to cook and have some time to spare. Or, as Brown writes in the introduction, “I can make Mystery Crackers while I’m writing. And I keep them in the fridge of my office for snacking. If I’m in a lull, I can nibble a few to ‘spice things up!” While I didn’t go for the suggested cayenne pepper, I did try them with a smoked paprika – yum!

I was also intrigued by the Farfalle with Fennel and Pine Nuts on page 62; this recipe is by author Leslie Budewitz. Unfortunately, my local super-duper mart did not have fennel. I improvised with shredded brussels sprouts and walnuts for me. And with the guidelines in the recipe it still turned out really good. Who knew brussels sprouts worked so well with raisins and cinnamon? My adapted recipe is below.

And finally, I implore you to make Sue Grafton’s recipe for Kinsey Millhone’s Famous Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich on page 87. While Grafton urges readers to avoid improvisations, sometimes a tight situation requires quick thinking. I did what I had to do:

Creamy PB, the toasted lower half of an “Everything” bagel, and a five perfect bread & butter pickle chips completed my snack. And I’d do it again.

Case closed. Proceed to the nearest bookstore or click on a link to buy, cook, and eat. ( )

I thought this was an interesting conceit for a cookbook. After all, so many of the books we all read have passages that circle around food. There are several cozy series that are built on baking or different types of cooking - say Italian for example. This book gathers recipes from different authors; they are either from the protagonists in their books, drawn from the spirit of the book or personal to the author. It's broken down into conventional sections with cocktail recipes tossed in here and there.

The recipes for the most part don't break any new ground but there were some that intrigued me. You'll see one below. I think most people will enjoy this more for the connection to their favorite authors. It was fun reading the intros to the recipes; each one gave a little history behind the meal. ( )

An absolutely perfect book for the foodie/mystery lover! And, I fall into that category! I was delighted to receive this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewer.
Many of my favorite mystery writers have recipes among the 100 in this book. The recipes are grouped in the usual format; breakfast, appetizers, soup and salad, entrees, side dishes, desserts and cocktails. Each recipe is introduced by the author as either one that is a family favorite. A book character favorite or is written about in the author's books. Following the recipe there is a short intro to the author. Interspersed are little mystery lovers tidbits like "What exactly is a red herring?"
There are some color photos, a metric conversion chart and index.
After reading through I have already marked recipes I want to try. Louise Penny's Madame Benoit's Tourtière served at a Christmas reveillon in her book Fatal Grace. Sara Paretsky's Chicken Gabriella named after VI Warshawski's mother and Nelson DeMille's Male Chauvinist Pigs in A Blanket ( which is very funny). There are so many more just waiting for the right occasion. A book to read for enjoyment and then to read as a cookbook. Bon Appetite. ( )

I have to note that I purchased this book because I didn't win it in the Early Reviewers program. And I am delighted. As another reviewer noted, the physical appearance is splendid; I almost don't want to put it in a greasy kitchen. I thoroughly enjoyed the information by and about the authors, even if I never make any of the recipes. Great addition to my library. And I have a long list of new authors to explore. ( )

This is an entertaining cookbook for mystery lovers. Each recipe has a preface written by the author, explaining the origin of it. Some of the writers write in the personna of their characters. The recipes are laid out in an easy-to-read manner, and most of them seem pretty simple. There are some pictures of the meals as well as fun, factoids about things like the origin of "red herring" and food on Baker Street. I tried Margaret Maron's baked French toast and it was good. ( )

This wonderful cookbook gets full marks at every level.

The book, itself, is lovely. A hardcover book with a textured front, gold spine, gold and white lettering and decoration on the front, and a gold ribbon to use as a bookmark. The photographs of the dishes are top notch. There is a a real art to photographing food and these pictures and their presentation is excellent.

This is probably the first cookbook that I have read cover to cover. You can't help doing so as the authors have penned short commentaries about their cooking and their recipes. Lee Child's instructions on how to make coffee, and the quips before each section had me in stitches. Kate White, the editor, has also penned interesting, short sidebars of information on food, poisons and murder.

Each of these delights is amazingly easy to make. Harlan Coben's Myron's Crabmeat Dip directions, for example, is one line long: "Mix ingredients together while heating on stove. Serve warm." It can't get any easier! After all, if you are busy writing you don't want to spend the entire day in the kitchen. These are easy, tasty repasts.

I was delighted to find Kinsey Millhone's Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich in here, as I have been enjoying this crazy sounding concoction for years. Frankie Y. Bailey's muffins and Brad Meltzer's chicken will be the first ones we'll try.

Perhaps what is most enjoyable is that these short entries make the writers very human. Their personalities shine through. This book is for people who enjoy mysteries, beautiful, readable books and wonderful yummy food. ( )

I've marked several recipes to try for my next party and I've learned heaps of trivia about food and famous mystery writers (and characters). For instance, did you know that you can use milk as a kind of invisible ink? (You know I'm going to have try this out now.) Fans of Agatha Christie won't be surprised to learn that the author used poison in over half of her 66 novels as the murder weapon. These were usually hidden in food or drinks such as coffee, marmalade, and even curry. Each of the recipes contains a short blurb about the author, a famous mystery character, and the food item itself. There are some really hilarious ones such as Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone's Famous Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich'. It was so funny that I'm determined I'll try it at least once. The best one, however, might be the last one of the book: Lee Child's 'Coffee, Pot of One'. Now THAT is a recipe I can get behind. ;-) Bottom line: If you're a foodie and/or a mystery enthusiast then The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook is the one for you. It goes on sale March 24th! :-) ( )

These recipes run the gamut from three ingredients found in every kitchen to a dozen that I swear I'd have to buy over the internet. I liked the introductions of each recipe by the author who linked the recipe to one of their books or to a family memory.



While I'm going to pass on Sue Grafton's Peanut Butter & Pickle Sandwich, I think I might give Louise Penny's recipe for Tourtiere a try some day. I liked the nice assortment of recipes from appetizers to desserts and drinks.



Mamma's Pimento Cheese as given by Susan M. Boyer sounds great even though I haven't heard of some of the cheeses she calls for. I'm also a little intimidated by the idea that it makes 3 quarts. I don't think I know enough people to share that amount with. I can't wait to try David Housewritght's Corn Chowder recipe.

I liked the variety of authors whose recipes were included. I've read many of them including Charlaine Harris, Carolyn Hart, Diane Mott Davidson, Laurie R. King and Catherine Coulter. I was also encouraged to try books and series by other authors because I liked the recipes they included and want to meet their characters.

People looking for a cookbook to go with what they're reading would be the perfect audience for this collection. ( )