How to Cook a Tart

Cookbook author Jasmine March’s life is like a perfectly prepared béchamel-rich, satisfying, and drenched in butter. But even a great béchamel curdles sometimes. Her husband, Daniel, has taken up with one of his Zone-dieting drama students; Careme, her daughter, is bent on starving herself to death; and Jasmine’s fellow foodies have had just about enough of her astronomically caloric recipes. To make matters worse, her publisher is threatening to cancel her contract. And then there’s the small matter of the dead body she finds one morning on her kitchen floor.

Filled with mouth-watering descriptions of Jasmine’s creations-venison stew with Madeira and juniper berries, crispy chicken breasts stuffed with goat cheese and mint-Nina Killham’s smart and spirited first novel is good enough to eat.