Senior News Newspaper Book Review Column--- December 2014

For my monthly newspaper book review column in the Senior News Newspaper, I usually make sure to choose one fiction and one nonfiction book in the hopes of interesting more readers. For December I went with The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo. This is an excellent series and one that should be read in order. For the non-fiction book I went with The Texas Food Bible: From Legendary Dishes To New Classics by Dean Fearing with Judith Choate and Eric Dreyer. Longer reviews of both were run here on the blog earlier this year and can easily be found by clicking on the above book titles.

This also marks my final column for the Senior News Newspaper. For over ten years I have had the pleasure of having my monthly review work appear in the publication. That run has ended with the December 2014 issue. I very much thank Editor Michael Bracken and all others involved over the years for the opportunity.

Included below are the relevant book covers for my December 2014 column…  

The Texas Food Bible: From Legendary Dishes To New Classics

Dean Fearing with Judith Choate and Eric Dreyer

Photographs by Dave Carlin

Grand Central Life & Style (Hachette Book Group)

ISBN# 978-1-4555-7430-8

Hardback

260 Pages

The latest in a long line of cook books from Dean Fearing is another that expresses his love for the state. The Texas Food Bible: From Legendary Dishes To New Classics is designed to be a one stop resource for the cook. This cookbook co-written with Judith Choate and Eric Dreyer works well if you have the skills, the hours of cooking time, and are feeding folks with no dietary restrictions.

After an introduction that explains Dean Fearing's history, and a section on ingredients, it is on to the recipes. Starting with “Breakfast and Brunch” and going through the day to “Desserts” each recipe has detailed instructions, a serving suggestion or how many of the item it will make, and sometimes a picture of the finished dish. There is no dietary information of any kind.

The Texas Food Bible: From Legendary Dishes To New Classics is an interesting cookbook. Totally absent in terms of nutritional or dietary information, the book has numerous recipes for various situations in terms of daily meals as well as when guests come over. Heavily geared towards those with extensive culinary skills it may not work as well for the average cook at home.

The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel

Linda Castillo

ISBN# 978-1-250-02957-7

Hardback (also available as an e-book)

320 Pages

The past is never truly buried. As any mystery reader knows, the past often comes back with a vengeance leaving a fresh trail of bodies and carnage in its wake. Such is the case here in The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo. The latest in this very good series begins in early March 1979 with a home invasion/robbery. Things go very wrong almost from the start and the night ends with a massacre and a family tragedy. A horrific crime that remains unsolved today 35 years later. That night seems to have started a fresh wave of killings. Who is doing the killing is just one of the many questions Police Chief Kate Burkholder will have to solve in this intense book.

With The Dead Will Tell author Linda Castillo may have penned the best book in the series that started with Sworn To Silence. An intense novel from start to finish this latest book in the series is an exceptionally good read.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014