Grossman, Jo

PERSONAL: Female.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Poisoned Pen Press, 6962 East 1st Ave., Ste. 103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251.

CAREER: Formerly worked for television shows, including In the Heat of the Night and various dramas; owner of Mystery Café, MA, 1995–99; currently real estate agent and freelance author.

WRITINGS:

(With Robert Weibezahl) A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers (cookbook), Dell Publishing (New York, NY), 1999.

(With Robert Weibezahl) A Second Helping of Murder (cookbook), Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: A mystery novel aficionado who once ran a store called the Mystery Café in western Massachusetts, Jo Grossman convinced a number of respected mystery writers to contribute recipes to her two books, A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers and A Second Helping of Murder, both of which were collaborative efforts with writer and publicist Robert Weibezahl. A percentage of the royalties for each book were donated to the charitable organization From the Wholesaler to the Hungry.

The first book offers about 150 recipes from such authors as Lillian Jackson Braun, Robert Barnard, William Murray, Sue Grafton, and Elizabeth George, while the second includes over 130 ideas for dishes by Dick Francis, Claudia Bishop, Alexander McCall Smith, and many others. Sometimes the recipes are for foods the authors enjoy; other times they are meals that are favorites of their fictional characters, such as a description of how to make a peanut butter and pickle sandwich, a meal Grafton's heroine, Kinsey Millhone, savors. The authors have also included sidebars about favorite foods of famous late mystery writers, and Booklist contributor Barbara Jacobs, in a review of A Taste of Murder, added that "it's fun to read the preludes and postludes" in the book, as well.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 1999, Barbara Jacobs, review of A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers, p. 404.

Publishers Weekly, July 26, 1999, "Deadly Appetites," review of A Taste of Murder, p. 48.

ONLINE

Harriet Klausner's Review Online, http://harrietklausner.wwwi.com/ (February 8, 2005), Harriet Klausner, review of A Second Helping of Murder.