Weibezahl, Robert

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Home—Westlake Village, CA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Poisoned Pen Press, 6962 East First Ave., Ste. 103, Scottsdale, AZ 85251.

CAREER: Has worked as a publicist for Putnam and Holt publishers, New York, NY; freelance publicist for clients such as HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Doubleday, and Harcourt, and on productions of feature and television films.

AWARDS, HONORS: Two-time finalist, Agatha Award, Malice Domestic, and two-time finalist, Macavity Award, Mystery Readers International, both for A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers and A Second Helping of Murder.

WRITINGS:

(With Jo Grossman) A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers, Dell (New York, NY), 1999, second edition, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 2003.

(With Jo Grossman) A Second Helping of Murder, Poisoned Pen Press (Scottsdale, AZ), 2003.

The Wicked and the Dead (novel), Quiet Storm Publishing (Martinsburg, WV), 2005.

Contributor to periodicals, including Bikini, Irish America, and Mystery Readers Journal. Author of "Well Read" (monthly column), for BookPage.com; contributor of short story to Futures Mystery Anthology magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert Weibezahl and his collaborator Jo Grossman collected recipes from some of America's best-known mystery writers for their book A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers. The recipes in the book come from either the writers or the fictional characters in their novels. Although some of the recipes, 150 in all, could be made in the kitchens of top restaurants, such as Tony Fennelly's Shrimp Etouffee and D. J. Donaldson's Eggs a la Chatelaine. Barbara Jacobs noted in Booklist that "many simply list a few ingredients, slap them together … and voila! A new sandwich or salad or soup is born."

Weibezahl and Grossman continue the mystery writers-and-food theme in their second cookbook, titled A Second Helping of Murder, which includes recipes from mystery writers such as Elizabeth George, Elizabeth Peters, and Robert Barnard. Writing on HeartlandReviews.com, Judy Schuler commented that both books "are not only filled with great recipes, they're fun to read. The only things that could have improved them would have been some taste-tempting photographs." In SFGate.com Bill Citara asked Weibezahl why food is so integral to many mystery novels. "Maybe it's because food is a good place to put poison," Weibezahl suggested. "Or maybe it's the domestic aspect to mysteries—the British 'cozy' and the 'hard-boiled' detective."

Weibezhal told CA: "My first novel, The Wicked and the Dead, is a mystery set in Hollywood. Featuring a screenwriter and amateur sleuth named Billy Winnetka, it blends elements of classic Los Angeles noir with a more light-hearted skewering of the insular world of the film industry."

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.

Chicago Tribune, November 21, 1999, recipe from A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers, p. A5.

Denver Post, October 3, 1999, Tom and Enid Schantz, review of A Taste of Murder, section 1, p. 2.

Publishers Weekly, October 13, 2003, review of A Second Helping of Murder p. 61.

Times-Picayune, December 19, 1999, Diana Pinckley, review of A Taste of Murder, p. D7.

ONLINE

HeartlandReviews.com, http://www.heartlandreviews.com/ (February 11, 2005), Judy Schuler, review of A Taste of Murder and A Second Helping of Murder.

Quiet Storm Web site, http://quietstormpublishing.com/ (February 11, 2005), "Robert Weibezahl."

SFGate.com, http://www.sfgate.com/ (October 17, 1999), Bill Citara, review of A Taste of Murder.