Food and medical examiners...?

I like to use food related analogies, i tell people i 'devour' books.
Especially books like 'Scarpetta's Winter Table' by Patricia Cornwell.
For those of you not up on your female medical examiner with a sidekick dectective, a neice in the F.B.I, and a lover who's sometimes dead, i recommend the Kay Scarpetta books, the earlier ones in particular.
But back to the cookbook, it's unusual in that it's written as a standalone story about the main charaters from the series revolving around christmas with recipes woven into the story in such a way, you barely even notice you've just accquired a recipe for Thousand Island Dressing or a stew. It just flows. It happens in the actual books she writes as well, its how i finally figured out to make lasagne.
My copy which cost me, or more honestly my dad, £1.55 came complete with food stains which for some reason are on pages with no recipes on them making me think that someone cooked 'Marino's last minute Chili' and then sat down with a steaming bowl and proceded to read the rest of the book.
It's more of a reference work than something you'll cook from again and again, you'll pick it up to read her description of stew as a living entity or to remind yourself on how to make a pizza base. Most of all, i think, you'll pick this book up just to re read the beautiful writing surrounding the idea of food, the emotions that cooking for those closest to you bring to the fore. It perfectly brings to life the concept of cooking as love.