Devil's Food (Corinna Chapman Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Kerry Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2008

If there's one thing that Corinna Chapman, baker extraordinaire and proprietor of the Earthly Delights Bakery, can't abide, it's people not eating well - particularly when there are delights like her very own, just-baked, freshly buttered sourdough bread to enjoy. So when a strange cult which denies the flesh and eats only famine bread turns up, along with a body which is found in a park, dead of malnutrition, Corinna is very disturbed indeed.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A missing parent, a lethal herbal tea and a sinister cult are a few of the mysterious ingredients in Greenwood's lively third cozy to feature cheerfully fat baker Corinna Chapman (after 2008's Heavenly Pleasures). Chapman's estranged hippie mother, who organizes her time by the phases of the moon, arrives on the doorstep of Melbourne's Earthly Delights Bakery to announce her spouse's disappearance during an apparent midlife crisis. Further complications for Chapman include a toxic tea imbibed by two of her employees and a strange group of monks. To assist in finding the tea's supplier, locating her wandering father and determining the monks' activities, Chapman has a devoted, if eccentric, cohort—a sexy PI lover, a weaver, a follower of Wicca, a grand dame, a dominatrix, a retired classics professor and a nun or two. While a glossary of Australian terms would've helped the American reader, this doesn't detract from the warmhearted message that it takes a village to solve a mystery. (May)
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From Booklist

Originally published in 2006 and making its first U.S. appearance, the third Corinna Chapman mystery finds the Australian baker and amateur sleuth trying to determine who’s been distributing poison-tainted herbal teas and why. As usual, there are complications on the home front: Corinna’s hippie mother, Starshine, has unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere after her husband, Sunlight, has left her for a younger woman. The Chapman novels take the best elements of the author’s more popular 1920s-era Phryne Fisher series—strong female protagonist, solid mystery, offbeat humor—and transport them to the present day. Greenwood has a definite knack for character and story, and, while the Chapman series is a mere toddler compared to the longer-running Fisher novels, Corinna shows every indication of sticking around for a good long time. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (May 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590584287
• ISBN-13: 978-1590584286
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #825,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fat Chance, August 3, 2009

By 

Ted Feit (Long Beach, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Devil's Food (Corinna Chapman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Kerry Greenwood is the author of two delightful series featuring two unusual and interesting women: the Hon. Phryne Fisher and the zaftig Melbourne baker, Corinna Chapman. This novel is the third appearance of Ms. Chapman and her collection of unusual neighbors; ex-junkie apprentice, Jason; Israeli lover Daniel; and assorted cats and dogs. The series not only brings to the reader the smells and tastes of her bakery, Earthly Delights, but the various mysteries and troubles in which she gets involved which she has to solve.

Corinna, assisted by Daniel and others, are faced with three situations in this entry. First is the appearance of an herbal tea said to guarantee weight loss, but which almost kills four people. Then there appears a mysterious customer, a monk, requesting her to make 'famine bread,' a tasteless concoction which easily could be made of sawdust. The two problems merely have one thing in common: an aversion to obesity, which, of course, is anathema to Corinna's beliefs. Lastly, her estranged mother turns up after her father disappears, demanding that Corinna find him and make him return.

"Devil's Food," as its predecessors, is a recipe for light but delightful reading. And the actual recipes included at the rear should appeal to those of us with a sweet tooth. It's all good fun, and recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful Australian adventure, May 8, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Devil's Food (Corinna Chapman Mysteries (Poisoned Pen Press)) (Paperback)

In Melbourne, Earthly Delights Bakery owner Corinna Chapman is happy about her life especially with her lover Israeli investigator Daniel until her estranged mother Starshine, a throwback to the 1960s hippies arrives hysterical. Her equally hippie spouse (and Corinna's father) Sunlight has vanished. Apparently the faithful Sunlight must have a supernova with a midlife crisis that has him on a quest to find a younger woman.

However besides coping with a weeping mom, two bakery employees and some weird monks become ill after drinking poisoned tea. Corinna and Daniel with the help of a diverse eccentric crew search for her runaway dad while also tracing the source of the toxic tea, which leads to an anti-obese cult.

The third Chapman cozy (see EARTHLY DELIGHTS and HEAVENLY PLEASURES) is a wonderful Australian adventure starring an interesting heroine who is the total opposite of Kerry Greenwood's superstar Phryne Fisher. The story line is lighthearted fun as Corinna goes from enjoying life to a near breakdown in a heartbeat when Starshine arrives. However, she has learned somewhat to cope with her star-sun shiny communal hippie parents so searching for dear old dad while struggling with poisoned tea and an anti fat cult targeting the pleasantly plump Corinna has added unneeded stress to her life. Still she, her boyfriend and their horde turn Melbourne into a personal playground in this fun lighthearted farce.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blends the story of a baker with a mystery centered around who is poisoning people, November 13, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devil's Food (Corinna Chapman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Kerry Greenwood's DEVIL'S FOOD: A CORINNA CHAPMAN MYSTERY blends the story of a baker with a mystery centered around who is poisoning people with weight loss herbal tees and an odd cafe's strange clientele. An investigation brings all these disparate forces together in a fine tale for any mystery library: one that blends food appreciation with a host of small-town characters and experiences.