Customer Reviews

Devil's Food (Corinna Chapman Mysteries)

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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.

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

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.

This is the second of the Corinna Chapman Mysteries that I read. I loved the first and loved this one just as much. This series is about a baker and her misfit neighbors. They get into trouble and solve mysteries while getting on with live and having fun. So far each book has been a delight to read and I look forward to reading more about all of the characters.

I wouldn't call this a Cozy so much as a Gentle - kind of like comfort food. The lead protagonist is the well-padded Corinna Chapman owner of the Earthly Delights Bakery. She has a hunky Israeli PI lover and a charming and quirky community of neighbors in her Melbourne, Australia enclave including a witch, an elegant grande dame, a weaver and her bakery/restaurant crew - a pair of always dieting 20-somethings and a rescued young thief on his way to becoming a star baker in his own right.
The first plot leads off when Corinna's estranged (and strange) aging-hippie mother shows up asking/demanding help in finding Corinna's father who has wandered away from their commune. Meanwhile other seemingly unrelated events encroach on Corinna's cozy kitchen and soon she and her friends are drawn into a series of mysteries.
There are folks who dress up as vampires for a night out at a new Steam Punk club in town, monks that offer a "fat is evil" weight loss regimen and a nun who ministers to the homeless with a traveling soup kitchen. Food, friendship and a little fantasy carry the day as Corinna and company put all things to right.