Forbidden Fruit (Corinna Chapman) [Paperback]

Kerry Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Series: Corinna Chapman | Publication Date: June 1, 2010

Corinna Chapman, owner of the bakery Earthly delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive in Melbourne, Australia, where Christmas is summer festival. Corinna loathes the festival and the heat. She is a perfect size 20 with a genius for baking bread. And muffins . And while dreaming of air conditioned comfort she finds herself dealing with a rose-addicted donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant seeking for the definitive glace cherry recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe and the luscious Daniel with whom she would like to spend a lot more time.

 But Daniel is on the track of two runaways, Brigid and Manny. This Romeo and Juliet romance is not as straightforward as it seems and the pair will go a long way to avoid being found. With the help of a troupe of free-spirited freegans, three very clever internet hackers and a bunch of singing vegans, Corinna and Daniel go head-to-head with a sinister religious cult on a mission and a band of Romanies out for revenge in a wild and wonderful chase against the (biological) clock.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Those who care more for food than crime-solving will best appreciate Australian author Greenwood's fifth comic mystery featuring Melbourne baker Corinna Chapman (after 2009's Trick or Treat). Corinna remains ecstatically involved with her lover, PI Daniel Cohen, who winds up on the trail of two 16-year-old runaways, Brigid O'Ryan and Manny Lake, though Brigid and Manny's respective parents disagree whether the pair went off together. Greenwood throws some militant vegans and freegans as well as a donkey with a taste for rosewater-infused muffins into the plot, but the pieces fail to coalesce as they do in her superior Phryne Fisher series (Cocaine Blues, etc.), in which she deftly balances humor and suspense. In this series, setups are more farcical than funny, and some may grow weary of Corinna's frequent editorializing about one food item or another she's just eaten. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Midsummer in Melbourne finds baker and amateur sleuth Corinna Chapman battling the heat and the Christmas crowds as she and PI boyfriend Daniel hunt for two missing teenagers, one heavily pregnant. Meanwhile, a sweet donkey with a taste for rosewater keeps knocking on the back door, which makes a nice contrast to the militant vegans who have taken to practicing Christmas carols in Corinna’s friend Insulata’s rooftop garden and who disapprove of companion animals. This light and cozy series continues its focus on food, friends, and animals. Yet the dark side of modern society is never absent as Corinna and Daniel volunteer to work on the Soup Run for the homeless of Melbourne. Among the many food-focused cozies, this one continues to rank near the top. Recommend it, especially, to fans of Diane Mott Davidson’s Goldy Bear Catering series; Corinna is less hysterical than Goldy but equally caffeine obsessed. --Jessica Moyer --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590587405
• ISBN-13: 978-1590587409
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #602,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read for mystery fans, cat lovers and foodies, August 1, 2010

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Forbidden Fruit (Corinna Chapman) (Paperback)

"Forbidden Fruit" is my favorite so far in this very entertaining series starring Melbourne baker Corinna Chapman. This one, the fifth, takes place during Christmas season, which in Australia is in the summer. It's a well-plotted mystery involving a rose-loving donkey named Serena, singing freegans, some fanatical animal-rights activists, a weirdly un-Christian cult of "Christians," a Romeo-and-Juliet couple on the run, and a band of vengeful Gypsies.

In addition to the story itself, I loved the cultural references and allusions to, among others, Tom Lehrer, G.K. Chesterton, Terry Pratchett, "The Wind in the Willows," "A Christmas Carol," The Chronicles of Narnia, Miles Vorkosigan, Agatha Raisin, and even Phryne Fisher. And of course there are the references to all that delicious food on nearly every page! And recipes at the end. Great fun for mystery fans, cat lovers, and anyone who enjoys good food!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Forbidden Fruit, July 18, 2010

By 

Cheryl Stillwell ""enyl's library reviews... (Cin,Oh) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forbidden Fruit (The Corinna Chapman Series) (Hardcover)

Forbidden Fruit defies genre categorization; the plot contains elements of comic relief, mild suspense, and a hint of mystery. Many supporting characters are main characters in their own subplots, with a few surprising twists occurring before the problems are resolved

While assisting her live-in boyfriend locate the pregnant, runaway daughter of an influential businessman and the suspected expectant father, baker and gourmand Corinna Chapman, slugging through interminable heat of Christmas season in Australia, manages to thwart the nefarious intentions of a rouge band of vegans, rescue her imprisoned beloved Daniel from a locked, abandoned warehouse, while nurturing the self-esteem of her apprentice Jason.

Having survived an unpleasant childhood, Corinna presents a cheerful personality and quips her way with witticisms through mysteries as an amateur sleuth while she helps her boyfriend Daniel with his caseload. When not sleuthing, Corinna runs her own bakery where she is surrounded by a cast of colorful characters and neighbors whose lives entwine with hers and whom she protects with a fierce determination as she rights the wrongs that they encounter, all the while cooking and baking.

Forbidden Fruit is great for the contemporary reader who enjoys an entertaining mystery where the sleuth is more ordinary than brilliant, the puzzle more intriguing than complicated, where the mystery is resolved with nary a dead body having been discovered.

A select list of recipes is collected in an appendix for the foodies who might be interested in sampling authentic Australian cuisine. I look forward to following the future adventures of Corinna Chapman and her cronies as the wrangle their way out of mishaps and misunderstanding resolving a mystery or two along the way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the Horrid Cover, January 28, 2011

By 

D. B. Diederich (Lake Tahoe, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Forbidden Fruit (Corinna Chapman) (Paperback)

Others have written better reviews, but I really love this series so wanted to add my 2 cents....
Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman is THE BEST new series I have read in several years. The writing is excellent, the cast of characters interesting people the reader will relish spending time with, and Corinna herself, a complex and worthy heroine. FORBIDDEN FRUIT is the fifth in the Corinna Chapman bread baker series. The cover states this is a "chick-lit thriller" but I would define this series as Cosy Mystery, with modern elements. These novels are like luxurious gourmet Chocolates for the mind in a field awash in Brach's candy.
The only horrible thing to say to about this book is the cover, which depicts a skull with what appears to be blood dripping out of the mouth. The print is a simple block type in lime green on a dark background. It looks cheap and tacky and is completely inappropriate to the story inside. It is really too bad as Kerry Greenwood is an author whose works are to be savored and collected, and this cover is truly awful. I hope it does not stop too many readers from discovering the treasure inside. Fortunately for me, I discovered this series with the third book, DEVIL'S FOOD (2006), which has a lovely cover. I think the publishers are trying to sabotage this series with this cover (and the previous book's TRICK OR TREAT (2007) cover) but I hope that enough readers will ignore the horrid cover and keep this series going for a long long time. More Corinna Chapman please!