Customer Reviews

Forbidden Fruit (Corinna Chapman)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"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!

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.

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!

It is the Christmas season in Melbourne, Australia and a stifling heat wave bakes the city as Corinna Chapman operates her bakery, Earthly Delights. Corinna detests the season, along with the shopping, the crowds and the festival. Mixed in with making bread and rolls and other tasty goods in a Corinna Chapman novel, of which this is the fifth, there is always a mystery to be unraveled.

It is left to Corinna and her sabra [Israeli born] lover, Daniel, to find two missing teenagers, one of whom is a 16-year-old pregnant girl, assisted by all sorts of characters including a strange bunch of "freegans," vegetarians who proclaim to be free souls. Thus we have the setting of a modern-day manger story, along with a stray donkey and assorted other animals.

Throw in carolers who sing of cooler temperatures and violent actions, and a sinister religious cult, together with a wild chase scene, and you have the makings of another fine story from the author who also has given us the charming Phryne Fisher series.

Recommended.

While this is the 5th book in the series, it was the first one that I read. When I found it I had never heard of this author but was intrigued by the cover. I thought it was going to be another paranormal book with vampires or werewolves or something of the sort that is so abundant lately and are easy breezy to read; however, I found a gem instead and am glad I picked it up!

The characters are well developed and you really miss them when the book is over. Feels like you lost a friend and then had to find another in the series to see what they are up to! I can't wait to read more!

If it was sold in a Kindle version, I would snap it up and read it again!

I found this series by accident when I picked up an audiobook version of Devil's Food. Immediately fell in love with Corinna and the whole cast of characters in Insula. Forbidden Fruit is a clever story with themes that you ordinarily would not find in most mysteries and a clever twist on a Christmas story. The storyline is cohesive and believable. I love the series for it's lack of graphic violence. So often there are novels that describe murder and violence in every vivid detail. It's refreshing to read a well-written mystery that does not involve a corpse.

Now, if only we can get the Forbidden Fruit audiobook, narrated by the talented Louise Siversen.

Forbidden Fruit is Kerry Greenwood's fifth novel in the Corinna Chapman series, and features all our favourite characters from the Earthly Delights bakery and Insula, plus a few new ones. Corinna is suffering the December heat and dreading the Christmas chaos; the delectable Daniel is on the hunt for a pair of teenage runaways, the girl heavily pregnant; Jason is on a quest for the perfect glacé cherry, falls in love with a blonde and becomes the temporary carer of a large Dutch rabbit; resident witch Meroe threatens to curse a few offensive characters; Horatio performs with his usual feline grace and Heckle of the Mouse Police performs a manoeuvre that makes his a starring role; also featured are the Freegans (living on free food and accommodation as they can), the carolling choristers incorporating a few animal libbers, a sect of fanatical "Christians", some gypsies and a rosewater-addicted donkey. A few charming Christmas analogies appear. Mouth-watering muffins and cakes abound; one can almost smell the bread baking. As with all the Corinna novels, this one is a delight to read, will leave the reader feeling good and probably the best so far. Readers will be looking forward to "Cooking the Books" to continue their Corinna fix.

This Corrina Chapman Mystery is fun and amusing with just enough dark depth to carry the plot. Set in Australia during the heat of their Christmas season, Corrina finds herself in the center of intrigue and mystery surrounding a modern day Virgin-Mary-runaway. While Corrina runs her bakery, fostering and mentoring a former wayward soul, her boyfriend Daniel searches for the runaway girl and the gardner's son she disappeared with. Filled with quirky characters with as many flaws as virtues, the reader celebrates along with Corrina and her crew, striving for religious tolerance during the pinnacle of Christian celebrations, all while enduring heat, drought, and fierce winds at Christmas time (Yucky, I'd definately be dreaming of a White Christmas!).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 [...] : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I love that Corinna Chapman books and this is a good one. That said, I'm puzzled by the American marketing of this book. Why a skull on the cover when this is a missing person mystery? Why not time it for the Holiday market?

Despite the lack of dead bodies and suspense (the cover is an gruesome choice for a book that does not feature a skeleton), this latest (5th in the series) book in Kerry Greenwood's Corinna Chapman series is a delight. Corinna is a witty, well-read baker of breads and muffins in downtown Melbourne Australia. She lives in an apartment building, Insula, with a cast of truly remarkable characters and an assortment of unique cats, most of which figure in the action of this book.

Corinna is a well-adjusted, happy, plus-sized heroine with a delicious Israeli boyfriend, Daniel, and an ex-heroin addict assistant, Jason, who lapses into Hornblowerese while baking his memorable assortment of muffins. The mystery involves locating a missing pregnant teenager and her boyfriend. In the course of the investigation the reader is given glimpses of Xmas celebration in Australia, the day-to-day life of a baker, and a host of litarary aalusions, from Chesterton to Lehrer.

This was the first book of Greenwood's that I have read - but I acquired all the earlier books in this series before I got halfway through it and plan to read Greenwood's other series of books after finishing these. Take the time to discover these books for yourself - you will be enchanted. I deducted one star from perfection as the mystery is so over-shadowed by the unusual assortment of characters as be to be non-existent. But I will be first in line to read the next book in the series when Ms. Greenwood sees fit to write it!