Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery [Hardcover]

Kerry Greenwood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

Baker Corinna Chapman is happy with her life. Jason, the former addict she rescued from her alleyway, , is shaping into a good apprentice. And her beautiful Israeli lover, Daniel, though away for the last couple of weeks, is as enchanting as ever.
Corinna has no intention of doing any more investigative work. At least until she bites into what should have been a lovely violet cream gourmet chocolate and instead finds a chili-filled catastrophe.
Corinna doesnt want to see Juliet and Vivienne Lefebvres chocolate shop, Heavenly Pleasures, shut down. And quite frankly, it is just a crime to ruin those gorgeous chocolate confections. Is this tampering part of an elaborate and horrible joke, or is it a warning that worse may yet happen?
In the meantime, Daniel has returned bruised and battered from an encounter with a so-called messiah. Is the messiah somehow involved in this chocolate crime? And just who is the mysterious man who has moved into the upper apartment?
Heavenly Pleasures is the second installment in Kerry Greenwoods Corinna Chapman series.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Lose all thought of New Year's diets, you who enter Australian author Greenwood's delectable second Corinna Chapman cozy (after 2007's Earthly Delights). Corinna, formerly an XL-sized accountant in power suit and kitten heels, runs a downtown Melbourne artisan bakery, attached to a tantalizing Roman-themed apartment building housing a rich assortment of eccentrics. These include leather queen Mistress Dread; Corinna's omnivorous reforming junkie apprentice, Jason; Meroe, a Wiccan witch; Corinna's private zooful of arrogant cats; and Daniel, her gorgeous trout-pool–eyed ex-Israeli soldier lover, who providentially for Corinna adores 'em supersized—and he cooks, too. When someone starts injecting a neighboring shop's lavishly described Belgian chocolates with chili sauce, Corinna leaves kneading for detecting, while Daniel struggles to unmask a slithering, slavering self-proclaimed boy messiah. Greenwood's yeasty soufflé of unlikely but satisfying elements quickly thickens over the top, but who cares—it all just leads to Corinna's recipe for Chocolate Orgasm Muffins. (June)
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From Booklist

Corinna Chapman, the likable Australian baker-sleuth, returns for her second adventure (after Earthly Delights, 2007). Someone has been sabotaging the confections at a friend’s chocolate shop, and if there’s one thing Corinna can’t stand, it’s seeing a friend being victimized. Compicating matters is the recent return of Daniel, her lover, still recovering from an encounter with a self-styled “messiah” who just might be messed up in the chocolate-shop case. The Chapman novels are written in a style similar to the author’s better-known Phryne Fisher mysteries: light, witty, and fast-paced. Add this tasty bonbon to the growing shelf of culinary mysteries. --David Pitt

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590584260
• ISBN-13: 978-1590584262
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,980 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 Good Taste . . . Bad Taste, August 14, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery (Hardcover)

Corinna Chapman, former accountant now baker of bread, has a tendency to find herself in the midst of all kinds of problems, along with her lover, a former Israeli soldier and now private investigator in Melbourne. Things are never dull in the building where she lives and works.

First off are contaminated chocolates, laced with chili or soy sauce, from her friends' chocolate show. Who is trying to harm the women's business--and why? Then there is the self-styled messiah causing trouble with threats of Satanic evil. Then there is the mystery man who recently moved into the building. It's enough to keep a squad of detectives busy.

Best known for her Phryne Fisher series, the author introduced Ms. Chapman in "Earthly Delights", and now follows with a second installment. Perhaps not as eccentric as the Hon. Phryne Fisher, the baker, however, is more earthly and almost true to life. The novel is written in the same plain, simple style as the Fisher series, and is equally entertaining.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Libraries strong in mysteries will find this a winner, September 12, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery (Hardcover)

Corinna wakes at four every morning to bake bread and leads a happy small town life after a wave of investigative challenges - until she bites into what should be a heavenly piece of chocolate made by a friend only to find it's been filled with chilis. Her search for the food tamperer results in a series of increasingly dangerous encounters challenging her investigative skills and life. Libraries strong in mysteries will find it a winner.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch