Heavenly Pleasures: A Corinna Chapman Mystery (Hardcover)

by Kerry Greenwood (Author)

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: 243 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590584260
• ISBN-13: 978-1590584262
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #236,584 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sinfully Fun to Read, June 24, 2008

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (3/08)

At first glance, you might assume that Corinna Chapman has a boring life. She is a baker that resides among elderly people. At second glance though, you learn that she has an assistant that is newly recovering from his heroin addiction. She also has two anorexic actresses helping out at her shop. Plus, the people she resides among are eccentric and so are all of their cats. She also has a sexy Israeli lover named Daniel. Life is definitely more interesting for Corinna than one would expect.

Heavenly Pleasures is an incredible chocolate shop located near the bakery. Two sisters run it. They are very distressed to report that somebody is tampering with their delightful desserts. This is hurting their business. Investigating further into their lives, Corinna learns that an employee has disappeared. She comes from a very strong cultural background and has fallen in love with an Asian man. There is also an unscrupulous assistant who seems to know more than he is telling. Corinna also is suspicious about a mysterious man who has moved into her apartment building. His presence seems to be putting them all at risk and endangering the cats. She has a lot on her plate.

"Heavenly Pleasures" is a delightful, laugh-out-loud tale. I totally enjoyed reading the exploits of Corinna. Her need to get involved, and help solve the mysteries presented, is not always appreciated and puts the people around her in danger. The relationships that she has with her cats and the people closest to her are heartwarming. While she is trying to solve the mysteries, she is also learning a great deal about herself. Her relationship with Daniel provides her with a lot of lessons in learning to trust and in learning to accept her self for how she is. This is really a fun book to read and the perfect gift for mystery fans, especially if they are cat lovers. The recipes in the back of "Heavenly Pleasures" put the perfect icing on the cake. My stomach growled my whole way through the story!

1 of 1 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

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.

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

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