Heavenly Pleasures

Starred review from April 14, 2008
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.

April 1, 2008
In this second Corinna Chapman adventure (after "Earthly Delights"), the chocolates made by Heavenly Pleasures, a shop in the complex where Chapman runs her bakery, are being sabotaged. Then, a bomb surfaces in the lobby, and Corinna and her boyfriend, an ex-Israeli soldier, go into action. Set in Melbourne, Australia, with a neat cast of wacky characters, this is a pleasure to read. Recipes included. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 2/1/08.]

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2008
Corinna Chapman, the likable Australian baker-sleuth, returns for her second adventure (after Earthly Delights, 2007). Someone has been sabotaging the confections at a friends chocolate shop, and if theres one thing Corinna cant stand, its 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 authors better-known Phryne Fisher mysteries: light, witty, and fast-paced. Add this tasty bonbon to the growing shelf of culinary mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)