Heavenly Pleasures

By Kerry Greenwood

Book Overview

Corinna Chapman wakes at four every morning to make bread. She's happy with her life. The residents of her little Melbourne community finally caught the rotten man sending those "scarlet woman" letters. The former addict she rescued from her alleyway, Jason, is shaping into a good apprentice. And her beautiful Israeli lover, Daniel, who has been away for the last couple of weeks, is as enchanting as ever. Corinna has no intention of doing any more investigative work...until she bites into what should have been a lovely violet cream gourmet chocolate and instead chomps a chili-filled catastrophe. Could someone want Heavenly Pleasures, her friends' chocolate shop, to fail? Is this tasteless tampering part of an elaborate and horrible joke? Or is it a warning that worse is to come? Then Daniel returns bruised and battered from a run-in with a so-called messiah. Could the assailant be involved in the chocolate crime as well? And who is the mysterious man who has moved into the upper apartment?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590584260
• ISBN13: 9781590584262
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 241 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Libraries strong in mysteries will find this a winner

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

Good Taste . . . Bad Taste

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.

Sinfully Fun to Read

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!