Forbidden Fruit, Kerry Greenwood
Aunt Agatha over at Death in the Stacks recently posted a list of mysteries with a Christmas theme or setting. That's the kind of thing that always sends me off to my own shelves, to see which of the books I have, or if I can add to the list. Among the latter is Kerry Greenwood's Forbidden Fruit. I took it off the shelf just to make sure I had the title right, but I ended up leafing through it. After reading a page here and there, and realizing that I'd forgotten some of the story, I added it to my own personal Christmas mayhem reading list.
This is the fifth book in Greenwood's series featuring Corinna Chapman, who runs a bakery, Earthly Delights, in Melbourne (I posted about the sixth book, Cooking the Books, back in March). A zaftig woman very comfortable with herself, Corinna lives above her bakery in a building that combines flats and shops, modeling an ancient Roman insula. The other residents, some of whom also own businesses in the building, sometimes involve her in mysteries. At other times she is drawn into helping her gorgeous boyfriend Daniel, a private investigator. The cases often involve missing persons and generally fall on the cozy side of the spectrum - though one of the residents is a dominatrix who runs a very select dungeon, one which Corinna and Daniel have visited on occasion, and Corinna's Melbourne has the problems of many cities, including a large homeless population.
This book is set during the Christmas season, in the midst of a very hot summer. The weather does not improve Corinna's slightly "bah humbug" approach to the holiday, particularly its commercialism and the endless carols playing everywhere (I complimented a bank employee today on the lack of carols in their branch). Daniel's case here involves a high school student who has vanished from her parents' home, where she has been sequestered since her pregnancy was discovered. Corinna also spends a lot of time in the bakery, where she and her apprentice Jason are turning out special holiday breads, cakes and muffins. As usual, I was left wishing for a version of Earthly Delights here in Houston.
As always, Corinna works out a solution to the case, but for me the real pleasure is in the characters and their interactions. I've said before that I'd love to sit down for a cup of tea with Corinna, to talk about favorite books and characters among other things. In this book she quotes Stephen Maturin; later she and Daniel spend an afternoon reading Terry Pratchett aloud (given the season, I'm sure they were reading Hogfather). I'm going to be very disappointed, when and if I ever get to Melbourne, not to find Earthly Delights in Calico Alley.
If you're looking for a little holiday mayhem in good company, to my mind you can't do better than Forbidden Fruit.
Showing posts with label Corinna Chapman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corinna Chapman. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
A baker's holiday
Cooking the Books, Kerry Greenwood
When I signed up for the TBR Double-dare, this was the only new book that I claimed an exemption for. I found out too late about two other books published the very same day, both eagerly-awaited, C.S Harris's When Maidens Mourn (the latest in a series of Regency mysteries) and Naomi Novik's Crucible of Gold (the latest in a series sometimes described as Patrick O'Brian with dragons). Both are now sitting right here as I type, tempting me.
It's been a long wait for Cooking the Books, the sixth in Kerry Greenwood's series of Corinna Chapman books. The last, Forbidden Fruits, came out in 2010, and the North American release of this new book comes months after it was published last year in Australia. Having to wait for this book made me realize again how spoiled I have become, with the global reach of internet buying.
Cooking the Books is a welcome addition to the series. Set in Melbourne, they feature Corinna, who gave up a career in accounting to become a master bread baker. She has a very successful bakery called Earthly Delights, and in her spare time she solves crimes with her stunning Israeli partner Daniel, a private investigator. Corinna lives above her shop, which is on the ground floor of Insula, an apartment building modeled on one from ancient Rome. The other tenants, some of whom also own businesses in the ground-floor shops, are sometimes clients and sometimes partners in investigation. They form a surrogate family, and it is always a pleasure to meet them, and their cats, again.
This book actually takes Corinna out of her familiar setting for much of the story. It opens just after Christmas, when the bakery is closed for a month-long holiday. A request from an old school friend, which quickly turns into friendly blackmail, leads Corinna to accept a temporary job as a baker for a catering company. The company is providing the food for a film crew working on a TV soap about a wedding planning business. Daniel, meanwhile, is helping a young intern at a financial company who has mislaid a set of bearer bonds worth $1 million. When Corinna discovers that someone at the studio is playing vicious pranks on the Joan Collins-esque star, Daniel is brought in to investigate that as well, and as usual the cases begin to overlap. In addition to the familiar characters, there is the cast and crew of the soap, as well as the caterers, and all the backstage drama they bring. Corinna and Daniel also spend a lot of time out and about in Melbourne, tracking a mysterious set of clues, based in nursery rhymes and songs, to locate the bearer bonds.
I have enjoyed every book in this series. I suppose they would qualify as cozy, since there is little violence, though the urban setting is anything but pastoral. Corinna's apprentice Jason is a former street kid, a recovering addict, and in this book as in others the city's homeless play an important part in the story. On the other hand, the surrogate family of the tenants makes Insula a refuge. Corinna, a zaftig woman comfortable with herself, is someone I'd love to sit down and have a cup of tea with, and I'd really like to wander into her shop for some of her bread. I am always hungry reading these books (Greenwood includes recipes in the afterwords and on her website). We could definitely chat about books over tea, since Corinna is a fan of Georgette Heyer, Patrick O'Brian and Terry Pratchett, among others (not to mention Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who).
When I signed up for the TBR Double-dare, this was the only new book that I claimed an exemption for. I found out too late about two other books published the very same day, both eagerly-awaited, C.S Harris's When Maidens Mourn (the latest in a series of Regency mysteries) and Naomi Novik's Crucible of Gold (the latest in a series sometimes described as Patrick O'Brian with dragons). Both are now sitting right here as I type, tempting me.
It's been a long wait for Cooking the Books, the sixth in Kerry Greenwood's series of Corinna Chapman books. The last, Forbidden Fruits, came out in 2010, and the North American release of this new book comes months after it was published last year in Australia. Having to wait for this book made me realize again how spoiled I have become, with the global reach of internet buying.
Cooking the Books is a welcome addition to the series. Set in Melbourne, they feature Corinna, who gave up a career in accounting to become a master bread baker. She has a very successful bakery called Earthly Delights, and in her spare time she solves crimes with her stunning Israeli partner Daniel, a private investigator. Corinna lives above her shop, which is on the ground floor of Insula, an apartment building modeled on one from ancient Rome. The other tenants, some of whom also own businesses in the ground-floor shops, are sometimes clients and sometimes partners in investigation. They form a surrogate family, and it is always a pleasure to meet them, and their cats, again.
This book actually takes Corinna out of her familiar setting for much of the story. It opens just after Christmas, when the bakery is closed for a month-long holiday. A request from an old school friend, which quickly turns into friendly blackmail, leads Corinna to accept a temporary job as a baker for a catering company. The company is providing the food for a film crew working on a TV soap about a wedding planning business. Daniel, meanwhile, is helping a young intern at a financial company who has mislaid a set of bearer bonds worth $1 million. When Corinna discovers that someone at the studio is playing vicious pranks on the Joan Collins-esque star, Daniel is brought in to investigate that as well, and as usual the cases begin to overlap. In addition to the familiar characters, there is the cast and crew of the soap, as well as the caterers, and all the backstage drama they bring. Corinna and Daniel also spend a lot of time out and about in Melbourne, tracking a mysterious set of clues, based in nursery rhymes and songs, to locate the bearer bonds.
I have enjoyed every book in this series. I suppose they would qualify as cozy, since there is little violence, though the urban setting is anything but pastoral. Corinna's apprentice Jason is a former street kid, a recovering addict, and in this book as in others the city's homeless play an important part in the story. On the other hand, the surrogate family of the tenants makes Insula a refuge. Corinna, a zaftig woman comfortable with herself, is someone I'd love to sit down and have a cup of tea with, and I'd really like to wander into her shop for some of her bread. I am always hungry reading these books (Greenwood includes recipes in the afterwords and on her website). We could definitely chat about books over tea, since Corinna is a fan of Georgette Heyer, Patrick O'Brian and Terry Pratchett, among others (not to mention Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Doctor Who).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)