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Summary
Summary
"Like Corinna's earlier adventures, this episode is cleverly written and chock full of charming characters, interesting puzzles and luscious descriptions of food with appended recipes." --Kirkus Reviews
Corinna Chapman, owner of the bakery Earthly Delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive in Melbourne, Australia, where Christmas is a summer festival. Corinna is a perfect size 20 with a genius for baking bread. And while dreaming of air-conditioned comfort, she finds herself dealing with a rose-addicted donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant seeking the definitive glacé cherry recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe, and the luscious Daniel with whom she would like to spend a lot more time.
But Daniel is on the track of two runaways, Brigid and Manny. Their Romeo-and-Juliet romance is not as straightforward as it seems, and the pair will go a long way to avoid being found. With the help of a troupe of free-spirited "freegans," three very clever internet hackers, and a bunch of singing vegans, Corinna and Daniel go head-to-head with a sinister religious cult on a mission and a band of Romanies out for revenge in a wild and wonderful chase against the clock.
Author Notes
Kerry Greenwood was born in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray and after wandering far and wide, she returned to live there. She has degrees in English and Law from Melbourne University and was admitted to the legal profession on the 1st April 1982, a day which she finds both soothing and significant. Kerry has written three series, a number of plays, including The Troubadours with Stephen D'Arcy, is an award-winning children's writer and has edited and contributed to several anthologies. The Phryne Fisher series (pronounced Fry-knee, to rhyme with briny) began in 1989 with Cocaine Blues which was a great success. Kerry has written twenty books in this series with no sign yet of Miss Fisher hanging up her pearl-handled pistol. Kerry says that as long as people want to read them, she can keep writing them. In 2003 Kerry won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Association.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Those who care more for food than crime-solving will best appreciate Australian author Greenwood's fifth comic mystery featuring Melbourne baker Corinna Chapman (after 2009's Trick or Treat). Corinna remains ecstatically involved with her lover, PI Daniel Cohen, who winds up on the trail of two 16-year-old runaways, Brigid O'Ryan and Manny Lake, though Brigid and Manny's respective parents disagree whether the pair went off together. Greenwood throws some militant vegans and freegans as well as a donkey with a taste for rosewater-infused muffins into the plot, but the pieces fail to coalesce as they do in her superior Phryne Fisher series (Cocaine Blues, etc.), in which she deftly balances humor and suspense. In this series, setups are more farcical than funny, and some may grow weary of Corinna's frequent editorializing about one food item or another she's just eaten. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A talented baker and her circle of unusual friends find themselves with a puzzle to solve that echoes many of the features of a much earlier Christmas story.Earthly Delights is the bakery where Corinna Chapman, a perfect size 20, turns out wonderful bread and where her assistant Jason is the wizard of muffins. The latest assignment for Corinna's private-eye lover Daniel is to locate Brigid, the pregnant daughter of a wealthy couple. The religious convictions of Brigid's mother made her life and her sister's tightly circumscribed until Brigid ran off with Manny, one of the family gardeners. Though Corinna is not fond of either Christmas or the scorching Melbourne summer, there's no lack of diversions this time. She and several of her friends in Insala, the Roman-style apartment house they call home, get sucked into the adventures of some singing vegans temporarily staying in Insala, a troupe of freegans who are a big help in Daniel's search, and Serena, a rosewater muffin-loving donkey whose owner thinks Corinna's friend Meroe is a black witch. Following some wild chases through the streets in search of the missing pair, Corinna, Daniel and company must solve an unpleasant puzzle before anyone can have a happy holiday.Like Corinna's earlier adventures (Trick or Treat, 2009, etc.), this episode is cleverly written and chock full of charming characters, interesting puzzles and luscious descriptions of food with appended recipes.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Midsummer in Melbourne finds baker and amateur sleuth Corinna Chapman battling the heat and the Christmas crowds as she and PI boyfriend Daniel hunt for two missing teenagers, one heavily pregnant. Meanwhile, a sweet donkey with a taste for rosewater keeps knocking on the back door, which makes a nice contrast to the militant vegans who have taken to practicing Christmas carols in Corinna's friend Insulata's rooftop garden and who disapprove of companion animals. This light and cozy series continues its focus on food, friends, and animals. Yet the dark side of modern society is never absent as Corinna and Daniel volunteer to work on the Soup Run for the homeless of Melbourne. Among the many food-focused cozies, this one continues to rank near the top. Recommend it, especially, to fans of Diane Mott Davidson's Goldy Bear Catering series; Corinna is less hysterical than Goldy but equally caffeine obsessed.--Moyer, Jessica Copyright 2010 Booklist
