Heavenly Pleasures (Corinna Chapman Mysteries)
Starred Review. Lose all thought of New Year's diets, you who enter Australian author Greenwood's delectable second Corinna Chapman cozy (after 2007'sEarthly 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)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.