A very heavenly read.
I enjoyed getting to know all the characters in the story. Insula seems to a very interesting place to live with different names for each apartment and the people (who are definitely of interest) who occupy them. The story was easy to read and kept my interest and guessing though out. Kerry Greenwood does have a way with phrases.
Rated of 5
by Joyce (Rochester MN)
Heavenly Pleasures Heavenly Pleasures is a good summer read. It is one of a series, "A Corinna Chapman Mystery" written by Kerry Greenwood. Corinna runs a bakery called Earthly Delights on the corner of Flinders Lane and Calico Alley in the city of Melbourne. She lives above the bakery in a Roman apartment house with mosaics and Roman names for all the apartments.
The other tenants in the building and shopkeepers on the street are delightful characters of all ages; e.g. a retired professor, two "goth" girls, a witch (who does fortunes), a woman of wealth and refinement, a computer genius and a multitude of felines with their own personalities. Daniel, a detective, is Corinna's lover and is hired by the sisters who own the chocolate shop "Heavenly Pleasures" to find the person injecting chili sauce and soy sauce in their candy.
If you like quirky, funny characters who help each other in times of need, you will enjoy this book. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith should try this series.
Rated of 5
by Cathy (Fort Wayne IN)
Hungry to the End
Kerry Greenwood's Heavenly Pleasures is a reading appetite pleaser if you are a fan of mysteries involving solving crimes while the protagonist is cooking, baking and of course eating. The plot is not hard to follow or figure out, but this easy read is humorous, sometimes touching and delicious to the end!
Rated of 5
by Carla (Houston TX)
Made me crave bread and chocolate
At first I was overwhelmed by all the character descriptions the author threw at you in the very beginning but as the book actually introduced the character into the story line it was easier to follow. The main plot of the book was thrown at the reader in the first 20 pages and then not talked about for another 25.
I kept wondering if maybe I was wrong and that wasn’t the key plot. Again as the story continued to develop it made more sense. This is why I always tell my book club members you have to read at least 50-75 pages before you decide whether you like or dislike a book. The author’s darn description of the breads, muffins and the chocolates made me hungry. Made me want to run to Panera Bakery and buy some bread since I don’t make my own. I loved finding the recipes in the back of the book.
I would recommend this book to my friends. The book overall was an enjoyable read. It kind of reminds me of the Diane Mott Davidson Mystery books about Goldie the caterer.
Rated of 5
by Patricia (Richmond VA)
Heavenly Pleasures
Being a devotee of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher, it was with great anticipation that I started reading Heavenly Pleasures. While an enjoyable read, the characters weren't as well defined (perhaps because there were so many of them) nor the plot as crisp as I expect from Ms. Greenwood. She is very good at setting the atmosphere and the feeling one might have being in Sydney in the fall on rainy evening but her plot in this particular book got lost among the characters, and the time and place. Perhaps this is simply a book for the beachbag and a summer's day entertainment but not one that will likely remain on one's "favorites" list.
Rated of 5
by Carol (San Jose CA)
HEAVENLY PLEASURES
A buxom baker and her handsome Israeli investigator boyfriend, Daniel, solve a series of crimes – that’s Heavenly Pleasures, the second installment of Kerry Greenwood’s series featuring, Corinna Chapman, a former accountant who has opted for the more sedate life of a baker. Having left her driven husband and high-pressure job, she opens Earthly Delights, a bakery in Melbourne. A unique Roman-style apartment house, Insular, provides lodgings for her, her cat Horatio and a diverse bunch of neighbors.
What do the house’s mysterious new tenants, a lady of taste and style and an ultra-private man, have in common with a case of sabotaged chocolates? Who is sneaking chili sauce into the chocolates at the nearby chocolate shop in an attempt to ruin the reputation of its two owners – sisters, Juliet and Vivienne Lefebvre? Corinna's old financial world contacts, Daniel's criminal world contacts, and the apartment’s helpful fellow tenants all come up with clues that help bring the case to a satisfying resolution. The fun here is simply watching a charming, rather amply bodied amateur sleuth solve a couple of mysteries and manage her hectic life.
The cast of characters is an eclectic, quirky, and entertaining bunch; however, this reader definitely felt at a disadvantage for not having read the previous book. It would have made getting into the "meat" of the book less difficult and certainly would have helped this reader to keep the charmingly quirky characters and the heroine’s beloved cats straight.
Rated of 5
by Andrea (Lafayette IN)
Heavenly Pleasures
A good book for a reader looking for diversion. Greenwood creates an interesting world surrounding her heroine, Corinna, the baker, but I felt the development of the mystery was weak. There were many inside references to Australian culture that I found hard to understand and made me feel I was missing much.
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