Trick or Treat
A Corinna
Chapman Mystery
Kerry
Greenwood
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-532-1 (1590585321)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-532-0 (9781590585320)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): When a cut-price franchise bakery opens its doors just
down the street from Earthly Delights and crowds flock to purchase the
bread, Corinna Chapman is understandably nervous. Meanwhile, the
gorgeous Daniel's old friend Georgiana Hope has temporarily set up
residence in his house, and it doesn't take Corinna long to work out
that she's tall, blonde, gorgeous and up to something. Daniel is making
excuses and Corinna is worried about his absences and also the strange
outbreak of madness which seems to be centred on Lonsdale Street.
Will Corinna win through a maze of health regulations, missing
boyfriends, sinister strangers, fraudulent companies and back-alley
ambushes? Or will this be the end for the Earthly Delights Bakery?
Review: There is
trouble in the Melbourne neighborhood where the Earthly Delights bakery
is located, and for its owner Corinna Chapman, when a franchised
competitor selling baked goods and pastries at cut-rate prices opens
its doors just down the street, in Trick
or Treat, the fourth mystery in this series by Kerry Greenwood.
Corinna is beleaguered with situations most out of the ordinary. Not
only has this new bakery opened, leaving her with too many baked goods
and too few customers, Georgiana Hope, a to-die-for tall, slender,
gorgeous woman (everything Corinna isn't) has shown up and taken
residence in the home of her lover Daniel. Daniel insists he has no
feelings for Georgiana, but that's little comfort to Corinna.
Especially when Daniel disappears for hours at a time, and won't tell
her where he's been. And now a mysterious substance has been found in
the flour that Corinna uses, an ingredient rumored to cause madness in
those who consume it. (The good news, if it can be characterized as
such, is that the new bakery is also a victim.) Closed by the health
authorities to investigate its origins, Corinna turns her attention to
yet another problem: people are being assaulted in the alley behind
Earthly Delights. When she reopens (if she reopens?) she wants to
ensure a safe environment for her customers. But there's also (and
still) the mystery of why Georgiana has shown up ... and the onset of
Daniel's odd behavior; the two events simply cannot be coincidental.
Trick or Treat can be
read as a comedic mystery or a mysterious comedy, as it has effectively
combined elements of both into a winning formula. It's a first rate
mystery with laugh-out-loud moments. Corinna is a bit more mellow here
than in previous outings, and maybe just a tad less cynical, a
decidedly favorable improvement on her character. The secondary
characters, in particular the tenants of her apartment building, still
retain their edge but seem less quirky, more appealing. Trick or Treat is a highly
entertaining novel, and clearly the best of the series to date.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Trick or Treat and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Trick or Treat? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Earthly Delights
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59058-393-0 (1590583930)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-393-7 (9781590583937)
Heavenly Pleasures
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), June 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-426-0 (1590584260)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-426-2 (9781590584262)
Devil's Food
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), May 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-428-7 (1590584287)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-428-6 (9781590584286)
Trick or Treat
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-532-1 (1590585321)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-532-0 (9781590585320)
Omnimystery keywords for Trick or Treat ...
Location(s) referenced: Melbourne, Australia.
