Trick or Treat

July 6, 2009
Australian author Greenwood’s winning fourth Corinna Chapman mystery (after 2009’s Devil’s Food
) boasts a large, eclectic cast of friends and associates of the hefty Melbourne baker, starting with Corinna’s handsome and mysterious Israeli boyfriend, Daniel Cohen. Intriguing supporting players include apprentice baker Jason, an ex-heroin addict; aspiring actresses Kylie and Goss, who work in Corinna’s bakery, Earthly Delights, while awaiting their big break; Mistress Dread, who runs an s&m shop; Meroe, a witch who operates Sibyl’s Cave; and many, many cats. A gathering of witches in Melbourne to celebrate Samhain; a man named Barnabas who calls himself “king of the witches”; a rash of bad drug reactions; a cache of valuables stolen from Greek Jews during WWII; and the appearance of Daniel’s beautiful and svelte former girlfriend, Georgiana Hope, add up to a rich confection that nicely balances humor, villainy and a puzzle.

July 1, 2009
Corinna Chapman's bakery and her boyfriend both come under siege.

Corinna (Devil's Food, 2008, etc.) is understandably upset when a"hot bread shop" opens just down the street in Melbourne from Earthly Delights. The chain store's product is inferior to hers, but its prices much cheaper. Even more upsetting is the"old friend" who's come to visit Corinna's lover Daniel: stunning blonde Georgiana, who apparently has her eye on both Daniel and Earthly Delights. Meanwhile, seemingly ordinary people are going crazy and jumping off buildings in the neighborhood. The police close all shops serving food when they discover that an ergot fungus is the cause. All Corinna's friends from Insula, the unusual Roman-style apartment house where she lives, rally round to provide comfort to the stricken Earthly Delights bakers, who fear that bad rye mistakenly delivered to but not used by them is the source of the ergot. Corinna's friend, the powerful witch Meroe, has her own troubles; she doesn't approve of the carryings-on by some of the Wiccans gathered in Melbourne for Samhain celebrations. Daniel, a private investigator, is pursuing treasures stolen by Nazis from the Jews of Greece, and the case heats up when several valuable pieces turn up underwater at the witches' camping area. As the two plots converge, Corinna and Daniel combine their sleuthing abilities to identify the fiendish malefactor.

Working a case loosely based on a true story, Corinna and her friends are as delightful as ever, the killer a surprise and the appended recipes a treat.

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