COOKING THE BOOKS

Cooking The Books by Kerry Greenwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is summer in Melbourne, Australia and baker Corinna Chapman has closed her shop, Earthly Delights for a few weeks in order to have a vacation. That surely wouldn't work in my neck of the woods but it is a detail that reminds the reader that there are other exciting and different places in the world.


Amidst the hot northern wind that the Aussie's have no name for but many others do, like mistral, khamsin, sirocco or Santa Ana's mischief and mayhem is bound to occur because tempers get hot, people are uncomfortable and emotions are stirred. A Chinese friend of Corinna's calls it Dragon's Breath which is very apt.

Flinders Street Station

Corinna is a little bored with her vacation and helps an old school friend out by helping her in her job as a caterer for a new TV soap about a wedding planner. Some funny and some not so funny things are happening on the set and Corinna is on the spot to help her partner Daniel, a PI who has been asked to find the culprits who are behind the pranks. Daniel is also working on another case of stolen bonds so the days and nights are filled with mysteries. There are several other sub-plots that keeps the reader alert.

Parliament House, Melbourne

In the case of the bonds the duo are following clues based on nursery rhymes and other literary references. It is this that gives this book a lift because I always like a variety of mental stimulations. I had known that many nursery rhymes had meanings reflecting the times in which they were born but I got a lovely mini-education about the rhymes. Just my cup of tea or cupcake as the case may be. Following the clues I used Google images to see what Corinna and Daniel were visiting and this further enhanced my enjoyment of this book.