The Spotted Dog

July 29, 2019
In Australian author Greenwood’s busy seventh mystery featuring baker Corinna Chapman (after 2012’s Cooking the Books), several unusual incidents in Corinna’s Melbourne neighborhood trouble her. The cherished dog that saved the life of a Scottish soldier in Afghanistan is stolen; the computers of a Greek café are hacked and pornography left behind; and the homes of Corinna and her neighbor, professor Dion Monk, are burgled. Signs seem to indicate that people are searching for a religious artifact, but Corinna is puzzled as to why she has been singled out and uneasy about hints of a criminal gang’s involvement and the professor’s activities. One traumatized character is unable to speak, but the narrative presents a unique way of conveying her voice that builds suspense. Though the novel is light on actual detection, the action reaches a tense climax. Readers will enjoy warmhearted Corinna’s stout defense of the vulnerable and welcome the chance to spend time with the baker and her eccentric circle of friends.

Starred review from August 1, 2019
A missing dog, a series of break-ins, and several dangerous gangs provide a jam-packed agenda for Melbourne baker/sleuth Corinna Chapman and Daniel Cohen, her tall, dark, handsome, and dangerous Israeli lover. The delightfully laid-back Corinna (Cooking the Books, 2012, etc.) and her talented apprentice, reformed junkie Jason, are up early baking for her shop, Earthly Delights, when retired Sgt. Alastair Sinclair arrives and swiftly collapses, but not before showing Corinna a note from her friend Sister Mary saying that Daniel will be able to help him. Sinclair is haunted and exhausted by the loss of Geordie, the sniffing dog companion who served with him in Afghanistan. Unable to fathom a reason for his having been attacked and Geordie stolen, he's come to Daniel for help while Sister Mary has people out on the streets searching. Daniel uses all his connections as a Mossad agent in search of Geordie and the reason for his dognapping. Meanwhile, the peace of Insula--Corinna's unusual apartment house, where mostly charming tenants enjoy spending time sharing food and drink in the magnificent roof garden--is disturbed when the panic alarm goes off in the apartment of professor Monk, a biblical scholar whose neighbors arrive to help guard a captured thief until the police arrive. The putative thief is a young man, a Catholic religious fanatic looking for something he thinks Monk possesses that belongs to the church. When a ninjalike figure breaks into Corinna's home, she furiously attacks him with her umbrella before he manages to knock her out. It's possible that one of the rival gangs may have dognapped Geordie for his sniffing abilities, but Corinna and Daniel are puzzled by the apparently unrelated break-ins. Their sophisticated and ditzy friends, from witches to spies, are lovingly portrayed along with a bounty of food and drink, all sizzling under the summer sun. Sterling prose and captivating characters enhance a topical mystery with surprising undertones out of Dan Brown.

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September 1, 2019
Melbourne, Australia, bakery owner Corinna Chapman and her hunky boyfriend, Daniel, ex-Israeli army and current private investigator, assist British army veteran Alasdair when his ex-service dog, Geordie, is stolen. Soon other mysteries need solving?repeated burglary attempts at Corinna's apartment building and ransomware found on a local business' computer?not to mention the need to help a visiting young woman, Philomela, who is mute due to a devastating tragedy. As Corinna and Daniel begin to connect the various threads, they learn gang wars between two feuding crime families may underlie the mysteries. Bible scholarship, Philomela's efforts to share the events that led to her disability, and a bold rescue lead to the solution of the mysteries. Baking particulars and a nicely detailed setting frame the story in which the smart, empathetic Corinna is surrounded by a large cast of eccentric secondary characters, from the local witch to Corinna's employee, former addict Jason, who treats Corinna as his captain and the bakery as his ship. Fans of the series will be thrilled by Corinna's return after a seven-year absence.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)