Business is booming at Melbourne's Earthly Delights Bakery, life has settled down nicely for Corinna Chapman. She is incredibly contented with Daniel her amazing new boyfriend, Jason her hardworking apprentice who has a talent for producing the most mouth-watering muffins and the supervision is still being undertaken by Horatio, her cat.

Her daily routine of baking bread, rolls and muffins is disrupted when Corinna bites into a chocolate that had been given to her by the owner of the neighbouring Heavenly Pleasures Chocolate shop. Instead of experiencing the to-die-for taste of the exquisite chocolate the shop usually produces, Corinna's taste buds are assaulted by the shocking taste of chilli sauce. Someone had sabotaged the chocolates.

With Daniel who happens to be a private investigator, on hand, Corinna finds herself involved in trying to work out who would want to sabotage a chocolate shop and why.

On top of this little piece of detective work comes a more offbeat sideline for Corinna who, courtesy of her connection to Daniel, gets herself involved in a makeshift exorcism at the local prison. But this is really a distraction for the main game that involves the large, and growing with each book, ensemble cast of eclectic characters who make up the residency of the Insula apartment building.

Joining Mistress Dread, Meroe the Wiccan witch and the very dapper seventy-six year old Professor Monk to name just a few of the regulars who pop in and out comes a mysterious recluse named Mr White and a sprightly old former socialite named Mrs Dawson. Their presence adds a definite air of mystery about the place, particularly when their respective pasts begin to be revealed. Topping things off very appropriately for a novel in the cozy mystery genre are 3 mischievous kittens who seem to demand an inordinate amount of attention and adoration.

This is an extremely relaxed, homey sort of story that revolves around the idyllic lifestyle that Corinna has established for herself. The day to day routine of early morning baking and sales through to an afternoon nap and then aperitif on the roof of her building establishes what an easy, laid back lifestyle she is enjoying. This is used as an effective contrast when trouble is introduced, but then, the introduction is made so gradually that you don't really notice the change until right towards the final few chapters.

The result is that the actual threat, when it comes, feels rather cushioned and unreal when it should have felt much more immediate. The very nature of the book made it difficult to believe that something truly horrible was going to happen to any of these likable characters.

As far as feel-good mysteries go, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Heavenly Pleasures. It moves along at a nice breezy pace and there are always two or three minor stories on the go to ensure that the attention is maintained. This second series by Kerry Greenwood (her long-running Phryne Fisher series being the first) is proving to be very enjoyable fare when you want to kick back, relax and be tempted by all the delicious foods that are described.

As with Earthly Delights, Heavenly Pleasures contains a couple of recipes at the back of the book, one of them, for Orgasmic Chocolate Muffins, just begs to be attempted to see if the name is true.