Corinna Chapman detests Christmas. In Melbourne, Australia, where Christmas is a summer festival, the shoppers are frantic and the heat is oppressive. While she dreams of air conditioning and deals with the advances of a rosewater-addicted donkey, Corinna's private eye boyfriend, Daniel, is on the trail of a couple of young star-crossed runaways. Assisted by a troupe of free-spirited freegans, three very clever hackers and a vegan chorus, Corinna and Daniel go head-to-head with a sinister religious cult, and a band of Romanies out for revenge.Forbidden Fruit—the fifth Corinna Chapman mystery—is a wild and wonderful chase against the (biological) clock.