An Untidy Death
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
When the body of a prospective client is discovered in her burned-out home, declutterer Ellen Curtis is drawn into a baffling investigation where nothing is as it first appears.
“My mother’s going to kill herself . . . That is, if I don’t kill her first.”
When Alexandra Richards approaches professional declutterer Ellen Curtis to ask her to help sort out her mother’s chaotic flat, Ellen gets the impression Alexandra doesn’t like her mother very much. But when Ingrid Richards’ body is discovered in her burned-out home, Alexandra’s exasperated words don’t seem such a joke.
Due to the hazardous state of the victim’s over-cluttered residence, the police are inclined to dismiss her death as an unfortunate accident. Ellen’s not so sure. Could Alexandra’s resentment towards her mother have escalated into outright violence? The more she discovers about the dead woman’s remarkable past, the more convinced Ellen becomes that there’s something decidedly suspicious about her death.
At least she can console herself that clearing out widower Edward Finch’s bungalow will be a straightforward job in comparison. But in this assumption, Ellen couldn’t be more wrong . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar finalist Brett's diverting sequel to 2020's The Clutter Corpse opens with Alexandra Richards asking Ellen Curtis, the kind, empathetic owner of a decluttering company called SpaceWoman in Chichester, England, to visit her mother, Ingrid Richards, a former journalist, as Alexandra believes the woman's apartment has become a fire hazard. Ellen does so and realizes that the stacks of newspapers and books are merely a "personal filing system," as Ingrid is in the throes of writing a new book. Ellen goes on to her to her next client, who casually informs her that he has murdered his wife. Later, while still pondering the veracity of that remark, she learns that Ingrid has indeed died in a fire in her apartment. Convinced that Ingrid has been murdered, Ellen sets out to investigate. (The other client, as it happens, was just trying to get a rise out of her.) Brett has a gift for creating vivid, complex characters, and he gently massages in teaching moments about clinical depression (Ellen's manic-depressive husband died by suicide, for instance) and psychological triggers for hoarders. Despite a pretty obvious motive and murderer, cozy fans will be delighted.
