THE CLUTTER CORPSE

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
In this start of a new series, professional declutterer Ellen Curtis, mother of a grown son and daughter, finds a murdered young woman in a home she's inspecting. The police are quite interested in her, especially when she realizes who the woman was. Ellen had done a large job for the woman's father, but was accused by the daughter of harassing them for money already paid...the money having been deposited into her the daughter's own account. A motive for the murder in the eyes of the police of course! And a good reason for Ellen to do some sleuthing.
This book is more than just a 'cosy'; Ellen is an absolute gem of a character, I love her and her points of view. The decluttering parts are interesting, but even more so are the different reasons why people become hoarders. The mental anguish is portrayed sensitively, as is the subject of mental disease.
Ellen is a strong, caring woman and as we learn of her past, she becomes more and more sympathetic. I really enjoyed this book, the most of any of Mr. Brett's previous books (all of which I enjoyed) and can't wait for the next in the series. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Severn House for a copy of The Clutter Corpse in exchange for an honest review.

This is a clever premise for a cozy mystery series. 

The story takes a while to warm up. The corpse doesn't show up until the very end of chapter two. But after that, the mystery unfolds naturally. Given that Ellen is the one who finds the corpse and has a personal link to her, it makes sense that she wants to figure things out.

That's usually one of the hang-ups I have with cozy mysteries: the amateur sleuth seems to have little to do with the deceased and has no business asking questions. But Brett skirts this issue cleverly as he gives Ellen a personal/professional connection with both the murder victim but also with the suspect. After all, she was supposed to be decluttering the suspect's future home with his hoarder mother. And the victim? Let's just say that Ellen's professional encounter with the young woman left a nasty taste in her mouth. Through Ellen's friends, there are multiple other connections, too. 

Ellen won my sympathy immediately. She doesn't simply declutter a home, send a bill, and move on to the next job. In many cases, she continues a relationship with the recovering hoarder because she knows that though they may have too many possessions, they lack one truly necessary thing: a friend.

Queenie, who collects cats, needs Ellen to listen to her endless cat stories. Ashleigh, a young single mom, needs someone to teach her how to do the practical aspects of mothering. Like, say, throwing away dirty nappies or feeding her beloved child on a regular basis. And then hold her accountable for actually doing it. 

Simon Brett obviously knows about the psychology of hoarders and other mentally ill people. His compassion and understanding of those with hoarding disorder impressed me; he never treats the disease lightly, as if the people are objects of ridicule. Ellen herself has something from her past that haunts her. But she's not a dark character. Rather, she's a practical one who knows that though the past might be tragic, living in it robs today of its joys. That, coupled with her insatiable desire to understand other people, makes her press forward in life.  

The tone is less light-hearted than I expected, given the cozy genre. Considering that Brett touches on issues of mental illness, drug abuse, prisons, and death, though, the relatively serious tone makes sense. However, Ellen's wry quips about her life are funny, and there's plenty of comic relief (especially whenever her melodramatic, competitive mother appears). The book is thoroughly enjoyable. 

Plenty of mysterious tidbits about these intriguing characters suggest that Simon Brett will write  future decluttering mysteries. I'd gladly read more about her surly-sweet friend Dodge, her melodramatic mother Fleur, her two grown children, or even some of Ellen's clients. 

Recommended for those who love cozy mysteries! 4 1/2 stars, rounded up to 5.

(My review will be published on my personal blog on May 25, 2020.)

While I really enjoyed the whodunit aspect of this story, as Brett is a solidly good craftsman in producing interesting murders and a raft of likely suspects, that wasn’t the highlight of this book. For me, what stands with this one is the gripping backstory that unfurls as the book progresses regarding Ellen’s past life. It is a staple of this genre that private investigators often have a lurid past, but they also often bear the war wounds. It generally doesn’t take the reader long to appreciate that our feisty protagonist is lugging around more baggage than your upper-class Victorian explorer – not so this time around.

Ellen’s job of decluttering houses is clearly a second career, as she has two grown-up children and no husband in evidence. There’s nothing unusual in that. She has an edgy relationship with her mother and daughter – nothing unusual in that, either. Brett does a very nice line in difficult female relationships. I enjoy reading of the unexpressed anger simmering between a daughter who feels her mother made a poor job of bringing her up – it’s a dynamic that isn’t often depicted so honestly. I get a tad tired of seeing fictional family members, both in books and on TV, saying all sorts of scaldingly honest and hurtful truths that would in real life mean permanent estrangement, yet next time around, everything seems to be normal.

Not so, here. Ellen keeps her thoughts about her mother’s behaviour to herself. But then, she doesn’t wear her heart on her sleeve at all. She comes across as kind and caring, but also briskly efficient and resourceful. And certainly not a victim – and then as the story wears on, we learn what happened in her marriage and the ongoing consequences of that. And my eyes filled with tears at her sheer gutsy courage and quiet fortitude.
Yes… I know she’s a fictional character, but I’ve fallen for her, hook, line and sinker. Ellen is such a refreshing change in these days where everyone’s emotions are on their sleeves and they share all their gladnesses and sadnesses online.

I also appreciated the supporting cast of characters – particularly Ellen’s mother – and that complicated, beautiful best friend. I’m delighted to have encountered this series, because I know Simon Brett is a prolific author and I’m very much looking forward to reading more intriguing murders in this setting – but above all, I’m desperate to meet up with Ellen, again. Highly recommended for fans of intelligent cosy murder mysteries with an awesome protagonist. While I obtained an arc of The Clutter Corpse from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10

#TheClutterCorpse #NetGalley
I loved the cover of this book. I then read the summary. What a great read! It is a family affair in dealing with murder! A must read for mystery lovers!

I liked this quick and easy to read mystery - a lot lighter than my usual kind of mysteries. I really liked the character of Ellen, and I look forward to looking into the rest of this series.