Publisher's Weekly Review
In Edgar finalist Brett's gentle third Decluttering mystery (after 2021's An Untidy Death), kind and empathetic Ellen Curtis, the owner and sole employee of SpaceWoman, a company in Chichester, England, offering decluttering assistance, is asked by Social Services to bring order to the home of Cedric Waites, a recluse in his late 70s. Over the course of her regular visits, she becomes fond of the old man and is shocked when she arrives one afternoon to find him dead. The autopsy reveals that he was poisoned by something he ate. Ellen's occasional helper, Dodge, who has a deep-seated distrust of the police, becomes a prime suspect. Dodge's running off complicates the situation for Ellen, whose easy narration pulls readers into her visits with her eccentric and often well-read clients, her interactions with her family, and her observations on the unpredictability of life. These interludes may seem extraneous to Ellen's murder investigation, but, in fact, often impart salient information. Ellen's personal problems, such as dealing with a manic depressive grown son, deepen her character along the way to the satisfying conclusion. This book is pure pleasure. Agent: Lisa Moylett, CMM Agency (U.K.). (Dec.)
Booklist Review
What better way to orchestrate a contemporary locked-room mystery than to have the murder victim be a recluse who refuses to open his door to anyone? In the third installment of Brett's ingenious new series, The Decluttering Mysteries, heroine Ellen Curtis--who runs a business specializing in helping clients get rid of stuff that is choking their lives--is the only one with a key to the reclusive man's home. When she finds his body, and after forensics determines that the old man was poisoned, Ellen becomes the prime suspect and must use her access to clear herself. Brett reanimates many features of the Golden Age mystery: an impossible crime, a greatly anticipated will, a full quiver of suspects, and a fiendishly ingenious murder weapon. Brett's heroine, Ellen, who narrates, is funny and sympathetic, with a personal life that mirrors the physical chaos of her clients' homes. Ellen and her two adult children are still beset by the shock of her husband's suicide 10 years ago. Brett layers the old-fashioned puzzle with deep psychological insights into the downward spiral of hoarders and recluses, spirals which can be triggered by any kind of loss and which manifest in compulsive accumulation, a refusal to move on, or reclusiveness: think Miss Havisham in Great Expectations. Not to be missed.
Kirkus Review
Not even the death of a client can keep professional declutterer Ellen Curtis from probing the details of his sorry life. "I get interested in people and I want to see how their stories turn out," says the proprietor and sole employee of SpaceWoman. It's as good an explanation as any for why she attaches herself to Cedric Waites, an elderly widower who'd been referred to her by social services after a nasty fall. At first Cedric, whose accident clearly hasn't mellowed his disposition, won't let Ellen inside; even after he relents, he's not her most cordial client, and their standoffs don't end until she finds him lying dead on his bed. DI Bayles thinks Cedric was poisoned, and he's not pleased that Ellen's unwittingly disposed of some important evidence before the Chichester police could examine it. She expresses due regret, more to herself than him, but her continuing interest in the arc of Cedric's life must compete with her work for retired English teacher Mim Galbraith, whose dementia is worsening, and new client Lita Cullingford; with her dismay that Bayles favors her colleague Gervaise "Dodge" Palmier, who retired from the city to do hauling and woodworking, as the poisoner; and with the distressing complications in the personal lives of her grown children, aspiring animator Ben and aspiring influencer Jools, who's always been "mildly bolshie" anyway. The veteran author, who could probably compose these chronicles in his sleep, distributes his clues cleverly and ties them up with a professional neatness his heroine might envy. Brett's brisk descriptions, pacing, and juggling of subplots temper the sadness of the victim's recovered biography. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Professional declutterer Ellen Curtis is no stranger to cleaning up people's messes. She's also no stranger to solving murders, as twice before she has been faced with finding the culprit behind corpses that turned up on the job. In this third installment of Brett's "Decluttering Mysteries," though, the mess and the murder strike closer to home when one of Ellen's clients is poisoned, and the prime suspect is her close friend and decluttering companion, Dodge. Amid a criminal investigation and her own chaotic personal life, can Ellen restore order or will the disarray end in disaster? Brett has crafted a clever cozy mystery with compelling cliffhangers and a lovable leading lady. Brett reads the story; some may initially find his masculine voice incongruous with a woman protagonist, but listeners will quickly be absorbed by the descriptive detail and Brett's engaging and amusing performance of the first-person narrative. Fans of the series likely won't be able to imagine Ellen any other way. VERDICT This audio will appeal to listeners seeking an offbeat amateur detective story full of wit and whimsy. Recommended for fans of Denise Swanson, Jenn McKinlay, and M.C. Beaton.--Lauren Hackert
