A Disorganised Death

Lively, sophisticated, and chock full of red herrings, this is the fifth in Brett’s decluttering novels featuring Ellen Curtis. She normally refuses to do house clearings, but in her current case, Ellen does take on a clearing job because the work is largely focused on locating a will that must be hidden somewhere in the family’s house. As with the earlier volumes in the series, the book features a small handful of returning characters, including Ellen’s daughter Jools, who now lives in London and is working, to great success, in her mothers decluttering company, while her artist son continues to struggle with mental illness. These family members and friends that pop in and out of the book provide a richness and a vitality that gives the novel real depth. Readers of Richard Osman, Jesse Q. Sutanto, Olivia Black, M. C. Beaton, and many more readers will be delighted.—Brian Kenney