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Erin Gilbert is an interior decorator who has been called on by an elderly woman's adult niece and nephew to redo her home. When Erin gets there, the house is charming, but the inside is filled to the roof with clutter. The owner, Helen, says that she needs all the things in her home, but she insists she has more important problems than the mess. Helen's sister had lived with her until her recent death from a deadly allergy attack. Helen says that the death wasn't the accident the police called it, but that someone gave her sister the food that killed her on purpose. She also insists that her late brother-in-law was also murdered years ago and that someone is breaking into her home on a regular basis when she leaves to go to her scrapbook-making club meetings. After hearing about the murders, Erin doesn't know if she should believe it and suggests that the police be brought in. Helen said she did call the authorities, but they were insulting to her, didn't believe her accusations and treated her like she was feeble minded, so she won't call them again. Though Erin wishes Helen would go to the police she finds she likes the elderly woman and gets her permission to start to fix up the house. Unfortunately, Erin's good intentions are made all the slower as Helen's friends and relatives keep showing up, making Helen dig in her heels when Erin tries to do her job. The strange thing is, all the friends and relatives act as if they have issues with Helen. No one is all that friendly to the elderly woman. Erin has her hands full trying to figure out all the unsaid drama between the people as she tries to clear up the clutter. To make things worse, another interior designer, talented Steve Sullivan, volunteers to help with the heavy lifting. Erin and Steve have a love/hate relationship going on, but they understand that combining their talents will be very profitable for them both, even if they can't control their fluctuating feelings for each other. When the next door neighbor is murdered in Helen's basement, Erin agrees that there is danger in the house and insists that Helen move, but the stubborn Helen won't give up her home and her prized possessions and insists that she will stay. That's when Erin starts to really work to find the truth as to which of Helen's friends might be the murderer. This is a rather long cozy, but I found every page fascinating. Erin shares her knowledge about decorating every time she looks at a room, and the reader gets to learn a lot about home furnishings. All of the characters are written with their own sense of purpose and personality and so capture the reader's attention. The mystery goes along at a languid pace, but as it turns out to be pretty intricate the slow pace makes sense. The past strange relationships between the characters are uncovered to help us understand the present state of affairs. Though the murder investigation isn't the most important part of the book, it is solved in a very satisfactory way. I really enjoyed KILLED BY CLUTTER. I liked Erin's sense of style and way about her. She isn't without flaws and so I found a fun connection to her. Filled with plenty of ideas about decorating, and with a good solid mystery to solve, this is a fine cozy to add to your reading list.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, March 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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