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Charlotte Adams is a professional closet organizer, which means that she is welcome in my home anytime she chooses. She also has a knack for solving mysteries, a talent which often comes in handy. Harry Beauchamp, a very affable fellow, has summoned Charlotte to his mansion to work on his wife's seven closets, hoping to distract Lorelei from the terrible death of their daughter, Anabel. The police, and even Harry, believe the death was a dreadful accident; only Lorelei, the victim's mother, believes it was a murder. Harry wants Charlotte to help provide closure to the episode -- to convince Lorelei that the death was an accident. Lorelei wants Charlotte to prove the death was a murder. At the same time Charlotte's friend Pepper is coping with a newborn baby and a husband who is totally uncooperative, not to mention stupid. Charlotte characterizes Nick as "dumb as a bag of hammers." He is also a womanizer and is far more devoted to his cars than to his family. Maffini is superb in concocting plots; she takes the reader on the same dizzying ride that Charlotte takes in her quest for the truth about Anabel's death. The real strength of the books is its vivid cast of characters: the charming Harry Beauchamp and his narcissistic spouse Lorelei, for whom the "cocktail hour" begins at noon; Charlotte's landlord, Jack, owner of a bicycle shop, who takes over the care of little Nick while Pepper is hospitalized and dotes on "the little dude," so one wonders if he will willingly relinquish custody. For a little comic relief, there is Charlotte's other client, Wendy, who is an agreeable contrast to Lorelei. In one hilarious scene, Wendy begs to hang on to a godawful bridesmaid's dress (what female hasn't had one of those?), while Charlotte convinces her she would be a laughingstock if she ever dared wear it in public again. No reader will probably be surprised that the death does indeed turn out to be a murder, but, just like Charlotte, we are baffled about the identity of the murderer until the very end. § Mary Elizabeth Devine taught English Literature for 35 years, is co-author of five books about customs and manners around the world and lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Devine, August 2010
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