The Clutter Corpse

By: Simon Brett

Narrated by: Simon Brett

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Ellen Curtis runs her own business helping people who are running out of space. As a declutterer, she is used to encountering all sorts of weird and wonderful objects in the course of her work. What she has never before encountered is a dead body.

When Ellen stumbles across the body of a young woman in an over-cluttered flat, suspicion immediately falls on the deceased homeowner's son, who has recently absconded from prison. No doubt Nate Ogden is guilty of many things - but is he really the killer? Discovering a link between the victim and her own past, Ellen sets out to uncover the truth. But where has her best friend disappeared to? And is Ellen really prepared for the shocking revelations to follow?

©2020 Simon Brett (P)2020 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Lively and Fast-paced Story

I enjoyed hearing the author read ! Great writer very entertaining!! Hope for more books !

Nicely interweaves many types of mental illness

I thought this would be a light-hearted story about clutter that I’d listen to while tidying up the house. Turns out I was wrong. The book explored the normalcy of mental illness and how it shows up in different ways. I listened to the entire book in a single day.

Great start to a new series.

I really liked the situation/setup of the book and the main character, Ellen. I disliked Ellen's mother but actually became irritated that Ellen was prepared to tolerate her mother's constant put-downs. I felt this had led to the equally judgmental, disrespectful attitude of Ellen's daughter. I did begin to wonder what possible function in the series they served, except to show Ellen as a weak, emotionally downtrodden person when she is in their presence.

Review

it kept me wondering till the end who the killer was their motive. Insightful descriptions of depression and its effects on family and friends.

New Simon Brett

Good story, a bit dark. Sympathetic slightly
flawed characters, good insight into mental illness and the struggles of supportive family members.

The Humor is Gone

I was confused that this new main character is not full of wit, or much fun at all. Everything is pretty serious. Drug addicts, sociopaths, suicidal depressives, rich and annoying folks. It was interesting for a while, some decent social insight actually. But it is just too unrelenting, and there is no real relief. This is too far from Charles Parris. For a novelist with a million years of experience, it isn't put together all that well. A lot of stuff happens at the end, and a lot of stuff doesn't really make sense. It's a little cluttered, which is ironic. Things just seem so bleak in Britain, like the drama Unforgotten. Misery is layered and layered, and it's not clear why we need to see this as a form of art or expression. It really was only worth two stars, but it was promising for about half the book.

What a fun pretense!

I love Simon Brett and when he does the narration, I love it more!

Really enjoyed it

I love all the books in the author’s Feathering Mystery series. This book was equally enjoyable. Great character development and writing for a cozy mystery series! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

Needs a new narrator

In general I liked it. Would love to read more of his books. However, I’m not sure why authors whose main character is female would choose to narrate the book. The reverse would also be true. I had to keep reminding myself that the character currently talking is female. Also, Simon Brett is constantly sniffing into the microphone. How could he not know this? Very annoying.

Problem Solver or Enabler

I enjoyed the author’s narration but am not sure what the point of the book is. It’s not a happy book, with too many people having too many problems. The main character, Ellen, is supposed to help people with hoarding issues but she often seems to be an enabler in many cases which doesn’t help anyone change their circumstances. I find that take on things pretty odd.