Decluttering Mysteries

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?

When Alexandra Richards approaches professional declutterer Ellen Curtis to ask her to help sort out her mother's chaotic flat, Ellen gets the impression Alexandra doesn't like her mother very much. So when Ingrid Richards's body is discovered in her burned-out home, Alexandra's exasperated words don't seem like such a joke. Due to the hazardous state of the victim's over-cluttered residence, the police are inclined to dismiss her death as an unfortunate accident. Ellen's not so sure. Could Alexandra's resentment towards her mother have escalated into outright violence? The more she discovers about the dead woman's remarkable past, the more convinced Ellen becomes that there's something decidedly suspicious about her death. At least she can console herself that clearing out widower Edward Finch's bungalow will be a straightforward job in comparison. But Ellen couldn't be more wrong...

Declutterer Ellen Curtis has been working to bring order into the life of Cedric Waites, a recluse in his eighties who hasn't left his house or let anyone inside it since his wife died. On one of her regular visits, Ellen finds the old man dead. It's sad but, given his age, perhaps not unexpected, and nothing to get worked up about...until the police raise the suspicion that Cedric might have been poisoned! The cause seems be something he ate, and since Ellen cleared away the old man's food containers, she is under suspicion. As is Dodge, who works for Ellen and has unhelpfully done a runner and disappeared... Meanwhile, Ellen's life has taken on a chaotic turn of its own: a rival declutterer is out to sabotage her reputable business, her two grown-up children are back home and in crisis, and she has a potential love interest. Can she uncover the killer and bring order back to her own life?