The Cluttered Corpse

By Mary Jane Maffini

After freeing herself of some useless clutter—namely a cheating fiancé—Manhattan financial analyst Charlotte Adams goes home to Woodbridge, New York, to start over as a professional organizer. But she’s learning that foul play can creep into even the most well-ordered life.
 
Charlotte never would have guessed that Emmy Lou Rheinbeck had organizational issues. The dressed-for-success executive has a house that could be featured in a magazine—or so Charlotte thinks until she gets upstairs, where the rooms are overflowing with pastel stuffed animals. Charlotte thinks the collection can be easily tamed, but can’t say the same about Emmy Lou’s neighbor. The disturbed young man and his best friend think nothing of pulling horrible pranks that have Emmy Lou on edge. Charlotte can’t resist helping out, but her efforts result in a bigger mess—one that leads to murder.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Apr 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9781101207161

Mary Jane Maffini

Mary Jane Maffini is a lapsed librarian and a mystery addict. Author of six Camilla MacPhee mysteries, two Fiona Silk adventures, five Charlotte Adams books, and nearly two dozen short stories. She holds two Arthur Ellis Awards for best mystery short story, as well as the Derrick Murdoch lifetime achievement award. Speak Ill of the Dead was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel and Lament for a Lounge Lizard for best novel. She lives and plots in Ottawa.

Reviews for The Cluttered Corpse

[cyderry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Charlotte Adams, professional organizer, has gone to the home of Emmy Lou Rheinbeck to determine if there is away to help her with her stuffed animal collection. While there Emmy Lou is harrassed by two men (possibly mentally deficient?) but Emmy Lou, though frightened, refuses to doing anything to the men. When Charlotte comes back for a meeting the next day she is thrust into a scene of chaos where one of the men is at the bottom the stairs DEAD and Emmy Lou is saying that it's her fault. Even though Charlotte doesn't know any of these people she takes it upon herself to find out why Emmy Lou would do this or even if she did.I really didn't like this scenario at all. Why would you put yourself in danger for people you didn't know, especially when they kept tell you to go away? This whole plot seemed ridiculous.

[bookswoman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't enjoy this book as much as others in the series. Mostly because Charlotte seems to excel in being TSTL (too stupid to live) in this one. She is really pushing the envelope here, butting into a police investigation over and over and over again. She is warned by the cops, by friends, by her lawyer friend and just seems to go blithely forward without a care. This, of course, leads to getting people hurt and in the end she is totally wrong about almost everything.

I'll try the next in the series but if this trend continues, I'll not go any further.

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

First Line: "You have saved my life."When professional organizer Charlotte Adams steps into Emmy Lou Rheinbeck's home, the place looks fit to be featured in House Beautiful. Where's the mess that needs to be organized? When Emmy Lou shows Charlotte the second floor, Charlotte understands the reason for the call for help-- she's never seen so many stuffed animals in one place in her life.Charlotte knows that she can handle this organizational problem, but she's not so sure Emmy Lou can handle her neighbors. Two young men are pulling cruel jokes on the woman until she's a nervous wreck. Emmy Lou insists that the pranksters are harmless, but before Charlotte can even put her plan to paper, she's up to her neck in a murder.Two books in, and I like this series very much. One note of realism that I particularly appreciate is the fact that, after the first book, Charlotte makes it clear in The Cluttered Corpse that she lost a lot of business when the news media reported her involvement in a murder case. Most other series that feature an independent businessperson like Charlotte would have you think that business blithely goes on as usual, with nary a dip in clientele.(As a side note, I have a thing for organization and places like The Container Store. I do hope in at least one future book, Charlotte gets to finish the project for which she was hired. I really enjoy that part of the books! I also pay attention to the organizing tips at the beginning of each chapter. My favorite in this book? "Don't bring anything new into your home unless you know you have a place to keep it. Except for books, of course.")To get back on track... as I read, I first had the idea that Emmy Lou's neighborhood was flat-out weird and perhaps a little over-the-top until I remembered that, at one time, my own street housed six different nationalities, a 90 year age span from oldest to youngest-- and the house on the corner where young thieves would gather to plan their next rash of burglaries.I deduced quite a bit of what was going on in The Cluttered Corpse, but as is the case with so many cozy mysteries, the whodunit isn't as important as the who. I enjoy hanging out with Charlotte and her crew, and Maffini's sense of humor can have me laughing out loud.If you'd like to organize a fun and pleasant afternoon, I suggest you give Charlotte Adams a call.

[scrabblenut · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another madcap murder mystery from Mary Jane Maffini. It's fun, with organizing tips at the beginning of every chapter.