The Clutter Corpse

De: Simon Brett

Narrado por: Simon Brett

Duración: 6 h y 50 m

Resumen del Editor

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

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.

Lively and Fast-paced Story

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

Thought provoking mystery

The story brought modern day struggles to light with empathy while surrounding a mystery with a surprise ending. I did not see that coming! The author did a great job of narrating with the exception of getting used to a male narrator for a female led story. The story was engaging, so I quickly forgot about the female lead read by a man. Kudos to the author in bringing modern day struggles to light with compassion while engaging the reader.

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.

Why is a man narrating??

The main character is a woman. Why is a man narrating? it was off-putting and rather 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.

Mouth sounds overwhelmed

I really like the story - not sure I’ll be able to finish though! About 2/3 way through , the swallowing and sniffing and smacking sounds are just getting to be too much. I fast forward to escape those sounds - but then go back because I don’t want to miss what’s happening -

The other thing that keeps interfering with it is the Ellen voice sounds so much like a man it’s jarring !

May have to return it and read the hard copy- unfortunately

My Love/Hate relationship with this series

This is really a review of this series, of which there are (so far) only two books.

On the whole, I like much of Simon Brett’s work - I even love the books most people don’t enjoy as much (like the Mrs Pargeter series). No one can fault Mr. Brett’s writing, his reading is superb, and he plots well, too. I love his main characters and Ellen - the protagonist in this series - is perhaps one of my favorites so far. As the parent of an adult child with “issues” I think Brett is decent at portraying what it’s like to be a parent of a child like that (though he doesn’t really capture the frustration, he does get the fear spot-on).

Spoiler:

What bothered me after reading the two books in this series was realizing that so much of the plot ended up revolving around women with overwhelming jealousy. Seriously??? One book I can accept - but both??? And BOTH were women “of a certain age”. Sigh. As one of those aforementioned women I found this to be rather annoying - like when you notice that 90% of the murderers on Midsomer Murders are just actually Loony Tunes. Surely writers who have managed so well so far can manage a bit further?

Mr. Brett, you can Do Better.

Now, excuse me while I go sharpen my knives.

New Simon Brett

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