A disorganised death

Actually, it's a pair of deaths and their inevitable logistical legacies that await the mother-and-daughter co-directors of the English decluttering service SpaceWoman. Ellen Curtis' latest job would be cut and dried if she cleaned out houses rather than decluttering them. Four months after alcoholic publican Arnold Yendall fell to his death down a flight of stairs, his daughter, Tamara Nicklin, wants his house cleared out. Originally resisting the gig because "no, I do not do house clearance. And no, I am not a private investigator," Ellen proves herself wrong both times when she takes on the job after realizing that Tamara's really looking for her father's will, and that she and Nicky, her flirtatious husband, have very different ideas about how they'd like to redo The Fox Hole, the pub Arnold presumably left her. In the meantime, the decluttering job Ellen's daughter, Jools, has taken on for her upstairs neighbor Perry Driscoll, a reclusive hoarder, expands to include calling the police to clear away his body when the Curtises find him dead under a mountain of Amazon cartons. Whether or not Perry was murdered, this second case turns into another hunt for a will. As always, Brett's touch is consistently light whether he's dealing with sudden death, squabbles over legacies, suicidal offspring, or Ellen's domineering mother, former actress Fleur Bonnier. Though neither mystery is especially twisty or profound, fans of the series will take considerable pleasure in the way Jools' live-in boyfriend, Tariq, comes up with a crucial bit of evidence that wraps up the more vexing of them in a most satisfying way. A perfect snack for anyone between meals or airline flights who's not worried that it's just one more item to declutter. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.