As you know, I love a good cozy mystery! They have honestly become my favorite genre but unfortunately this book is not going to make it to my “favorite reads of 2020” list. I was originally very intrigued by the concept of the book…A woman with a decluttering business finds a body among the clutter and tries to figure out who killed the victim. In theory that sounded very neat. I haven’t read a cozy from that perspective, but I was very disappointed. It was very hard to relate to the main character and there was too much focus on her life and job, but not as much on the mystery at hand!
The book itself was very short and yet the author thought it would be a good idea to waste several chapters describing the main character, her job, and her husbands depression and suicide. I had to force myself to keep reading because I just could not get into the book. Then when we finally got to the part of finding the body it was only about a page and then it went on to more de-cluttering jobs. Yes, eventually it goes back on to her wondering about the victim and starting to piece some things together but I just could not buy it. It just didn’t seem like there was a solid flow to the book at all.
There were also some very strange moments in the book as well but it was in an attempt to tie things together. I don’t want to give any spoilers in case you want to read it, but there was a part with her best friend that seemed to come out of left field! It just seems that like the author really did not understand how women think or interact with each other. Seriously, it was a bit odd to me but maybe someone else would not find it as strange? Also the interaction with the victim’s father was extremely weird. The father knew that Ellen (the main character) found his daughters body and he wanted to talk to her about it. He wanted to see if she knew anything about her life prior to her death. I mean, why would that make sense?
Overall, this book was not really for me but when it did focus on the mystery (which happened only every so often) it was okay. This would not be a series that I would pursue reading in the future but I would give the author another try if he wrote from a male perspective. It really just missed the mark on the female perspective. If you are looking for a great cozy mystery I would recommend checking out one of the other Cozy mysteries that I have reviewed. I really did try to enjoy this one, it just wasn’t for me.
The Owl's Book Nest 