On Charlotte’s first visit Emmy Lou is frightened by Kevin and Tony, two young men who live in the neighborhood, when they press their faces against an upstairs window and snap pictures of Emmy Lou’s reaction.  Emmy Lou says that Kevin is a little off since he was deprived of oxygen at birth, and she then dismisses Charlotte.  Charlotte is disturbed by the incident and by the possible loss of income, and is even more flummoxed when two days later Emmy Lou calls Charlotte demanding her immediate return. 

When Charlotte returns, she finds Tony dead at the bottom of Emmy Lou’s staircase and Emmy Lou hysterically admitting to the killing.  Though she doesn’t know her well, Charlotte doesn’t think Emmy Lou could kill anyone, but doesn’t want to have another confrontation with her former high school pal turned nemesis, police sergeant Pepper Monahan. 

In high school, Charlotte, Pepper, Margaret Tang (now an attorney) and Jack (now a bicycle shop owner and Charlotte’s landlord) were best of friends.  Pepper is still certain that Charlotte has feelings for her husband Nick.  Though Charlotte protests, Nick is very flirtatious and Pepper still has a bit of high school insecurity left, causing tension between Pepper and Charlotte.  Still, Charlotte feels compelled to help her client organize her collection and beat a murder rap, and solve all the mysteries of Bell Street.   

The Cluttered Corpse is an amusing mystery with a very complicated plot that takes a lot of organizing skills to unravel. There are a lot of secrets on Bell Street, and Charlotte is able to discern some of them, while others don’t come out until the very end.  There are a few clues that readers will recognize as clues, though they might not be able to figure out why they are clues until the end.  The solution to Tony’s murder may not satisfy some readers, but when some of the other secrets come out, all will be forgiven.

Charlotte and her friends are a zany bunch as they try to organize an informal baby shower for another one of their classmates and try to reconstruct friendships that formed in high school.  The Cluttered Corpse is a fast-paced, enjoyable, if not wholly satisfying mystery, and pleasant enough to win Charlotte and her gang a following.  A nice addition is a short organizing tip at the beginning of each chapter.                                  

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry