The Cluttered Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini

The Cluttered Corpse by Mary Jane Maffini

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
My main criticism/observation from the first book in this series was that the main character, Charlotte, never finishes an organizational job during the book. In fact, I finished my review for Organize your Corpses by saying, "Perhaps Charlotte will be able to finish a job in the next book? Ha ha!" Well, imagine my surprise to discover the same thing happens in this book too! I just don't get it. Again, Charlotte is interrupted during a big job with a mystery, so that explains the hold up on the big job. But, she never actually finishes any other job either. This is really striking me as odd for a series with organization as a theme. Am I the only one bothered by this? I guess I just expect a little more from Charlotte than I've been given thus far. Of course, I enjoy the books overall and will continue with the series, despite this random concern. The author does throw in a lot of organizational tips, but I'd kind of like to see her complete a job from start to finish as well as help solve a mystery. Am I asking for too much here? :/

I did find parts of the mystery a little obvious to solve and other parts impossible to solve until the reveal. I had no reason to suspect who was behind everything and how it all came together, which can be both good and bad. I liked that it was a surprise, but I don't like that I had no chance of solving the case before Charlotte. What can I say? I'm competitive with these fictional sleuths and I want a chance to beat them at their own game. :)

Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini

Organize Your Corpses by Mary Jane Maffini


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I have to say, there was a lot less organizing than I was expecting. I'm fairly certain Charlotte didn't finish a single job during the book! Of course, one job was suspended because of the mystery, so I can forgive that. But, she was also helping other clients and they never actually finished the jobs. How odd! There are plenty of organizational tips thrown in though, so it's not a big deal. It just struck me as funny that Charlotte never actually finished a job during the book. Anyway, I enjoyed this book. For the most part, I liked the dialogue, the characters, and how they interacted with one another. I think the author waited a little too long before really diving into the reveal and I don't think we were given enough clues along the way to see how Charlotte figured it out. The reveal also requires one to suspend a lot of disbelief, in my opinion. That said, I still enjoyed the book enough to want to continue with the series. Perhaps Charlotte will be able to finish a job in the next book? Ha ha!