Killed by Clutter

At first glance, decorator Erin Gilbert fell in love with the charming little bungalow on a quiet street in Crestview, Colorado. Until she stepped inside. There, eccentric widow Helen Walker has created a maze of bric-a-brac, papers, and just plain junk that she won’t throw out. Even worse: two bizarre deaths have convinced Helen she is being stalked by a serial killer–and that any one of her nosy friends and neighbors might be to blame.

Erin has been hired to bring the home back to life–and she’s not going to back down, even when her insufferable, irresistible competitor, Steve Sullivan, barges in. But it doesn’t take long for Erin to realize that there is a method to her client’s madness. A murderer does haunt this makeover. And somewhere in the clutter is at least one thing to die for.

"Fans of the television show Trading Spaces might get a kick out of this cozy's leading lady, interior decorator Erin Gilbert, and her habit of reimagining every room she enters. But decorating compulsion aside, Gilbert lacks the charisma to perk up Caine's humdrum follow-up to Manor of Death. The action — what little there is — centers around the overstuffed home of pack rat Helen Walker, who lives alone following her sister's death. Gilbert has been hired by Helen's niece and nephew to clean the place out — much to Helen's consternation — but numerous interruptions stall Gilbert's efforts, including visits from Helen's nosy neighbor, Rachel; from her two bothersome friends, Teddy and Kay; and from an intruder who leaves dead bodies in his wake. Despite two murders, the story moseys along as if the crimes hadn't occurred: Helen returns to her house, and people continue to butt into her business. Gilbert, meanwhile, focuses on clutter control, her relationship with rival Steve Sullivan and, occasionally, the murder investigation. Like its suburban setting, this book suffers not from a lack of charm so much as a lack of energy. Indeed, the latest entry in Caine's Domestic Bliss Mystery series is likely too domesticated for most readers, though some may find enjoyment in guessing whodunit." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

It's up to rival interior decorators Erin Gilbert and Steve Sullivan to turn a case of domestic disaster into domestic bliss and outsmart a killer who has designs on them. Original.

Leslie Caine lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she is at work on the next Domestic Bliss mystery, Fatal Feng Shui, which Dell will publish in Fall 2007.