Quick read and a fairly fun one. The feeling of things closing in starts early on and by halfway I wasn’t sure I wanted to read through all the advancing complexities as Emily gets wound in tighter and tighter in a web of lies, fraud, and murder.
The plot is awash in twists and the solution is tied up at the end with some new information, but altogether, quite satisfying and organized (as is only to be expected!)
Good summer read. ( )

It was just OK, spent most of the book wondering why I was continuing to read it. ( )

This was a nice little tale. Well written, decent characters and an all-around good mystery. Worth a read and also a decent cover. ( )

Careful What You Wish for by Hallie Ephron is a tautly woven mystery about a professional organizer who unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Emily Harlow is thrilled to leave behind her teaching career for her growing business with her best friend Becca Jain. They are professional organizers who help their clients de-clutter their lives. Unfortunately, Emily's long time husband Frank is a compulsive garage sale shopper. Although his hobby grates on her, she is mostly successful in her attempts to ignore his weekly purchases. Their marriage is also in a bit stressed due to their infertility problems. With Frank unwilling to work on their marriage, Emily busies herself with expanding her and Becca's business.

Emily and Becca's newest client, widow Ruth Murphy, hires them to clean out her deceased husband's storage unit. Since Ruth is in a hurry to get his belongings cleared away, Emily immediately heads over to the unit so she can work up an estimate. While in the midst of the task, Frank's best friend and business partner, Ryan Melanson III, begs them to work with his friend, Quinn Newell.

With Becca busy with family, Emily reluctantly heads over to Quinn's house. Bonding over several glasses of wine, Emily and Quinn find common ground as they commiserate over their irritation with their husbands' collecting hobby. Their joking takes a bit of a macabre turn, but the conversation is nothing but a lark for Emily. Unfortunately, Emily's two newest jobs are soon intertwined when she discovers a body in the storage unit and she becomes a murder suspect.

Emily has good reason to be concerned when the police interest in her takes a bit of an ominous turn. As the evidence against her starts to pile up, Emily begins to wonder if someone is trying to set her up to take the fall for the murder. But will she uncover the real killer's identity before she is arrested? And as she inches closer to finding out the truth, will Emily becomes the murderer's next victim?

Careful What You Wish is a suspenseful mystery that is quite engrossing. Emily is a surprisingly clever amateur sleuth but can she trust her own instincts as she pursues her investigation? With unexpected twists and adroit turns, Hallie Ephron brings this ingenious mystery to an exciting and satisfying conclusion.
( )

I enjoyed this book about a professional organizer who finds herself implicated in a murder. However, the clues were way too obvious about who was responsible for framing her.
Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who is called to help an elderly woman, Mrs. Ruth Murphy, after the death of her husband. Then, on the same day, she receives a call asking her to help a young woman, Quinn, clear the clutter of her life when her husband isn't home. Both of these happen when her partner, Becca, is unavailable.
Emily is suddenly the number one suspect when Quinn's husband is assumed missing and then found dead. Emily turns to her husband, Frank, a lawyer, to help her when questioned by the police.
Emily begins to play detective and figures out the mystery.
I thought this novel was light, but it was a quick, and mostly enjoyable read. Perhaps the author could work on not putting so many obvious clues in the next book.
#CarefulWhatYouWishFor #HallieEphron ( )