Careful What You Wish For: A Novel of Suspense

"Thrilling and suspenseful...a modern-day grown-up Nancy Drew." -- Jamie Lee Curtis, Time

A Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Month

Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who helps people declutter their lives; she’s married to a man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping. He’s filled their basement, attic, and garage with his finds.

Like other professionals who make a living decluttering peoples’ lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, she makes clear that the client is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. That stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years. She’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. The larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.

Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour when, after too much wine, the women end up fantasizing about how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses.

But the next day Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up. Careful what you wish for, the old adage says . . . now Emily might lose her freedom, her marriage . . . and possibly her life.

After a video of her organizing her sock drawer goes viral, Emily Harlow uses her moment in the spotlight to start Freeze-Frame Clutter Kickers and launch her career as a professional organizer. The catch: she’s married to a man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping.

Like other professionals who make a living decluttering people’s lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, for example, she makes it clear that each person is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. This stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years as her basement, attic, and garage have filled up with her husband’s finds. She’d love nothing more than to toss out all his crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. And the larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.

Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit that she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. But when Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour involving too much wine and fantasies of how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses, Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up.

“Outstanding...May be the first domestic thriller to weave in Marie Kondo’s decluttering theory about discarding things that don’t spark joy...Appealing characters and some suspenseful detective work help elevate this in-depth look at people’s emotional attachment to things. After being a finalist five times, Ephron may finally win the Mary Higgins Clark Award for this one.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Outstanding...May be the first domestic thriller to weave in Marie Kondo’s decluttering theory about discarding things that don’t spark joy...After being a finalist five times, Ephron may finally win the Mary Higgins Clark Award for this one.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Clever...Ephron’s tidy approach to stowing clues, arousing suspicions, keeping the chaos of the climax under control, then tying up loose ends makes her a professional organizer of this type of entertainment. In a word—neat.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Hallie Ephron has crafted a timely, twisty tale that had me grinning at the opening line and wide-eyed at the conclusion. Cleverly plotted and cast with compelling characters, Careful What You Wish For is the perfect summer book club pick!” - New York Times Bestselling Author Wendy Corsi Staub

“Hallie Ephron’s Careful What You Wish For is a cautionary tale for the spark joy moment—a tidy nightmare of a story that won’t be contained. A compulsive page-turner that sparks anxiety.” - Lori Rader-Day Edgar® Award-nominated author of Under a Dark Sky

“Hallie Ephron has crafted a timely, twisty tale that had me grinning at the opening line and wide-eyed at the conclusion. Cleverly plotted and cast with compelling characters, Careful What You Wish For is the perfect summer book club pick!” - New York Times Bestselling Author Wendy Corsi Staub

“[A] thoroughly enjoyable twist on the classic murder mystery.” - Christian Science Monitor