Carl takes on a tenant after inheriting a house (and a cupboard full of pills, remedies and homeopathic medicines) from his dad in London. The tenant, named Dermot, seems a bit strange but Carl, an author struggling to write his second book, needs the rent money. One day a friend of his, actress Stacey, asks for one of the bottles of pills to help her with weight loss. Carl decides to sell her half of them, and Stacey is found dead shortly thereafter, presumably from the diet pills. Dermot then blackmails Carl, saying that he overheard Carl selling Stacey the pills and will now no longer be paying the rent in exchange for his silence. Meanwhile, Lizzie, an acquaintance of Carl’s and Stacey’s, has quietly and illicitly taken over Stacey’s vacant apartment and its nice things. A strange thing happens in this compelling side story: she is kidnapped, presumable mistaken for a wealthy relative of Stacey’s. This proves relevant later in the story in how it seems to change her moral compass and plays an important role in what becomes of Carl. Dermot’s reverse blackmail eats away at Carl and his anxiety and distress over the situation takes over his life and affects his relationship, finances, and his writing career. Carl takes matters into his own hands, expounding the situation further, and causing him to spiral downward into near madness. Wendell paints a vivid picture of her characters and incrementally builds the suspense and darkness in this well-crafted novel!
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