First published 2018
Performance artist Tess Berenson moves into a spacious Oakland loft, eager for a fresh start. But her new home holds secrets from its previous occupant, Chantal Desforges. Tess discovers a metal Saint Andrew's cross and a cell secured with metal bars. She learns that Chantal worked as a dominatrix, serving specialized clients in this very space. The evidence suggests Chantal fled the apartment in haste, leaving behind her equipment and traces of her double life. When Chantal's body turns up, Tess realizes she has stepped into something far more dangerous than she bargained for. The loft that promised artistic freedom now threatens to trap her in a web of violence and sexual secrets. As the investigation unfolds, Tess must navigate the shadowy world Chantal inhabited while fighting to protect herself from the same fate that claimed her predecessor.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Oakland, Lucerne
Period: 21st-century
416 pages · Paperback · RIVAGES
Content warnings: sexual-content, violence