by Ruth Rendell
First published 2012
Henry works as valet to Lord Studley, but his real occupation involves bedding both his employer's wife and college-aged daughter. Around Hexam Place, other domestic staff harbor their own secrets and schemes. Montserrat, the Still family's indolent au pair, takes bribes to stay quiet about Mrs. Still's romance with a TV star. June, a princess's imperious housekeeper, attempts to organize her fellow servants into a formal group to air grievances against their bosses. The neighborhood's manicured gardens and synchronized holiday displays mask these simmering tensions. Then Dex, the unstable groundskeeper who tends multiple properties, begins receiving what he believes are divine messages through his phone. These supposed celestial orders threaten to shatter the careful equilibrium that keeps Hexam Place functioning. Rendell explores how power flows between those who serve and those who employ them, revealing the fragile nature of social hierarchies when personal desires collide with professional obligations.
Genres: domestic-fiction, mystery, contemporary, social
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, power-dynamics
Setting: Hexam Place, UK
Period: contemporary
257 pages · Hardcover · Scribner