This is noir at its best. I very seldom read current books that do it this well. Absolutely transfixing to read. I highly recommend it.

Elspeth Bell is attending the 50th birthday of her ex-husband, Richard out of a sense of duty. He helped launch her acting career after all. But instead of a blow out bash, there are only 7 guests, and Richard’s pet octopus. Still, the party gets pretty wild, and in the morning the birthday boy is dead. All of the guests are suspects and Elspeth begins to probe into the background of her fellow party goers, wondering who could be capable of murder…and what Richard had done to enrage someone enough to kill him.