The Devil's Work

by Mark Edwards

She didn’t believe in ghosts but she did believe that tragic events left an imprint on the places where they happened, an echo that lingered in the air.

him seem too big for this room, but he carried himself lightly. In his black clothes, with his sharp eyes, he reminded Sophie even more of a crow than when she’d first seen him. Or something sleeker, more dangerous; a hawk perhaps. He

Love all the avian refs

She thought about naming something by Kafka or Camus. But she knew how pretentious that would sound.

Very concerned about what other people might think

Dead mice had been attached to it by their tails,

How? Mice shed their tails if picked up

large white mouse

Rat, surely? A lab rat

Guy had scraped the remains of the mouse from the door. But, he said, as soon as he’d done this he realised it would be a waste of time reporting it to the police because there was no longer any evidence.

I'd be suspicious of Guy

a glue trap in his hand, a cockroach stuck to it, legs waving feebly. Sophie recoiled.

Psychopath

her clothes still stank of smoke. She found she liked it. It gave her strength. Made her feel reborn.

Phoenix

The mouse, with its snout cut off, was a message for her to keep her nose out. To stop talking to the police.

Rat, more likely in this context

This was the basement in Jasmine’s manuscript.

Simon is Sebastian and helped Jasmine get revenge on her unfaithful boyfriend (Liam) and now ex-friend (Sophie)? Brother and sister psychopaths or two sisters (maybe Sebastian used to be Jasmine's housemate Helen)? Miranda and Cassie were just unlucky to join the company, two friendless, guileless, earnest Aspies Simon saw as toys to break?

In the book, Jasmine had never spelled out what her grandfather had done with those needles,

Or her brother

‘Absinthe,’ Liam says, his arm around Jasmine now. ‘Nectar of poets.’

And vampires!

And the call Sophie had heard as she floated in and out of unconsciousness . . . ‘You called your grandfather, didn’t you? Asked him to come and help you?’

Or called "Helen" if Helen was really Sebastian?

stepped through the doorway. ‘Almost right,’ she said, raising the gun and pointing it at Sophie’s face. Sophie was unable to take in what she was seeing. Who she was seeing.

Helen? Is she a third sibling? Did and her brother kill Jasmine after Jasmine killed Liam? Did the three siblings fancy him?

Becky. ‘Surprised to see me?’

Wow.

she would never let go of her belief that Sophie was responsible too. That would ruin the narrative she’d created to explain everything bad that had happened to her. A narrative in which Sophie was the only villain available for her to seek vengeance against.

This happens a lot in reality (especially if the accused is an outsider - eg neurodivergent / introvert and dares to attract the Evil Eye of a person with Cluster B)

I’ve waited fifteen years. I can wait a little longer.’ She pointed at Daisy. ‘You’d better watch her. Never take your eyes off her. Because one day, one day, I’ll come back and I’ll finish what I’ve started.

This is the sociopathic part of her: the power play, forcing her victim to live in fear

why did she and Simon take that risk?’

Psychopaths

Sophie was thinking of trying something completely new, possibly starting her own business. She had talked to Josh about it and they had come up with the idea of setting up a small, bespoke design and marketing agency. But what she really wanted to do was fulfil a dream she’d had back when she was a little girl, to write a book like the ones that had inspired her. She had always thought she wasn’t good enough, lacked the talent. But now she felt like anything was possible. That she could do anything she put her mind to.

Are they no longer in debt?