In which Patricia Highsmith writes a kind of Agatha Christie novel. But not one of the detective ones. In this novel we find hack American writer Sydney Bartleby in a loveless and acrimonious marriage to English (middling) heiress Alicia. As it goes, as his writing career becomes increasingly more anemic, his distaste and disdain for the woman closest to him, who sees him, and worse, sees his increasing and inarguable failure he grows more and more hateful of her. But shocker! He doesn’t kill her. […]