As a carer I found Celia Dale's book A Helping Hand (1966/2022) a strangely uncomfortable read. Its a tale of the banality of evil, with a couple taking advantage of vulnerable old women they move into their house & slowly encourage to die. Its sombre & unsettling fiction which in our age of unpaid carers is a timely criminal trade. Written largely in dialogue this is an all too believable tale of casual sociopaths at work.
@ChrisMayLA6@bookstodon I recall reading Maupassant's little tale "The Cask" (Le fût: I read it in Miss Shelly's Grade 11 class in French) wherein a publican, coveting a widow's property, introduces her to the wonders of calvados and supplies her habit until she freezes to death, and he inherits the property. Found it rather dark at that age, quite run-of-the-mill in my dotage.
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