Journalist Selna Bru wakes up on her fortieth birthday to surprising news: the renowned author RT Remi is dead. He collapsed on the street and died instantly. To Selna, this is an unexpected –and satisfying – birthday present.

It is because of Remi that Selna hasn’t left her shitty flat in months, after having been accused of plagiarism in an article that was supposed to be her big break. She’s at rock bottom, without a job, without a boyfriend, without a future. All she has is her cat, Boris.

For many years, RT Remi ran an exclusive literary club in Oslo known as The Cave. There, in a back room, he allegedly drugged and raped five women. Despite protesting his innocence, Remi was convicted of the crimes and sentenced to prison – before he appealed and was acquitted of all charges.

And now, he’s dead.

Selna is contacted by the legendary editor Beatrice James with an offer: to write a true crime about Remi’s life and death, and about the side of the culture industry that Remi belonged to – that allowed these crimes to happen, and which we, according to Beatrice, are still living in post-MeToo. But there is a tight deadline: according to Beatrice, Remi’s unfinished memoir about the accusations, Victim, will be published posthumously by a competing publisher.

This is Selna’s second chance, and her opportunity to have her revenge on Remi. But she will soon discover that RT Remi wasn’t who he purported to be. And perhaps Selna herself isn’t so innocent, either.