Tigerlily's orchids - Ruth Rendell

When Stuart Font decides to throw a house-warming party in his new flat, he invites everyone in his building, including the unpleasant caretaker and his wife.
Despite the few genuine friends on the list, he doesn't want to invite his girlfriend, Claudia; that might involve asking her husband.
The party will be one that everyone remembers - but not for the right reasons.
The occupants of Lichfield House are about to experience a dramatic change in their lives...
Living opposite is a beautiful, reclusive Asian woman, christened Tigerlily by Stuart.
As though from some strange urban fairytale, she emerges to exert a terrible spell.
And Mr and Mrs Font, Stuart's worried parents, will have even more cause for concern about their handsome but hopelessly naive son.