It’s occasionally clumsy and overly light, but the tale of rich families competing to outbid each other for a house is pacy, packed with plot and stuffed with excellent performances

You could call it the Knives Out effect, but television has been trying to replicate the arch/witty murder mystery, featuring a starry ensemble cast, ever since Rian Johnson’s film won the affections of audiences in 2019. In No Good Deed, Netflix has another go at it. This eight-part comedy-drama comes from the makers of the similarly soapy and heightened Dead to Me. It also has a touch of The Afterparty to it, only this time, the story finds its whodunnit in the midst of the housing market in expensive US cities.

Lydia (Lisa Kudrow) and Paul (Ray Romano) are selling their gorgeous and sizable 1920s villa in Los Feliz, a highly desirable neighbourhood in Los Angeles. US real estate is an ecosystem all of its own, and three families are vying to spend millions of dollars on the house. In order to do this, they must impress the terminally depressed Lydia and Paul, and their substance-loving realtor Greg (Matt Rogers). Lydia and Paul would like to instigate a bidding war, to allow them to buy a ranch and fill it with horses. The potential buyers are desperate enough to take the bait. Still, the idea of being forced to bargain with people to beg them to take your stash of money is a strange one, but if I have learned anything from Kirsty and Phil, it’s that a hot market does not always behave rationally.