Roving obituary writer Elizabeth Price is sent to the heart of suburban England to find the story behind Jonathon Bezrich, a handsome local celebrity who has mysteriously committed suicide. A 'pointless Saturday afternoon' turns into an adventure of world changing proportions as a selection of surreal characters - including the leader of the influence society, a pathological sex addict and the most handsome man in the world - lead Elizabeth on a collision course with death, insanity and the end of the existence as we know it.
Substance Abuse takes the hardboiled detective novel of Chandler and the post-modern wit of Coupland, mixing in a healthy dose of existential philosophy, to form a mystery that takes us to the edge of the universe and the edge of ourselves that will change the way you think about the world forever.