The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

This remarkably assured first novel is a social satire cleverly disguised as a mystery/crime tale. It is funny and incisive. For the most part, the characters you are supposed to like are authentic and down to earth, while the characters you are not supposed to like are venal, petty, and spoiled. There are, however, just enough people in the gray area to keep things interesting. The story moves along at a brisk pace, and there is a lot of humor and quirkiness mixed in with the murder, drug trafficking, sexual assault, casual racism, and class prejudice.

I really enjoyed this book. It is delightful and should appeal to mystery and crime readers who do not mind a little social commentary leavened with humor. It would be great to see more of Caius, Matt, and Amy as they investigate crimes, navigate the modern world and all its prejudices, and fight the good fight.

I am grateful to Faber and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a recommended murder mystery, especially for anyone who enjoys disapproval of the wealthy gilded youth of the British class system.

Influencer Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath after the 30th birthday party of her boyfriend, Rupert Beauchamp. The party was a black-tie dinner at McDonald's and attended by a host of socialite friends with nicknames. DI Caius Beauchamp, no relation to Rupert, finds the body during a morning jog. Rupert is the obvious main suspect but there are plenty of other suspects available too. Rupert uses Clemmie's death as an opportunity to pursue Nell Waddingham.

After almost set this one aside several times at the beginning of the novel, I stuck with it once the investigation started. The police procedural made me stay, even though at times it almost gets buried under extraneous information. I liked the investigative team of DI Caius, assisted by DS Matty Cheung and DC Amy Noakes and would like to see them on another case. Most of the other characters I actively disliked. There are some plot twists that held my interest and the novel greatly improved toward the end.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Anchor via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

The Other Half is an impressive debut, great for procedural fans who want something UK set, like a witty style, and enjoy some twists and engaging but generally less than likable characters (these are good things, the book is fun and came across as droll but also a social commentary within a solid procedural).
I enjoyed reading this and also had access to the audiobook, strongly produced, via the LibroFM ALC program.

This was a very darkly funny murder mystery. Despicable characters and a charming detective round out the cast.
It’s a fast read and felt fresh to me. I hope it becomes a series. It felt like it could.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early copy in exchange for a honest opinion. Coming out on November 28th.
3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

If we think justice in America is unfair, think about Britain, where a titled ass can, literally, get away with murder. The titled ass, has just hosted his 30th birthday, a black-tie affair with other young socialites, at a McDonald's. How droll. But his girlfriend/frenemy/online influencer Clemmie fails to show. But in all the festivities, no is much worried. Then the next day, during his early morning jog, a police inspector stumbles over her body in a public park.

While navigating this posh crowd, all of whom can alibi each other for the night the murder occurred, Detective Caius Beauchamp is overwhelmed by the sheer callousness of them all. When Clemmie's married lover, by whom she was pregnant, confesses, the case seems closed, but Caius isn't sure. Then a second murder occurs, and a third, all possibly linked to Cassie's death.

The hunt for answers is long and sometimes tiresome, but the story itself is a good one.

British upper class young twenties society can still lead to jealously and murder. The investigator has his own issues with a French girlfriend breakup, and friction with the bosses. But the procedural aspects are fascinating, and they work to solve the crime, stepping on some toes along the way when clashing with the British class structure. Well plotted, and decent characters make for an enjoyable read.

Did anyone else giggle when they took their first look at this cover?

I don't know If it was the animated cover or the lady, which appears to be wine drunk, passed out in a bush, but I couldn't help but let out a fit of laughter.

Well, I promise you, she surely wasn't wine drunk, and she wasn't just "passed out" .

Clemmie is dead, and there is a list of suspects who have motive for murder.

Charlotte Vassell, has hit the ground running, with her debut novel, The Other Half. This book is a modern day "who-dun-it", that will keep readers on the edge of their seat begging for more.

There are no shortage of twists and this book is jam packed with drool worthy secrets.

Don't believe me?

Check out this teaser :

Who killed Clemmie? Was it the blithe, sociopathic boyfriend? His impossibly wealthy godmother? The gallery owner with whom Clemmie was having an affair? Or was it the result of something else entirely?

All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally. This investigation is going to be about aristocrats and Classics degrees, Instagram influencers and whose father knows who.

Or is it 'whom'? Detective Caius Beauchamp isn't sure. He's sharply dressed, smart, and thoroughly modern—he discovers Clemmie's body on his early morning jog. As he searches for the dark truth beneath the luxurious life of these London socialites, a wall of staggering wealth and privilege threatens to shut down his investigation before it's even begun. Can Caius peer through the tangled mess of connections in which the other half live—and die—before the case is wrenched from his hands? Bitingly funny, full of shocking twists, and all too familiar, The Other Half is a truly stunning debut.

Creative and fun story. I was very invested and didn’t want to stop. It was clever, twisty, complex and witty

A fun read that doesn’t take itself or the subject matter too seriously. A quick mystery. A murder is committed by a member of upper-class London. Colorful, crazy rich characters made this a good read. So, who really did it? A lot of the characters had motives, but obviously, in the end only one committed the murder. Thank you NetGalley for providing the ARC.

I do need to say I didn’t finish this book, I wasn’t able to get interested in the characters, and while I do appreciate sarcasm in stories, for me it was overdone, I do enjoy trying different writing styles and genres, and thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advance copy of this book.

"The Other Half" by Charlotte Vassell is is a Contemporary Mystery-Suspense Story!

Rupert has his thirtieth birthday party at a McDonald's. It's black-tie, a catered affair with lots of drugs and very expensive champagne.

Who does that? I do believe this was the first sign this book wasn't for me.

The next morning, Rupert's girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered. Her body discovered under a bush with her stiletto heels peeking out.

That's Clemmie and her shoes on the cover art, BTW. I do love that cover.

And it's Detective Caius Beauchamp who finds Cammie's body during his morning jog. What a coincidence.

Rupert would, of course, be the first suspect because everyone knows it's always the boyfriend...

"The Other Half" felt predictable to me from the very beginning. The party, the murder, how the body was discovered, and who discovered it. This feeling never changed for me.

I didn't like or connect with a single characters and I thought about stopping almost the entire time I was reading it. Never a good sign.

I didn't connect with the humor either and I believe I'm a fairly funny individual with the ability to see the humor in almost everything. Everything...but this story.

I'm obviously an outlier with "The Other Half" as most reviews are positive with high ratings and I'm glad this debut author has positive support. I know not every book is for everyone and I also know this one is definitely not for me.

2⭐

Thank you to NetGalley, Anchor, and Charlotte Vassell for an DRC of this book. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor, Anchor and NetGalley for an electronic advanced readers copy of this novel.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell takes place in present day London, where rich young adults have superficial jobs, spend their trust funds and hang out with each other at weird parties. But unfortunately, poor Clemmie turns up dead after missing her boyfriend's birthday party (black tie at a MacDonalds). Detective Caius Beauchamp is recruited to help solve the crime. Prime suspect, the boyfriend, also with a last name Beauchamp (no relation).

I enjoyed it for what it was - a mystery and a peek at how the other half lives. It was well written but somewhat surfacey, so if you require great meaning in your books, this probably isn't for you.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a fun debut mystery about the upper half of society and all the hijinks they can get into when one of their own is murdered. The Detective Caius Beauchamp may be out of his league but he makes a good try at discovering who murdered the girlfriend of the birthday boy. All in all a very fun book to read. I look forward to reading the next on from the author.

I do so appreciate that the publisher granted me access to this ARC through NetGalley; unfortunately, this ended up being a book that wasn’t for me.

I suppose it’s meant to be satirical? But I struggled to connect to the voice from the very start and it didn’t get better from there. I wouldn’t recommend this, though I’m sure there’s an audience out there.

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Thank you so much Faber and Faber for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have had this on my radar for a while!

The book is basically very rich people behaving extremely badly (think Made in Chelsea) in a murder investigation with a Bridget Jones type love triangle thrown into the mix!

I did guess the murderer, and sometimes I found the book a little confusing as to who was being referred to. Apart from that, I really enjoyed it! I was thoroughly entertained by how awful the majority of the characters in the book are!

The book has ended nicely for a book 2, which I believe is out in April next year!

4.5 stars! Who killed Clemmie? This upper-class social media influencer is found dead in a behind a bush in a swank part of town when she is supposed to help host her titled boyfriend's 30th birthday party. There are a crack team of detective inspectors on the case and an even bigger conspiracy behind Clemmie's murder.
I loved this book from page 1. I even adored all the characters and that is something I rarely say about a novel. Hoping this will become something of a series featuring the intrepid detectives.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Anchor for this e-arc.*

This was hard to get through, I’m still confused after forcing myself to finish it.

Clemmie is dead. Of course the police suspect her boyfriend, Rupert, and rightfully so. Rupert is rich, he comes from family money, educated at Oxford, a real snob, and just not a nice person and even worse boyfriend. Now, the other mix of characters, many were also Oxford grads, rich, sons, and just unlikeable people. The storyline itself just dragged on, most of the time not making sense with a lot of different words. I still don’t understand the relationship between Rupert and Nell…what exactly is going on there?

The murder itself is only a little interesting because of the three police officers, they made this vaguely tolerable. But then there is another murder, is it connected to Clemmie…I honestly have no clue!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Anchor publishing and the author for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I honestly didn’t like it.

The murder mystery aspect was the highlight of this novel, but as a whole it fell flat for me. This is set in the world of the uber-rich in England, and the characters in general were wildly unlikable. I think the author intended them to be this way as a part of the satire of the novel, but it was so true that I found myself taken away from the story happening.

Thank you the NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for my review copy of this novel.

Didn’t engaged me from the start. Very slow beginning, did get somewhat better once the police got involved. Just not my cup of tea. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #TheOtherHalf

I tried two different times to get into this one both reading and listening and just couldn't. The characters were just too unlikable for me and I didn't feel connected to any of them nor care about the murder. I will check out other books from Vassell as I like giving more than one chance!