Thank you to NetGalley and Anchor for my complimentary eARC. And to libro.fm for my complimentary audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have seen conflicting reviews for The Other Half, but I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery/thriller. I must have since I binge read it in a day.

Were some of the characters annoying ? Yes.
Seeing how the other half lives is always an eye opening experience. But the way they act like they are better than everyone else and above the law just makes you wonder how much we (the little people) really know what’s going on.

But the actual police investigation was top notch. I was happy to find out there is another book in the works.

I was pairing the audio with the book but had to give up halfway through the arc. The detective had a wonderful accent, but it was hard to understand at 2x speed. I was having to drop the speed down every time the POV changed and it was annoying.

This is in no way critical of the narrator but my own personal pet peeve.

Enthralling!

The Other Half was hard for me to get into at first, but soon I found myself reading at every chance I got. The characters were, in my opinion, so vividly written that I had actual.feelings about them.

#Netgalley #CharlotteVassell #AnchorBooks #BookOne #DICasiusBeauchamp

I looked forward to reading THE OTHER HALF, the first book in a new series DI Caius Beauchamp. From the very beginning I found it wordy . I think I reread the first few chapters several times. When I finally got everything straight, the book started moving. Then again I would find myself rereading. I do feel like I could see this book better as a short series on Netflix or Acorn where visually seeing what was happening would work better. I found too many characters not likable. Both Clemmie’s boyfriend, Rupert Beauchamp and DI Caius Beauchamp have the same last name; however, the names are pronounced differently. I don’t know how many times that was mentioned in the book. So who murdered Clemmie? Rupert, his wife, her boss Oswald or one of the other guests at the party.
I think this book would have worked better for me if there was not so much repitition. My thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Striking, Clever Debut

There are more nuances in this mystery and I use the term mystery loosely. There is a main group of characters, but before they enter the plot, the reader knows there’s a big birthday for Rupert Beauchamp, an heir. He holds a 30th birthday party for himself at a London McDonald’s . This private party is served fast food that they wash down with champagne and coke.

But this is a whodunit and the victim is Rupert’s girlfriend Clemmie Ohara. She is discovered by DI Casius Beauchamp, who is no relation to Rupert. Is Beauchamp a common British name? This murder solves a problem for Rupert since he really loves Nell Waddingham. He wants to marry Nell but she is not high-class enough.

Added to this fun cast of characters is who believe in the sense of entitlement. They are elite and loaded with secrets. So many twists and turns, the author uses a clever whodunit to show she can write a slick novel for Brits and the rest of the English-speaking world.

A Murder Among British Socialites

On his morning run in Hampstead Heath, Detective Caius Beauchamp finds the body of a young woman clad in a party dress. She is Clemmie, a social influences and long time girlfriend of Rupert, a wealthy young man. He celebratied his 30th birthday the night before Clemmis’s body is found at McDonalds with his cronies. There’s plenty of champagne, cocaine and other drugs of choice.

Detective Beauchamp with with his fellow officers, DS Matty Cheung, and DC Amy Noakes, are given the case. To solve the case they are forced into the world of the incredibly wealthy and well connected where Rupert and friends don’t think the rules apply to them.

The case itself is an interesting police procedural. I like Detective Beauchamp and is crew. They work hard under difficult circumstances. If this novel is prelude to another book featuring these characters, I would like to read it.

The socialites making up Rupert’s circle are another matter. I found them all quite unpleasant. They don’t seem overly bothered by the murder of one of their circle. The author sharpens her satirical pen on these characters to good effect.

The early chapters of the book are slow due to meeting so many characters. Once the police begin to investigate the pace picks up. One of my criticisms is the ending. The plot has several loose ends. This may be the prelude to another novel, but, for me, it was an unsettling way to end.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this review copy.

- FUN!! An easy, fun read. A whodunnit with a detective that is very interesting. I love reading about rich people and their squabbles. Throw a murder in and this made a really great read.

Noooope. This did not work for me. I didn’t like the writing, it felt so incredibly pretentious like as if the author was consulting a thesaurus as she wrote. I didn’t like any of the characters. It felt like just caricatures of entitled people. Even Caius I found annoying (though he was very anti rich) - he was completely obsessed with his ex in a way that bordered on stalkery. Made it to 25% and had to stop because I was hate-reading and it felt like a waste of time. Sorry this was not for me. 2/5 because I could see it appealing to some and the plot wasn’t bad so far.

This book is satire at its finest. Told of the class system of London and how Brit’s can be really intolerable characters.

Rupert is throwing his 30th birthday and the party can only be one thing: black tie affair! Come dressed in your finest and be rewarded with champagne and cocaine. The morning after the night comes the worst part of the part.. the death of Rupert’s girlfriend Clemmie, whose body is found sticking out from under a bush. Of course all the party members each have an alibi, so naturally it’s all up to Detective Beauchamp to really solve this crime.

Think Agatha Christie murder mystery but add in a bunch of rich snobs that are insufferable. Each has an over the top name with over the top attitudes.. but that’s what makes the story that much more.

It’s definitely a journey that will make you question sanity but let’s be real, there are people out there that are obnoxious and jealous and money hungry asses. The satire of this story just really made it enjoyable.

An absolutely wonderful introduction to a new to me author that not only wrote an excellent murder mystery, she populated it with a cast of characters that you will not be able to forget. The community surrounding the story line displays some definite lines that are not to be crossed. At least not until one of the upper crust is murdered and the suspects include the majority of the "names" from the local registry. The characters are so well defined you'll have no questions as to motives. When DI Beauchamp starts his investigation, his interactions with this group of snobs is highly entertaining and leaves no doubt what he thinks of their actions.

This is the first book in this series and it's a really good read. DI Beauchamp has now been added to my TBR list. 5 easy stars and a wish that book #2 is out soon.

Rupert’s wild thirtieth birthday party doesn’t turn out exactly as planned when the morning after his girlfriend is found murdered. It’s a witty, winding road filled with lots of pompous mostly unlikable characters that ultimately leads to a satisfying, yet somewhat obvious resolution.

This book was not one of my better books lately. I found it very slow and I had trouble to get through it. The characters weren’t interesting and the plot was not as much as I hoped it would be. I thought some of the writing was a bit different and the mystery itself was lacking, it kept me keep me reading to find out what happens but I don't think I'll continue to follow this series if it continues. Definitely not a book I would recommend despite being interested by the summary.

Thank you NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for the ARC!

It is a slow burn thriller about a murder of a member of a fancy, upperclass group of friends and the detective determined to solve the case. It was snarky and witty and a fun look at an upperclass world and the mess they made. Everyone was unlikable, everyone seemed guilty and everyone’s life was a target of teasing and jest. I loved the sarcasm mixed with the thirsts and turns. My real issue is that I did the audio (thanks to @librofm !!) and it was hard to always understand the narrator for the part of Caius, the detective. He has an incredibly soothing voice but some of his syllables go very low, almost like a whisper, and it was hard to hear. I had no issues with Nell, the female narrator.

An interesting eat-the-rich mystery that revolves around socioeconomic class as it's focus. The characters aren't loathsome enough to hate on, but not deeply crafted enough to care about. For most of the novel I didn't care what happened to the characters, and truly couldn't keep them straight in my head. Not quite as funny as the cover suggests.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a strong police procedural mystery filled with unlikeable characters and dark satire. For readers who enjoy the theme of rich people behaving badly, this is a good one to pick up.

“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.”

Detective Caius Beauchamp discovers the body and the investigation takes him into worlds of “how the other half lives.” Will he be able to uncover the truth?

Usually I am all in for rich people behaving badly, but I think the dark satire wasn’t a great match for my reading personality. I felt a little yucky while reading it, which I think was the author’s intention. While the book wasn’t right for me, it’s still a strong debut that I know many will enjoy.

Rich people behaving badly is one of my favorite subjects to read about so I couldn't wait to listen to 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗙 about a murder of a British socialite at the 30th birthday party. When the author was skewering the pretentious Oxford grads and their world, I was all in but then the investigation into the crime took over and left me bored. It may have been because I struggled listening to the male narrator (I had to slow down my usual speed for the chapters he read) but I just wasn't into it.

This book got my attention when it was described as “savage satire” and I knew I needed to read it. The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a murder mystery with a host of unlikeable characters which can be very fun. Ridiculous, satirical, and over-the-top is sometimes just the break we need from heavy and serious suspense books.

Plot:

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.

The Other Half is an extremely slow burn police procedural thriller. I kept waiting for the action to ramp up but, unfortunately, it never does.
The characters are all pretty deplorable by the end of the book. I don’t mind a flawed character but there wasn’t much redeeming about these characters. I thought Alex and Nell were ok in the beginning but by the end they not only annoyed me (Alex) but frustrated me with their utter lack of common sense.
I figured out the plot twist early on and then it was a slow path to get to the end. The little plot revelations were meant to shock and intensify the storyline but I never felt that way either. They seemed predictable and only increased my dislike of the characters.
Despite all this, I did want to finish the book. I would read book 2 if there is one and I would absolutely read something else by this author.

I have posted this review on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5972889007

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz6tHwyrxDZ/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

And Amazon

This book was okay to me. I couldn't really get into it and it was confusing to me. I may would still recommend this book with warnings. There was a trigger warning for some.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 340 / Genre: Psychological Thriller

Clemmie is your typical vapid influencer, showcasing her lavish lifestyle and favorite products online as she waits for her highborn boyfriend to finally propose (or dump her as everyone knows he wants to). Detectives Beauchamp and Cheung make an entertaining team as they work on tracking down the murderer.

I kind of had a hard time getting into this one at first, but once I got a hang of the sometimes overly clever prose and generous helpings of British euphemisms, I ended up really enjoying this murder mystery. It was often funny and witty when the author wasn’t trying so hard.

Trigger warning: there is a rape involved in this story, although it’s not that graphic, but it is there and its ramifications are impactful so it’s mentioned quite a bit.

Overall, I liked this murder mystery and I enjoyed the witty banter and twists and turns. It’s the debut novel from Charlotte Vassell and I feel like my initial issues with her writing will soon be ironed out the more she writes. I’m looking forward to her next one.

Thank you @NetGalley and @VintageAnchorBooks for the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it.

2 Stars
I found this book moved really slow for me and I had to push myself to get through it. I didn't really like any of the characters and thought the ending was a bit underwhelming. I thought some of the writing was a bit odd until I realized it was meant to be satire. The mystery itself was just okay, enough to keep me reading to find out what happens but I don't think I'll continue to follow this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Vintage Anchor for the ARC!