I walked into this one expecting it to be a light, frothy way to pass an afternoon and instead discovered a delightful, semi-frothed police procedural that hit so many great notes for me.

I LOVE a mystery. I love (this may shock you) over the top characters with personality for days and flaws that inform every decision they make.

The Other Half by @vassellcharlotte is a twisty, funny, emotional debut and I'm looking forward to more adventures with Caius and Matt!

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Rupert’s 30th birthday party is a black-tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald’s—catered with cocaine and expensive champagne. The morning after, his girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, a single stiletto heel jutting from under a bush.

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
Author: Charlotte Vassell
Source: NetGalley
Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2023

I am gobsmacked after reading The Other Half, a debut novel by Charlotte Vassell. This is going to be a hard book to define, but in short, it is a police procedural novel about the death of a young posh upper-class British girl. Of course, there are suspects galore, but all seem to have alibis, and finding the guilty party requires a lot of sleuthing. Do I think it is a modern-day Agatha Christie-ish story? Yes, I do. I also liked the unlikeable players who had well-written and over-the-top personalities. We have a close-up look at the lazy, idle, and elite of London society getting by on their names, colleges, and DNA. But we also have an exciting team of detectives who were working hard on the case and on their desire to fit into society. This story’s foundation is the pretentious social media lifestyle with promised rewards via a false selfie-obsessed lifestyle. I found the book witty, engaging, and different. I like different. Bravo to Ms. Vassell, and I hope she has more great stories to come. #TheOtherHalf @vassellcharlotte @anchorpublishing #mystery #murder #crime #thriller #fiction #contemporary #upperclass @netgalley
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I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Anchor Publishing and the author for the opportunity to read this novel. Pub. Date: November 21, 2023.
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#book #books #bookAddict #BooksOfInstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader #reviewer

this was a pretty fun take on a posh murder mystery, although the satirical elements became a little too silly for my taste at times. it’s definitely meant to be over the top and the characters are meant to be big unlikeable caricatures, but i didn’t really find the mystery itself very compelling.

I really liked this book!

It started off a little slow, but I was quickly pulled in by the characters and the mystery itself.

Written as a police procedural, you get to know the main players of the crime; the suspects and the detectives. As the pov bounces from one character to another, the mystery slowly unravels as you get clues from one party and reveals from another.

This book involves class differences and commentary on influencers, the classics, misogyny, and racism; all topics that I thought were handled respectfully and with a touch of wit. I really enjoyed the detectives and I can't wait to read more books centered around them.

Pub date: 11/21

This eARC was provided by the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

If this was actually a police procedural novel I would have liked it. The writing is solid and the parts with the crime, mystery, and police efforts were interesting and well done.

The rest though, particularly the IDIOT characters, was insufferable. I am way too old for that nonsense. Nell, specifically was beyond my tolerance level. And the waffling on and on about Greek such and the other and Austen as a model for life choices…no thanks. Pick your lane and don’t try to be so pretentious. Either write a crime drama or write a scathing look at societal norms but the two do not work together for me in this book.

Rupert Beauchamp is gathering his school friends together for a final hoorah to celebrate his 30th birthday party in a decked out Kentish McDonald’s. He plans to celebrate with his old rowing pals, his girlfriend, and the woman he just might leave her for. The party gets out of hand fast, but no one expected to find Rupert’s girlfriend, Clemmie, dead in a bush the next morning.

Detective Caius Beauchamp (same last name, no relation) discovers the dead body on his morning run, and quickly becomes involved in the case. Questioning begins with Rupert, as he does not seem entirely innocent even with how compliant he behaves with the officers. From there, an entire cast of unlikable characters presents themselves, and when you think you know the story a new twist is added. Racism, sexism, and classism are brought to a forefront of this book as justice for Clemmie is sought after.

I thought it was really interesting that Vassell chose to make her characters in this book un-relatable. I despised Rupert, but I also did not like Clemmie, Alex, Nell, or Caius. At first, it made me struggle to want to read the book. Now I think that was an intentional choice! We were not meant to like the characters, it was to show that the entire system is flawed. Not just one person. The only characters that I liked were the police side characters that worked on his team. Their banter was absolutely hilarious.

I did enjoy reading through the murder mystery and suspense of this novel. The reveals were very intense and had my full attention! However, I felt like the book ended with many loose ends untied. I was frustrated with how many questions I was left with.

3/5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

Don’t judge this story by its first chapter. I nearly turned away, but I’m glad I kept going. This book I received from Vintage Anchor via Net Galley is a winner. Opinions expressed here are my own.

The dialog between characters is terrific with often funny side-comments if you pay attention. The story changes quickly after the first chapter when a dead body is discovered in a London park after an outrageous party. British agents Caius, Matt and Amy work hard to sort it out.

Back stories of characters and suspects Rupert, Alex, Nell and several others unfold. There’s even a confession, but don’t get distracted. There are a lot of red herrings to fool you.

This enjoyable book for who-dun-it fans gets four and a half stars from me, and leaves me hoping for more from this author.

4.25 stars
The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a savagely funny farce, as well as a pretty good murder mystery.
Clemmie, a wealthy socialite and influencer, is found brutally murdered in a London park. When the police investigate, her ersatz friends and peers obfuscate and close ranks to protect their inner circle of privileged peers. Doggedly tenacious DI Caius and his sidekick, DS Matt, are undeterred as they wade through the murky world of English aristocracy searching for the truth.
The early chapters were slow as the reader is introduced to a number of generally unlikeable uber-rich spoiled young adults, almost caricatures of real people. Once the detectives take center stage, the story becomes much more entertaining, with the repartee between Caius and Matt especially pleasing. I like the author’s clever prose, e.g., at Clemmie’s gym there was “a juice bar selling spirulina and optimism.” All is not critical of the socialites, though, as the descriptions of their cold upbringing, boarding school abuses, and mean kids and faculty do engender some sympathy. The young women are described as working at dead end, high visibility jobs (such as art gallery aides) to get a husband of proper status and “pass on their Norman genes.” I particularly enjoy the many references to Greek classics, a side effect of the wealthy’s boarding school education.
The ending is suitably dramatic as the murderer is identified. But there is a cliffhanger that begs for another tale featuring the detective team of Caius and Matt.
I look forward to the next novel in this series!

Thank you to Anchor Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

EXCERPT: The McDonald's in Kentish Town had seen some sights, but this was something different. At 6 p.m. an elegant man strode through the automatic doors. Wing-collar shirt, cummerbund, and silk bow tie. Expensive shoes: Italian. They made a clipped noise when he walked, much like his vowels when he spoke. He strolled up to the counter and asked to speak to the manager. The server peered around him nervously, looking for a non-existent camera. The manager was dutifully found and propositioned like a comely whore. The gentleman, and there really couldn't be another word for a man dressed in such a manner, was going to use the upstairs area - usually reserved for children's parties on Saturday mornings - for a private gathering that evening. His guests were arriving at 7.30 p.m. and the staff were to bring food upstairs (the order had already been courteously written out in fastidious copper-plate) at 8 p.m. for them. They were not to be disturbed after that. The gentleman made it very clear that they were to be handsomely recompensed for their efforts, and their silence. No one who worked there was to mention it again and CCTV was to be turned off. The gentleman paid in cash - crisp £50 notes - and gave all the staff, including the poor, poor cleaner, who would have to deal with the true horrors tomorrow morning, a nice little tip for all the trouble he was about to cause.

ABOUT 'THE OTHER HALF': The night before
Rupert's 30th is a black tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald's - catered with cocaine and Veuve Clicquot.

The morning after
His girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath. All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally.

This investigation is going to be about Classics degrees and aristocrats, Instagram influencers and who knows who. Or is it whom? Detective Caius Beauchamp isn't sure. He's sharply dressed, smart, and as into self-improvement as Clemmie - but as he searches for the dark truth beneath the luxury, a wall of staggering wealth threatens to shut down his investigation before it's begun.

Can he see through the tangled set of relationships in which the other half live, and die, before the case is taken out of his hands?

MY THOUGHTS: Clever, complex, and witty, there's nothing not to love about The Other Half, including the characters. Some I loved, some I vacillated about, and others I intensely disliked.

Rupert is at the centre of this story; titled and entitled, he is obscenely wealthy, misogynistic, and manipulative. His girlfriend (I use this word loosely, perhaps limpet might be a more apt description) Clemmie, has a token job at an art gallery, and is an 'influencer'. She desperately wants to marry Rupert for the title and the country pile he will inherit when his grandfather dies. Rupert is enamoured with Nell, who is considered 'unsuitable'. Alex also loves Nell, who has just parted ways with Caspar. There are various other double and triple-barreled surnamed characters, and women named Minty and . . . well, you get the picture. Everyone is connected to everyone through schools, blood and godparents. There's no six degrees of separation here.

On other side, Detective Caius Beauchamp, who shares a surname, albeit pronounced differently, with Rupert, regrets his lack of classical education and has set about rectifying this deficit. He's also cleansing his body and pining for Heloise, who recently unceremoniously dumped him. He is ably assisted in his investigations by Matt Cheung, intent on sabotaging Caius's clean eating regime, and Amy Noakes, a computer whiz.

Throughout this read I was rooting for Nell, whom I quite liked except for her abysmal taste in men. Alex. And of course for Caius, who is extremely likeable.

But who killed Clemmie (dubbed Phlegm by Nell)? I wanted it to be Rupert. I was scared it was Nell.

This was a fun read. I honestly hope that this is going to be developed into a series. I want more of Caius - his team and his personal life. He's a refreshing gem. And I am sure Charlotte Vassell can dream up plenty more aristocratic prats to write about and entertain us with.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.4

#TheOtherHalf #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: Charlotte Vassell studied History at the University of Liverpool and completed a Masters in Art History at the School of Oriental and African Studies, before training as an actor at Drama Studio London. Other than treading the boards Charlotte has also worked in advertising, as a head-hunter, and as a purveyor of silk top hats.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Anchor via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I truly hope that people of wealth in real life eclipse the despicable characters that represent them here. The snobbery, their privilege, biased attitudes and prejudices displayed by the elite were reprehensible humans.
Within all this display of elitism there was a murder mystery story involving the “other half". For whatever reason, ladies seems drawn to the most disreputable of privileged men, Rupert, and they all paid a high price for it. As a reader, I wanted to see him fall off that pedestal he sat on; so the author certainly attained a visceral reaction from me. He was a man that was above reproach and untouchable.
Trying to solve the murders was a trio from the police force who had their own personal issues but their healthy relationship with each other provided stark contrast to the behavior of the upper class.
I was too upset with the characters to enjoy the underlying story.

The Other Half is a satire on the classic whodunit. It gave me a Knives Out/Agatha Christie vibe. This is a mystery that makes fun of the British upper class, their entitlement by birth or by an Oxford education.

A body of a woman is found in a park. The woman, we learn, was Clemency 'Clemmie' O'Hara, Rupert Beauchamp's girlfriend of a decade. Now Rupert was with "friends" celebrating his 30th birthday, lots of witnesses to vouch for him, the evening Clemmie was killed. Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp, pronounced differently than Rupert, was out running and found her body.

I will say that I was not fond of many of the characters. I thought they were pretentious. Rupert is only out for himself. Clemmie was a lifestyle influencer.

The investigation takes a number of twists and turns, there are secrets, drugs, racism and inequalities. I did like Detective Inspector Beauchamp and his team, DS Matt Cheung, and DC Amy Noakes. They were far more down to earth.

This is a fun debut and will keep you entertained. I look forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Vintage Anchor, for an ARC. The review is my own.

This murder mystery intrigued me; I really wanted to like it, but I thought it was just okay. The writing style/dialogue between characters was not for me. (I found myself skimming through much of it.) Additionally, all of the characters came off as unlikeable, so I couldn't connect with any of them. There was a "whodunit" aspect that came together at the end, and that was the only reason I kept reading.

Thank you to Anchor and NetGalley for the ARC!

I was excited about this one because I love a neighborhood thriller. But it was hard for me to get past the writing style and the fact that the book was set in an upper-crust British world that was not only completely unfamiliar to me, but portrayed in a sly, just-between-us way that didn't allow me to understand it easily. I did enjoy the banter between the detectives but ultimately this was just not a book for me.

I reaaaaallz wanted to like this book, the title, description & cover were super appealing, I give those three things an A+!
However, this was just not my style of book whatsoever, in the way it was narrated/written at least, the genre is right but my alley. I'll start by saying I recently learned I have aphantasia (aka can't see pictures in my mind) which makes it difficult to imagine characters looks and scenes if they aren't thoroughly described.
So, if you are like me, you'll probably have a hard time following some things in the book because it's not always clearly mentioned in the dialogues who says wat or dialogues aren't followed by some descriptor so I know who was speaking, I caught myself going back and rereading to try and figure out who was talking. And because there are a looooot of characters and names mentioned in the book, but not always a physical description or clear setting, I was confused at times.
For that reason, I am giving it a 3 because I struggled through the whole book.
For the plot though, I would give it a 3.7, as I wasn't expecting multiple twists that happened which genuinely surprised me and I quite liked, and generally like where the story went, I would've given it more, but I didn't like how there were some plotholes still there at the end, and some situations weren't wrapped up nicely in a bow and just left hanging.

Note: Received a free ARC in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Vintage Anchor for letting me read THE OTHER HALF first. This one publishes on November 21.

I really didn't like any of the characters in the book. I have a serious problem with unlikable characters and have a hard time trying to place myself inside their shoes. Real life has enough unlikable characters and makes reading less of an escape for me. A lot of people dig these types of books, but it's just not for me.

The Other Half, by Charlotte Vassell is a fun read and a peek inside lifestyle of the rich and entitled. The reader will love these characters and then hate them, but the story is lighthearted and enjoyable.

Nell is a complex and emotional character. And although it was not in her best interest, I do appreciate her love and loyalty for Rupert. The setting is beautifully described as are the characters’ wardrobes.

I received a complimentary copy of this English family drama from Netgalley, the author Charlotte Vassell, and publisher Vintage Anchor. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read The Other Half of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Though not a complex mystery, this is a focused look into the world of the extremely wealthy in England. It makes me glad to be a lowly lower middle-class American! Remembering the angst of my late teenage years in late 1960s America I can see some of the problems, but I know for sure that by the time I was looking at my 30th birthday all that was behind me. Thank goodness! However, it does make it hard to find much sympathy for the folks in this brouhaha. I had to keep picturing them as much younger to get through the book. Perhaps it simply takes much longer to reach mental maturity in this high-flying stratosphere. In any case, an interesting tale.

A detective, Caius, comes across the body of recently murdered Clemmie while jogging through a park. As he begins his investigation, he discovers that Clemmie had not shown up for her boyfriend’s birthday party the previous evening, a black tie event held in a McDonald’s children’s party room. Caius and his partners soon discover several bizarre secrets and relationships amongst Clemmie’s friends including her narcissistic boyfriend, Rupert.
I’m a fan of murder mysteries but didn’t enjoy this book at all. I think what I saw as bizarre conversations between the characters was meant to be humorous but I didn’t get it. None of the characters were likable and they were poorly developed. I couldn’t even figure out the roles of the various detectives. I wanted to give up on the book several times. I see that other reviewers enjoyed it more so I think it just wasn’t the writing style for me.
#NetGalley #VintageAnchor

Rupert Beauchamp is celebrating his 30th birthday in a strange way—by renting out the event space in a McDonalds. But most of his guests are too drunk or impaired by copious amounts of champagne and cocaine to notice. Or to notice that his live-in girlfriend, Clemmie, never shows up.

The next morning, detective Caius Beauchamp (no relation) discovers the body of a young woman in obvious party dress while he’s running on Hampstead Heath. He and his colleagues, Matt and Amy, are drawn into the rarefied world of young British aristocrats and influencers as they investigate the murder of Clemmie.

As for Rupert, he seems mainly thrilled to be rid of Clemmie so he can pursue Nell, who he’s fancied since university. He’s completely oblivious that Nell’s infatuation has shifted to hatred.

Blurbed as a cozy mystery, this novel is as much satire and social commentary as it is mystery. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book with so many characters I found genuinely intriguing (and a few despicable). And the culprit was a surprise too, so win-win.

3 stars

Interesting premise and unique characters. However, I didn't care for the people and their attitudes.

I voluntarily read an advanced copy.