This whip-smart crime debut, The Other Half, is a sheer delight. Charlotte Vassell's incisive writing, complex plot and satirical skewering of the glitterati absorbed me from the first page to the last. Cannot wait to devour - and recommend - more of the series.

I really enjoyed this book it was my first by this author but ti won't be my last. It had me both laughing out loud and on the edge of my seat at times. It is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell

The Other Half is the first in a series featuring Detective Caius Beauchamp. Book three in the series, A Deadly Inheritance, will be out in July 2025.

The hero of this series is Caius Beauchamp, a young detective of Jamaican ancestry who is newly single and on a quest for self-improvement. One morning, while out jogging on Hampstead Heath, Caius stumbles across the body of young socialite/influencer Clemmie O'Hara.

Caius discovers that Clemmie's boyfriend (and very much an all-around unlikeable person), Rupert Beauchamp, had hosted a black-tie birthday party at McDonald's the night before, and all of Clemmie's friends and party-goers have alibis alongside family fortunes and classics degrees.

This book is full of twists and turns and characters written to be disliked; it's also written to show a class divide; the fact the detective and the lead villain have the same surname name, pronounced differently, of course, perfectly illustrates the idea.

If you like books about horribly rich people who are also plain horrible, detective stories, or twists on the idea of a modern-day Poirot, then you might like this series. It's not quite a cosy mystery, but it has plenty of elements of one.

Thanks to NetGalley and Faber & Faber books for providing me with an ARC of The Other Half to review; it and book 2 in the series, The in Crowd, are out now, and book three in A Deadly Inheritance will be out in July 2025 (so you've got time to read the first two!)

Body count: 3.

Thumbs up.

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Fabulous sharp writing with some bitingly scathing descriptions, Charlotte Vassell has a great gift for telling captivating and engrossing stories
A body in the undergrowth is that of upper class Clementine, an influencer and vlogger. The police investigation led by Caius Beauchamp reveals the world of London's wealthiest and best connected inhabitants, a lot of whom work in small publishing houses, antique houses, art galleries or are unspecified 'consultants' to other posh people. They all know each other so well, holiday together, party together, go in and of relationships with each other, and constantly compare themselves and their privileges against everyone else's, an exhausting and futile pastime. The police are convinced that she was murdered by Rupert, Clementine's longterm partner, its always the boyfriend.... but then more and more information comes to light, including the mysterious charity collection boxes for 'help for hippos' that have popped up all over the place,

'The Other Half' shines a sardonic light on how the other half live, lots of scathing descriptions of red trousered gentlemen or floral headgear designers - it was great fun to read, like the best sort of gossip!

The police investigators, Caius, Matt and Amy are a wonderful bunch of people, emotionally literate and happy to treat each other with kindness, supporting each other through personal issues and struggles, happy to talk about literature and emotions with one another. I would like to read more about them for sure. The only slightly annoying factor was referring to their boss as 'the pooh-bah', it grated on me slightly.

The Other Half was a joy to read - the twists and revelations were unexpected and handled brilliantly, the story was fast-paced, the characters were well defined and fantastic to read about. Even the nastiest characters were treated sympathetically. I've since read Book 2 and am eagerly anticipating Book 3

A riveting, edge of your seat who dun it with a clever twist that kept me guessing and enthralled until the very end. The characters were all very well fleshed out with various careers and all having unique personalities as well as varying roles in the friendship group (particularly when they were on holidays together and during their college days).
In terms of the setting, it was interestingly varied which, in turn, added both depth and intrigue towards the storyline as a whole and only added to the reading experience. This book was a quick read which I devoured in two sittings and I would be happy to read more works by this author in the future.
Thankyou to both Net galley as well as to Faber and Faber Limited for an early ARC of this book.

This was an odd one! Up until around the 40% mark I thought this was going to be a DNF - I was so confused and I disliked the characters and I had no idea what was going on. But then something clicked and I got into the story - it became interesting, and I genuinely enjoyed the latter half.

Highly unlikeable characters - who has a black tie drug fuelled birthday at McDonalds - but that’s the ‘point’. How the ‘other half’ lives - we’re meant to dislike them and see them as highly pretentious. It’s a satirical take on the class system - they’re meant to caricatures of the rich!

Dry satirical humour mixed with dark themes - check the trigger warnings before reading. Definitely feels like a modern ideation of the likes of Agatha Christie - whilst also making commentary on themes such as race and class/social standings. Would recommend for a quick mystery thriller that almost seems like a new stance on the genre.

ARC copy provided by Faber and Faber Ltd. & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love Charlotte Vassell so I was very excited to read this and I look forward to the next book in the series.

When Clemmie is found dead the day after her boyfriends 30th birthday party, Rupert seems the obvious suspect.

The British class system is a theme that runs through this book along with all the modernity of today.

It is a funny and thrilling read and I really loved it.

Rupert id a most unlikeable character but he is portrayed berautifully and this is a story well told.

It is the perfect holiday read and one that is so fun.