ARC Review: The Other Half by Charlotte Vassel

The Other Half
Author: Charlotte Vassel
Publication: Anchor (November 21, 2023)

Description: You know how they live. This is how they die...

A STUNNING DEBUT FROM YOUR NEXT FAVORITE MYSTERY WRITER • 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.

“A perfectly modern whodunnit.” —Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Will Find You

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.

My Thoughts: Detective Caius Beauchamp has been a self-improvement kick since his girlfriend left him. He's taken up healthy eating and jogging. However, a morning jog before he takes off to Paris to try to convince his girlfriend to come back is interrupted by the discovery of a corpse. 

As he and his Detective Sergeant try to discover who the dead young woman is, we are introduced to more characters from her social set. They are the wealthy and connected, well educated at Oxford where they studied Classics, and who are now trying to find themselves as they are nearing thirty.

Nell Waddingham has a Classics degree from Oxford and is working for a niche publisher in London. She also dealing with relationships. She's recently broken up with Caspar and has a long-term crush on Rupert Beauchamp. Meanwhile, Alex has had a long-term crush on Nell and is jealous of Rupert's hold on Nell. And Rupert is the modern equivalent of a Regency Rake with a new girl every minute including the murder victim Clemmie who was determined to convince Rupert to marry her. 

Nell and Alex are reluctant to attend Rupert's 30th birthday celebration. Not only is it being held as a black-tie affair at a local McDonalds, but Nell is trying to stay away from Rupert who is suddenly pursuing her relentlessly. They arrive late and leave early going off to spend the night together. 

As Caius learns who Clemmie is and digs into the twisted relationships among the uber rich he finds himself discovering a drug ring and an antiquities smuggling operation. And he finds himself sidelined when other law enforcement agencies take over his case. But he can't let it go since he's afraid that the participants are going to use their wealth and privilege to slither out from under their crimes. 

I had a hard time getting into this story at the beginning because it was so filled with British slang and pop cultural references that I didn't know. Once I got into the rhythm of the writing the story worked for me. While I'm still sad about all those young people with no purpose other than self-indulgence, I came to like some of them. 

Favorite Quote:

Caius walked past the trees that ran along the park's boundary, not knowing the names of any of them. That might have been a birch, or an elm, or a horse chestnut. Some flowers here, a dull brown bird there.

And a stiletto oddly poking out the bottom of some scrub that probably warranted closer inspection, as did the corpse that was wearing it. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.