The misogynistic whiff--the men predators, the women victims--overwhelmed what charm that Rupert (the possible villain) might have been intended to have. I sighed every time he turned up, as he was more predictable than intriguing, and the ending left me absolutely cold. Donna Tartt for the North London glitterati -sharp, funny writing meets tight plotting in a unique, new voice.” —Ajay Chowdhury, author of The Waiter and The Cook The Other Half is the story of two men, both with what looks like the same surname. Rupert Beauchamp is the heir to a baronetcy and his thirtieth birthday party is a catered-with-butler event at McDonalds in Camden Town. Think Bollinger and cocaine. His surname is pronounced 'Beecham'. Caius Beauchamp is a detective inspector with the Metropolitan police and is bi-racial. His surname is pronounced as you see it. The two encounter each other when Caius, out for a run, stumbles across the body of Clemmie O'Hara, Rupert's girlfriend. Rupert thought that she was being deliberately late for his party. She was dead under a bush.

Here comes my favourite himbo,’ said Matt, Caius’s DS. He was looking Caius up and down with some amusement. ‘What are you wearing? I was worried that I would look a bit informal 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. The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot. I see what you did there,’ Caius said, feigning amusement. His impromptu Paris trip was as dead as the girl whose shoe he had seen. ‘What’s your initial assessment?’

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I will admit that it took a short while until I realised that this novel was going to be somewhat different to the usual style of whodunnit. I find that crime fiction and especially police procedurals tend to be quite serious even if there is some banter between police detectives. The Other Half is a police procedural following Detective Caius Beauchamp. He discovers the body of Clemmie, an influencer who portrays a luxurious life on social media. Caius must work to solve her murder and find her killer, but when he starts to question Clemmie’s friend group, he discovers there is much more than meets the eye. Reading this felt like alternating between two separate books, the posh tw*ts part and the police procedural part but, again, maybe that was the intention. Two halves. The other half of the title resonates throughout as Caius and Matty wade their way through upper-class entitlement and that is done satirically on point and of course we have the duality of the capital with the haves a lot versus the haves very little. There is a racist element too, it takes a few swipes at Insta self-improvement twaddle (me not necessarily the author!). There’s a very clever literary and Greek mythology element in addition which I thoroughly enjoy. I also mustn’t forget an interesting archaeological and drugs element, which has yet to be fully resolved, hopefully in book 2?? I’ve my fingers crossed. 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?

Class lines morph into clash lines when British aristocrats and police face off in this dead-on debut. London is a filthy city. A dirty, putrid metropolis. What was he even going to do in Paris? What a ridiculous idea. Héloise didn’t want him. She’d said as much, but in French and therefore much more expressively. The next morning, Rupert's girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered. Her body discovered under a bush with her stiletto heels peeking out.Although a police procedural, there was definitely lots of humour in this and I found the portrayal of the characters really interesting. ‘Upper class’, entitled characters such as Minty and Rupert were so irritating and I didn’t feel like they were a likeable bunch, but I feel like that added to the story and the humour within it for me. There were quite a few clues along the way which I always enjoy as I like to try and work the mystery out as I’m reading. It definitely kept me guessing though!

I really liked the author’s use of “transcripts” to give us the gist of some of the more brutal parts without going into excessive detail. Very clever. 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. His girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath. All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally.If you love to hate a novel's characters, enjoy a good investigation, and like getting a glimpse at the rich and titled, The Other Half is definitely for you! I’m so in awe of the energy, wit and pure intelligence behind this brilliant series. Charlotte Vassell is a vital, vivacious new voice in crime, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be publishing her debut at Faber.’ Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest review. On Hampstead Heath, a young woman’s body was discovered; it was likely murdered. Her partner, who just celebrated his 30th birthday at a party in a McDonald’s with the help of champagne and cocaine, is one of the rich individuals she hangs out with. While he is a leading suspect, did he commit it? Brilliantly compulsive storytelling and in a completely repellent milieu. I could not stop reading this book.” —Denise Mina, bestselling author of Conviction Caius ignored his question. ‘Barry’s team have just found her bag, so hopefully we can use it to identify our Jane Doe.’ The story follows the lives of some real upper class twits with excellent names like Rupert and Minty and Hereward. Excellent eye rolling fodder at how the other half lives. However all is not that rosy in paradise as the body of a girl is found mutilated by, of all good fortune, the DI who then takes on the case.

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The Other Half is a deliciously entertaining mystery that channels the best of classic whodunnit ingenuity through a thoroughly modern cast of characters that readers are guaranteed to love and loathe. Detective Caius Beauchamp – a charming hero with an Empire-sized chip on his shoulder – is tasked with solving the murder of London socialite/social media influencer Clemency O’Hara. The investigation takes him deep into the underbelly of London’s millennial elite, with plenty of surprising twists and turns along the way. This is an amazing debut and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for further releases from Charlotte Vassell! An accomplished crime debutthat is part mystery and satire, froma writer to watch.” —Steve Cavanagh, bestselling author of Thirteen