The Other Half: You know how they live. This is how they die.

Product Information

The Other Half isa sinister, erudite, and clever whodunit; a modern story propelled by literary allusions and a sophisticated wit that seem to have sprung from the era of the bright, young things.” —Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of Nine Lives

It does get better--what saved the novel for me was the banter between the three detectives, as they investigate the death of an influencer. I'm not sure I believed in Caius as a person--he seemed to be too consciously a collection of oxymoronic traits--but that If I could describe this book I would say it gave me vibes of The Secret History meets Made in Chelsea meets Agatha Christie. 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. An incredible crime debut. TheOther Half is the love child of Evelyn Waugh and Susie Steiner, I devoured it.Gripping, funny, enraging and incisive.” —Erin Kelly, author of He Said, She Said and The Skeleton Key

Advance Praise

Imagine A Handful of Dust meets The Great Gatsby on a Northern Line tube to Kentish Town. That’s The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell, a crime thriller as sharp, witty and energetic as it is bitingly satirical.' – Janice Hallett

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. Murderers can be so inconsiderate towards the police. I’m really looking forward to all the foaming tweets about closing the park for forty-eight hours.’ Bitingly funny, full of twists, and all too close to reality, this is a stunning debut from your next favourite crime writer.It’s not long until a connection is found between Rupert and the murdered woman. There’s plenty of suspects among his privileged chums leaving Caius and Matthew to navigate their way through the obstacles presented when the upper class are implicated in a police investigation.

I didn't like or connect with a single character and I thought about stopping almost the entire time I was reading it. Never a good sign. I loved this book and I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy. I can't wait to read what Charlotte Vassell writes next. Murder mystery set in the world of horrible rich upper class Oxford scum. This obviously appeals on principle but rather falls down for a few reasons, primarily that hardly any of them die. Also,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. This was a 3.5 read for me. I loved the murder mystery aspect. Deciphering who killed Clemmy O'Hara was not difficult as her closest friends and acquaintances were revealed but figuring out the why was where the interest was for me. Clemmie was an influencer and parsing the banal from what may be her deeper characteristics was a good tension. This story is peopled with unlikable characters and I admit to not caring a whit about many of them but they started out interesting enough. My problem materialized when so many of them were no more complex than the awful they presented as. It got to be too much of a bad thing as they ceased to be interesting or worse, amusing. Some seemed to be over the top just for the sake of it. I know this is a satirical look but it wore.