She Treads Softly: The Other Half

Friday, November 17, 2023

The Other Half

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell
11/21/23; 448 pages
Anchor

The Other Half by Charlotte Vassell is a recommended murder mystery, especially for anyone who enjoys disapproval of the wealthy gilded youth of the British class system.

Influencer Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath after the 30th birthday party of her boyfriend, Rupert Beauchamp. The party was a black-tie dinner at McDonald's and attended by a host of socialite friends with nicknames. DI Caius Beauchamp, no relation to Rupert, finds the body during a morning jog. Rupert is the obvious main suspect but there are plenty of other suspects available too. Rupert uses Clemmie's death as an opportunity to pursue Nell Waddingham.

After almost set this one aside several times at the beginning of the novel, I stuck with it once the investigation started. The police procedural made me stay, even though at times it almost gets buried under extraneous information. I liked the investigative team of DI Caius, assisted by DS Matty Cheung and DC Amy Noakes and would like to see them on another case. Most of the other characters I actively disliked. There are some plot twists that held my interest and the novel greatly improved toward the end.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Anchor via NetGalley.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.