Another Beauchamp mystery and I think this one was even better than the first! Beauchamp meets a beautiful girl right as he comes across an interesting case. Well-written, with lots of humor and good characters.

DI Caius Beauchamp was given a cold case along with his partners DS Matt and DS Amy. His superiors want to know about the disappearance of Eliza from St Ursula's School. DI Caius also finds the body of Martin Hartley an Investigator working on the missing Eliza. The investigating finds finds lots of people now that were not interviewed the first time and have connections to the cold case they are working on! A very surprising end!

I was hooked from the cover and thought it worked as a whodunnit. The overall concept worked with what I wanted and thought it had a unique story going on. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and enjoyed getting through the plot of this. The characters were unique and worked in this story. I enjoyed the way Charlotte Vassell wrote this and that the cover had a mysterious element to this.

A new book following some of the characters of The Other Half - a hilarious and creative whodunit amongst the uppercrust of Britain.

Don't worry ! This book can be read as a stand alone, Vassell creates such vivid characters, it isn't long before you feel you have always known them. In The In Crowd, DI Caius Beauchamp is tasked with solving a mystery related to a missing pension fund worth millions. Z
There's a loose connection to a cold case that Caius is interested in solving and he and his team begin working their way through the clues.

The writing is clear, hilarious, bright, intellectual yet charming. The mysteries are straightforward and Vassell drops lots of clues as the book unwinds. In many ways, the story focuses much more on personal lives and I absolutely loved it. There's a bit of love, old dark academia, some interesting race commentary and of course mysteries. I loved every minute and am actually going to go back and enjoy The Other Half again!

If you love Clue, Knives Out, or any smart mystery, grab The In Crowd! #doubleday #Charlottevassell #theincrowd

I was very excited for the opportunity to read Charlotte Vassell’s newest book since I enjoyed The Other Half, and my reading experience with the two books was extremely similar.

Where I think Vassell really succeeds is in the pacing of the story. The newest saga in the Caius Beauchamp series kept me coming back every chance I could, to read “just one more chapter,” and I ended up racing through the second half in an evening.

There were quite a few things that I struggled with though:
- Trying to keep all of the characters straight
- There were a lot of plot points to keep track of with two separate but sort of related cases, and there were so many twists and turns it almost felt a bit over the top at times
- There was a lot of British slang or phrases used that I didn’t necessarily understand as a US-based reader. I don’t think this was a problem, more so just something that tripped me up at times, or made me want to stop to google (but then I couldn’t take a google break because I wanted to see what was going to happen next haha!)
- It’s been a while since I read The Other Half, so while I recognized many names in The In Crowd, I couldn’t necessarily remember the context of the characters from the previous book. The book stands alone where you wouldn’t necessarily need to read The Other Half first, but I personally would have found it helpful if I had read them closer together.

Overall, I would probably put this at a 3.5 rounded up - definitely enjoyable and held my interest!

Excellent sequel to ‘The Other Half’ (it’s best to read that one first as several characters crop up in both), Charlotte Vassell writes with a confident, razor sharp edge that’s perfect for bursting the bubbles of the entitled upper class characters that populate this exceptional whodunnit. After reading several novels by Yarwood- Lovett who seems to be in thrall to her titled characters and the high end possessions that define them, it’s a breath of fresh air to read a blistering satire on the ruling classes who have done such a fantastic job of governing Britain for the last 14 years!

When a men’s rowing team finds a drowned body in the Thames, it leads to two seemingly unrelated cold cases being reopened, and Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp finds himself in the center of it all.

With a missing CEO who absconded with the company’s retirement fund, a missing teenager from a sketchy boarding school, and a dead body at the theater, Caius has a lot on his plate. Add a chaotic love interest to the mix, and things are bound to get even murkier.

The second book in the DI Caius Beauchamp series, The In Crowd can also be read as a standalone. It is an interesting mystery, though the number of subplots could have been scaled down. With so much going on, it can be hard to keep track of each storyline.

Additionally, while the characters have the potential to be compelling, they could have been further developed. This would have added more depth to the relationship between Caius and his love interest Callie, as interesting backstories are alluded to but not deeply explored.

Overall, this would make a fun beach read, though it will not lead to deep discussions.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The In Crowd.

I didn't realize this was the second book in the series but it can be read as a standalone.

One morning, the body of a dead woman floating in the Thames reopens a cold case from two decades ago.

Then, when DI Caius Beauchamp decides on a night of culture at the theater, a body is found dead just a few seats away. He soon discovers the link between the deceased rand another cold case.

The mysteries are vaguely interesting, if it weren't for the many subplots and minor and secondary unlikable characters.

Politics and politicians are involved (two subjects I despise the most in the world), adultering shenanigans, sexual abuse, genetic lineage, and entitled, privileged haves thinking they're better than everyone else.

Not to mention the romance brewing between Caius and someone who will eventually be linked to one of the cold cases. I don't care about Caius' colleagues teasing him about his love life, which I thought was kind of silly.

There was too much filler and exposition that had nothing to do with propelling the the mysteries or the narrative forward. For example, Rupert. What a turd.

The writing isn't bad, but too wordy, heavy on unnecessary details and descriptions on what people are wearing, wedding nonsense, and politicos throwing their weight around.

I guessed a few of the twists, and the characters were very cliche; for example, people remarks often how pretty Callie is. And Rupert. And Caius, Only in a book do are so many people so pretty.

I didn't mind Caius, he's a decent, competent character who I can believe is a reasonable detective.

I'm not sure if I'll continue to read this series but I appreciate the opportunity to read it before publication.

In this new novel from Charlotte Vassell, Detective Caius Beauchamp has returned and is investigating a suspicious death and a disappearance from decades before. I enjoy Vassell's writing and the humor she infuses in her books, even when they're around serious topics. However, I never want to see one of the main characters, Rupert, return ever again to the page. Overall, I think this is a relatively fun mystery novel, but trigger warning around sexual assault content.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

I think her books aren’t for me. I like the idea, other people seem like them. Something about the writing seems very childish to me. I feel like you have sort of fun and frothy books. Without writing in a way that makes me feel like it’s written for children. Odd she just tells you things rather than showing them.

Early one morning, a men’s rowing team discovers a body floating face down in the Thames. Many years before, the chief executive of a clothing manufacturer walked off with a multi-million dollar corporate retirement fund and disappeared without a trace. Now, the discovery of this body has reopened that cold case. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp has his own evening at the theater upended by the discovery of a dead body just a few seats away. Two decades ago, Eliza Chapel, a fourteen-year-old student at a girls boarding school in Cornwall, disappeared in the middle of the night under dubious circumstances. A second body and a second cold case reopened! Decent read! Wasn't one of my top favorites but still worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I couldn't really get into this so I was unable to finish it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!