Lots to unpack in this book: two cold cases to be unraveled, a 14 year old girl and a multi million dollar pension fund. A rowing team discovers a body floating face down in the Thames, Years earlier the CEO of a clothing manufacturer disappeared with the pension fund. Detective Beauchamp goes to the theater only to discover a dead body just a few seats away. Mix this all together and you get a great mystery.

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. As DI Caius Beauchamp investigates these parallel missing persons cases, he finds himself ensnared in the unexpected political machinations of a duke-in-waiting.

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC! This book is the second in the DI Caius Beauchamp series. I read the first book last year and really enjoyed it, so I was excited for this! These books are so fun because they are the quintessential British mystery. I love the sarcastic humor that they are packed it, as well as the variety of characters from different walks of British life. Vassell has such a clever writing style in these stories, and I love how she is able to attack societal norms and the upper class in her undertones. There were a lot of separate story lines in this book, but they were all equally interesting and came together nicely. Some characters reappear from the first book, but not in a way that makes it necessary to ready the first book before this one to understand what’s going on. The In Crowd is out now!

This book made me so happy! I was already a fan with The Other Half and this sequel was everything I had loved in the first book with a bit more.

This time focusing on two crimes instead of one, we are once again following DI Deauchamp and his team as they try to unravel them both. Society differences once again play a big role as the cases revolve around high society. I do love rich people behaving badly - and boy do they in this book. The mysteries themselves are clever and the twists were smart and well written. The writing itself is clever and all the characters have a distinct voice that makes you immediately know who they are - you either love them or hate them so venomously that you are secretly hoping they end up being the dead body. If you know you know....

The characters (the detectives especially) are extremely lovable and I can't wait to see whats in store for them in the next book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this earc in exchange for my honest review.

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell is the second excellent entry in her Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp series.
In this novel, Caius is tasked with investigating the case of a woman found floating in the Thames. In a complex, intricately plotted story, the dead woman and the discovery of a dead politician open up a new look at a cold case involving a missing pension fund.
The recurring thread in both Book 1 and this volume is the premise (and probable reality) that the “posh” people—wealthy businessmen, aristocrats, and powerful politicians—get away with indiscretions and crimes fare more than the ordinary citizen. As Caius observes after dinner with a wealthy manipulator: as he rode home, “the roads were quiet, his head felt light and his morals weighed heavily upon him.”
Caius is a fascinating character, and his Met police sidekicks Matt and Amy are welcome returnees from Book 1. Their witty repartee is clever, and there is an easy camaraderie among the officers.
The story expertly weaves the characters’ personal lives with the compelling investigation of murder and fraud among the powerful. It culminates with a stunning revelation at the end!
The prose is wry, witty and sophisticated with clever turns of phrase.
I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy a well-written, well-plotted police procedural with an appealing central character: DI Caius, a charming and flawed hero, who is relentless in his investigation and who exhibits an admirable moral compass. I look forward to more novels in this series.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

I really enjoyed this! I liked the previous book, and I think this was an excellent follow up—smart and incisive. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here!

I did not care for the 1st book in this series, although I loved Caius Beauchamp's character and said I would read another book if Caius was in it. Well, he is and this book is so much better than the first. We get to know Caius and his lovely team better and that makes me like them even more. This was a solid police procedural that keeps you interested with twists and just pure enjoyment of the characters.

Thank you to Doubleday Books | Doubleday for providing an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I didn't realize this was the second book in book in a series until I was quite a way into the book. That said, I feel like I really missed getting to know the main characters. I would definitely recommend starting with book 1. The fact that there were two mysteries make it much more interesting but I still felt like it lagged and moved very slowly.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Second in a series, but as I had not read the first book, I could still easily follow along. I was really hopeful for this book, but it fell a bit flat for me. I didn't really gel with any of the characters and the writing style wasn't my vibe.

loved this mystery and keeping secrets and the different point of views. Also loved trying to figure out who did it . I enjoyed the mystery behind it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for gifting me a digital ARC of the new book by Charlotte Vassell, the second in the wonderful DI Caius Beauchamp series. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp finds himself in charge of two cold cases. The first comes into play when a men's rowing team discovers a body floating in the Thames. Years before, the chief executive of a clothing manufacturer walked away with a multi-million dollar corporate retirement fund and disappeared. Then, as Caius is at the theater, someone dies just a few seats away. Over 20 years ago, Eliza Chapel disappeared from a girls boarding school. As Caius, along with associates Matt and Amy, investigate these missing persons cases, he finds himself in the middle of a political mess as well as a personal one.

I was so very happy to read this book after The Other Half, which I loved, because Caius is an amazing, quirky character and Vassell writes such intriguing mysteries with fabulous characters and dialogue. These mysteries are complex, but funny and twisty, and I'm already anxious for more! I love the relationship between Caius and his associates, as they both poke fun and look out for each other. Plus, we are introduced to Calliope (Calli), a milliner he meets at the theater. who is dealing with her own drama. While this can easily be read as a standalone, don't hesitate to read The Other Half first, because they are that good!

Vassell takes us back to the world of London's crime fighting detective Caius Beauchamp, the obscenely wealthy and...murder. Caius is at a play, waiting for his Tinder date, seated next to a beautiful stranger when the play, um, erupts.

From there the mysteries ensue. There are two cases to be solved, they aren't related (until they are) and the way it all unfolds is so clever. A tight puzzle box waiting for the key.

"The In Crowd" (#2 in the DI Caius Beauchamp series) has Caius and his reliable team of Amy & Matt, the super posh super rich pulling strings, more familiar faces (hi, Rupert), a bridezilla, and an intricately webbed plot. Of course I'm looking forward to #3!

My thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday for the digital ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I can't quite pinpoint why exactly, but I had a hard time getting into this book. I even tried the audiobook from the Penguin Random House Audio influencer program and I still thought the story was hard to focus on and it never really grasped my interest. I am dissapointed because the synopsis was so mesmerizing. This book is not horrible, I maybe just wasn't in the right mood to fully enjoy this book. I will try again at a later date perhaps.

—


Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me here <3:

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules (links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc)

If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

The In Crowd is the second in a series featuring DI Caius Beauchamp, and it is just as good as the first. If you haven’t done so already, I recommend reading the first book — The Other Half — beforehand as some of the same characters figure prominently in both books.

In The In Crowd, Beauchamp is asked to investigate a cold case involving a missing multi-million dollar pension fund by a member of Parliament. Beauchamp reluctantly agrees to do so as long as he can continue to investigate a second cold case involving a fourteen-year-old girl who vanished from a girls’ boarding school two decades ago.

Beauchamp — along with DS Matt Cheung and DC Amy Noakes— investigate these parallel missing person cases, as well as the reasons why Beauchamp was asked to investigate the pension fund case to begin with.

As with the previous novel, Vassell does a brilliant job developing her characters. Caius Beauchamp is smart and funny, with the heart of a “romantic lesbian” according to his gay subordinate Amy. The mysteries themselves are well-plotted and hold your interest. They also deal with socially-relevant issues involving race and class, which is a welcome addition to the genre. I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series! 4.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up). Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary advanced copy of this book.

4.25/5 stars

This is the second in the Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp series following The Other Half. I’m really enjoying this series as it goes along, following DI Beauchamp and his co-workers Matt and Amy and their various investigations.

This outing finds the crew investigating two cases; one, a cold case (20 years old) involving a missing teenage girl from a boarding school in Cornwall; second, an embezzlement cold case that resurfaces due to the discovery of a body and the machinations of a powerful government bureaucrat. There are also new developments in Caius’s personal life as well as the reappearance of a former villain in a prior investigation.

I really liked how deftly Vassell interwove both the cases in this book as well as the two books in the series.

Smart, funny and a series I’m looking forward to following.

My sincere thanks to Doubleday Books for providing the free early arc of The In Crowd for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

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 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.

Truly enjoyed this one! Vassell has such a unique writing style that it did admittedly take me a minute to get used to it, as I jumped right into this book, not having read the previous one in the series.

This book tackles both a mysterious drowning in the Thames as well as the reopening of a cold case from twenty years ago. There's a rich cast of characters that represent both a close-knit group of police investigators and families inhabiting both the highest echelons of society and politics. Full of plot and a bit of romance, this was an engaging and fun read.

While I probably won't go back to read the first in the series, I am looking forward to what comes next for Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp.

I enjoyed this one more than the previous in the series. These books are for those who like mysteries that are quite stylized with quirky characters and lots of details. I read Dorothy Sayers for the first time earlier this year, and it reminded me a lot of that style but contemporized.

4.5 stars for this sequel to 2023's The Other Half. The In Crowd follows DI Caius Beauchamp gets tapped by a prominent politician to figure out the mystery of the body found in the Thames. It is unclear what the politician's motives may be, but he is insistent that Lynne Rodgers, a suspect in an unsolved embezzlement case, was murdered. Meanwhile, across town, an attractive young milliner named Callie is helping out with preparations for her friend's high-society wedding. That she will meet Caius will come as no surprise to anyone who ever reads mysteries, but the interplay between the two moves the narrative forward in unexpected ways. Vassell, once again, skewers the ruling class and their pretentions exceptionally well, and you will cheer every time one of them receives their comeuppance. There is comedy and suspense and the dialogue is witty and incisive.
The ending is hard to guess at which is always a plus.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this e-arc.*

Thank you to Net Galley and Doubleday Books for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
I finished this book, but I had a hard time with it. It was very slow and did not always hold my attention. It is the second book in the series so maybe if I had read the first one, I would have gotten more out of it. This is a DI Caius Beachamp story-he is trying to solve not one, but two, missing persons cases. This was confusing to me because the plot seemed to jump around. Lots of readers seemed to enjoy it, but it was a slow read for me.

This wasn't the right book for me. I didn't read the first book so maybe that was part of my problem. There were a few too many moving parts in a book that I was only half-interested in so I started to lose track of people in the book.