The Other Half

By: Charlotte Vassell

Narrated by: Imogen Wilde, Michael Muyunda

You know how they live. This is how they die...

A STUNNING DEBUT FROM YOUR NEXT FAVORITE MYSTERY WRITER • Rupert's 30th birthday party is a black-tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald's—catered with cocaine and expensive champagne. The morning after, his girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath, a single stiletto heel jutting from under a bush.

“A perfectly modern whodunnit.” —Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Will Find You

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?

All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally. This investigation is going to be about aristocrats and Classics degrees, Instagram influencers and whose father knows who.

Or is it 'whom'? Detective Caius Beauchamp isn't sure. He's sharply dressed, smart, and thoroughly modern—he discovers Clemmie's body on his early morning jog. As he searches for the dark truth beneath the luxurious life of these London socialites, a wall of staggering wealth and privilege threatens to shut down his investigation before it's even begun. Can Caius peer through the tangled mess of connections in which the other half live—and die—before the case is wrenched from his hands? Bitingly funny, full of shocking twists, and all too familiar, The Other Half is a truly stunning debut.

>50% unintelligible

I am typically narrator-neutral. I don’t usually mind annoying voices, robotic cadences, vocal fry, or different accents/pronunciation. And I actually do like Michael Muyunda’s *voice* - however, he reads like he’s balancing marbles on his tongue. I could not understand more than half of what he was saying and no amount of speed/tone adjustment improved the situation. This will be the first book I return due to the narration and I look forward to finishing the story via traditional reading.

Great story, terrible narration

I found the story interesting - I confess I listened to it after her Edgar Award winning follow on, The In Crowd. But the male narrator mumbled - I had to keep turning up the volume and repeating sections. The In Crowd thankfully changed narrators!

Michael Muyunda is amazing!

Good news for 2024: author Charlotte Vassell is releasing a follow-up to her debut “The Other Half”. I am ending my GR year with this astounding audio. I found this debut to be witty, clever, and a delightful page-turner.

Detective Caius Beachamp’s morning run is ruined when he finds the body of a young woman (why can’t murderers murder in buildings where the crime scene is limited, and evidence isn’t contaminated or is carried off by woodland creatures). He is ruminating about being dumped by his French girlfriend, Heloise and is on a self-improvement journey, hoping to get her back. Caius’s chapters are the enjoyment of the novel. His inner musings are deadpan hysterical. Caius leads a team of detectives, who are concerned about his need for self-improvement, yet simultaneously appreciate the benefits of such improvements. The banter between the detectives is hilarious and is why I eagerly anticipate her next installment.

Vassell structures her story by date, and then by the events witness by Caius and his team, with the other POV is from the different players in the drama of the dead woman.

It is Nell (Helena) Waddingham who begins the story, the night before Caius discovers the body of Clemmie O’Hara, the girlfriend of uber wealthy Rupert Beauchamp (no relation to Caius). Rupert is hosting his 30th birthday party at a London McDonalds where champagne and coke (not the drink) are served. Vassell is exquisite in showing how tone-deaf the uber wealthy can be. Clemmie is an influencer and photographer who worked at an art gallery. She is the girlfriend of the unlikeable and reprehensible character, Rupert. All these characters are exceedingly wealthy and very unlikable. It’s easy to root for the police. As Caius investigates, he finds Nell, a friend of both Rupert and Clemmie’s. Nell is not as wealthy and connected as the rest of the group, and she is the only endearing character of the friend group.

Clemmie worked with ancient art and antiquities which leads the detectives on some interesting field work. I learned a bit about Greek artifacts I’m happy to report. The detectives learned that art auctioneers have far more money for their coffee room.

The story is well paced and is a compulsive and satisfying story. I highly recommend it. Caius and his team unravel a complex story with a very interesting plot twist and the end.

I chose to listen to the audio, narrated by Michael Muyunda and Imogen Wilde. Muyunda’s performance of Caius made this audio such an enjoyable listen. I needed to adjust to his cadence, and once I did, I was rewarded in spades! Ms. Wilde was amazing as well.

terrible male narrator

The male narrator swallows his words and mumbles. The ends of sentences were often inaudible. I kept at it because the novel is very good, but the overall experience was frustrating. My recommendation: Just read the the hard copy or kindle version

Mumbling

I really wished I had gotten a physical copy of this one over the audio. The male narrator is very, very hard to understand and I had to essentially guess what was going on most of the time. Which is sad because the story is great!