The in crowd

Detective Caius Beauchamp returns in Vassell's inventive second mystery chronicling the bad behavior of England's upper crust (after The Other Half). When a rowing team discovers a dead body floating in the Thames, it looks more like a tragic suicide than a crime. But Caius's investigation soon links the body to two seemingly unconnected cold cases: the decades-old disappearance of a teenage girl from a Cornish boarding school and the vanishing of an apparel executive who ran off with his company's pension fund and was never seen again. Caius launches inquiries into all three cases, which are complicated by the interference of a high-ranking politician with murky motives, as well as the detective's tentative romance with Callie Foster, an upscale milliner, who may be a witness to at least one of the crimes. Caius's quirky investigative partners, Matt Chung and Amy Noakes, also return, and the interplay among the three is even richer than in the previous entry. Vassell has wicked fun shifting narrators and timelines, and her satire remains sharp, but she stumbles while tying up the mystery's loose ends. Still, fans of the first book will enjoy themselves. Agent: Jon Wood, RCW Literary. (Aug.)

DI Caius Beauchamp of London's Metropolitan Police tackles two cold cases in Vassell's second novel--which, like The Other Half (2023), blends crime solving with a skewering of Britain's class system. In this smart, provocative novel, we're again privy to Beauchamp's detecting skills as well as his personal life as a biracial Londoner who can't seem to avoid the snobby, sometimes racist, members of Britain's aristocracy. Thirty years ago, a multimillion-pound pension fund was stolen and the culprits were never found. Now, a woman tied to the case is found drowned in the Thames, and the case is reopened. Meanwhile, Caius is reexamining the disappearance of a teenager from a boarding school 15 years before. There are no clues to work with, but the abuse the students endured there is coming to light. Vassell perfectly constructs a classic crime procedural against a backdrop of racism, sexism, and classism. Beauchamp is a winning character readers will adore. Equally charming is Callie Foster, a bespoke milliner for whom Beauchamp is falling hard. She's sweet and naïve, in stark contrast to the variety of bitter and selfish characters. In a nod to The Other Half, Vassell brings back the sexual predator whom Beauchamp pursued in that novel, a man who, because of his upper-crust connections, was able to avoid consequences. Now he's pursuing Callie, and this plot thread adds a satisfying bit of suspense. Readers don't need to have read The Other Half to enjoy this intriguing novel, but reading both is as satisfying as pairing a cup of Earl Grey and a lavender biscuit. In the final pages, Vassell lays the groundwork for a third installment that promises to be as enjoyable as the ones that preceded it. A stellar sophomore outing for an intriguing detective. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.