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

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Rupert’s 30th is a black tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald’s – catered with cocaine and Veuve Clicquot.

THE MORNING AFTER

His girlfriend Clemmie is found murdered on Hampstead Heath. All the party-goers have alibis. Naturally.

This investigation is going to be about Classics degrees and aristocrats, Instagram influencers and who knows who. Or is it whom? Detective Caius Beauchamp isn’t sure. He’s sharply dressed, smart, and as into self-improvement as Clemmie – but as he searches for the dark truth beneath the luxury, a wall of staggering wealth threatens to shut down his investigation before it’s begun.

Can he see through the tangled set of relationships in which the other half live, and die, before the case is taken out of his hands?

My Review

‘Rupert’s 30th is a black tie dinner at the Kentish Town McDonald’s – catered with cocaine and Veuve Clicquot.’

That says it all really. Who has a black tie dinner at McDonald’s? Closing the whole place and terrifying the staff with their drug and champagne-fuelled antics. These are our supposed future leaders, reminiscent of the Bullingdon Club, they will buy their way out of trouble with daddy’s money and one day sit in the House of Lords. Heaven help us (and the Hippos) – no wonder the country has gone to the Corgis. More about the Hippos later.

While the revellers are enjoying pouring the bubbly down their throats and the powder up their noses, Rupert’s girlfriend Clemmie is lying dead on Hampstead Heath, her perfectly turned-out, Instagrammable ankles sticking out of the undergrowth. Which is where he finds her. It’s obvious even before forensics get to the body that she’s been murdered. But first she needs to be identified. That’s not too difficult as she’s all over Instagram. She was an Influencer. Of course she was.

It’s up to Caius and his colleagues Matt and Amy to find out the truth, but with these sorts of people, money buys silence and everyone at the party has an alibi. Especially Rupert, unfortunately. Undeniably handsome and charming, Clemmie loved him, but he was going to ditch her the day after the party and her death is actually rather convenient. Because he has always been in love with Nell, but she has just embarked on a relationship with Alex. And if you think that’s complicated….

Wherever Caius, Matt and Amy investigate, there is a charity box for Help the Hippos? Coincidence? There are no coincidences in good policing and they are determined to find out what it means before the investigation is taken out of their hands.

I adored this book. The characters are larger than life, wonderfully drawn in all their hateful glory, especially the obscenely rich Rupert Achilles de Courcy Beauchamp and the obscenely beautiful Nell – the dark and the light – the pompous and the mildly eccentric. The banter between Caius and Matt is hilarious, the names are ridiculous, it’s full of references to the classics and Jane Austen, and the Chief Superintendent is referred to as the great pooh-bahh.

One of my favourite books of the year so far.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Charlotte Vassell studied History at the University of Liverpool and completed a Masters in Art History at SOAS, University of London, before training as an actor at Drama Studio London. Other than treading the boards, Charlotte has also worked in advertising, executive search, and as a purveyor of silk top hats.