‘Best mystery novel’ of 2025 is ‘unputdownable’ | Books | Entertainment

This book has been crowned the Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel 2025. Set against the polished, yet poisonous backdrop of London’s high society, the book blends the razor-sharp puzzle-making of classic whodunnits with the glossy, backstabbing world of modern elite culture where “Agatha Christie meets Made in Chelsea.” Charlotte Vassell’s second novel set in high society London, The In Crowd, was first published in April 2024 and is described as an “electrifying, whip-smart whodunit about the dastardly misbehaviour of London’s high society—where being ‘in’ or ‘out’ can be a life-and-death matter.”

The novel once again follows Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp, who finds himself navigating the dangerous and dark undercurrents of London‘s wealthiest circles. At dawn, a men’s rowing team spots a body drifting in the Thames, a discovery that revives a cold case involving a vanished executive and a missing fortune.

That same evening, Beauchamp’s quiet night at the theatre is disrupted when another body is found just seats away from where he finds himself, this time linked to the mysterious disappearance of a fourteen-year-old boarding school student two decades earlier.

With two dormant cases suddenly roaring back to life, Beauchamp and his team, Matt Cheung and Amy Noakes, are thrust into a world where privilege shields the guilty and truth is a luxury the powerful rarely afford.

Vassell peels back the polite façade of London’s upper class, exposing rivalries, entitlement, and the strange hierarchies that govern the wealthy.

Within this polished society, reputations are fragile, alliances shift quickly, and being excluded can be more dangerous than anyone lets on.

Readers and critics have highlighted Vassell’s ability to balance sharp humour with genuine emotional weight, crafting a mystery that’s as stylish as it is gripping.

Janice Hallett, an award-winning journalist and British writer wrote: “As sharp, witty and energetic as it is bitingly satirical.”

One person wrote about the book: “The book is unputdownable (just like the last). I am just annoyed at myself at how quickly I read it!”

Another reader said: ” WOW . . . Fabulously plotted, excellent characters and what a twist at the end.”

Someone else wrote in an Amazon review: “WOW wish that I could give it more then five stars. What a truly fantastic read. Fabulously plotted excellent characters and what a twist at the end. I need book three and would love to see it on TV. Favourite book of the year.”

You can absolutely dive into this book without having read The Other Half, it stands on its own really well, but readers of the first novel will catch extra layers: returning characters, clever callbacks, and a deeper understanding of the spiky dynamic between Beauchamp and a certain privileged young troublemaker, which hints at big things ahead for Caius.