The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

 

DI Caius Beauchamp has more than enough cases.  There is a woman who has been found dead in the Thames, maybe an accident maybe a homicide.  She was involved decades ago in a pension scandal where the money disappeared along with her boss.  Then there is a twenty year old disappearance of a girl at a boarding school that he has been tasked to solve.  Finally, on the one night that Caius went to the theatre to relax, when the lights came up after the show, there is a dead man sitting in Caius' row.

But all wasn't a loss at the theater.  Caius meets Callie there.  Callie is a milliner and the two hit it off and start seeing each other.  As with most modern relationships there is a bit of come and go as each wants to not reveal their feelings too early and scare the other off.  Callie is extracting herself from a friendship where the other woman has turned into a Bridezilla even though she has known the woman from school days and she is one of her oldest friends.  

This is the second novel is the DI Caius Beauchamp series.  It came to my attention when it won Best Novel at the Edgars and I'm glad it did.  The plot and characters were witty and just so typically British.  I liked the interplay among the police team and the budding romance between Caius and Callie.  Charlotte Vassell is a newcomer in the mystery realm with this novel being her second book.  To win the Edgar Best Novel with a second book is pretty extraordinary and I found this book to be intriguing.  It is recommended for mystery readers.