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Party Girls Die in Pearls (An Oxford Girl Mystery)

Party Girls Die in Pearls (An Oxford Girl Mystery)

by PlumSykes (Author), SykesPlum (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2017

    $4.78
Synopsis

Brideshead, bon-bons, cucumber sandwiches - and now a murder Pimm's, punting and ball gowns are de rigeur. Ursula Flowerbutton, a studious country girl, arrives for her first term anticipating nothing more sinister than days spent poring over history books - and, perhaps, an invitation to a ball. But when she discovers a ghastly crime, she is catapulted into a murder investigation. Determined to unravel the case - and bag her first scoop for the famous student newspaper Cherwell - Ursula enlists the help of her fellow Fresher, the glamorous American Nancy Feingold. While navigating a whirl of black-tie parties and secret dining societies, the girls discover a surfeit of suspects. From broken-hearted boyfriends to snobby Sloanes, lovelorn librarians to dishy dons, none can be presumed innocent. Clueless meets Agatha Christie in this wickedly funny tale of high society, low morals and a middle-class girl, the first book in Plum Sykes's irresistible new series.

$4.78

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 352
 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 01 Jun 2017
ISBN 10: 1408882582
ISBN 13: 9781408882580
Book Overview: Agatha Christie meets Clueless in a comic murder mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Bergdorf Blondes, the first in a major series

Media Reviews
Terrific fun and really clever! -- Katie Fforde
A masterpiece: never has intelligence been so wickedly dark, on-point and outright funny. It's also full of lightly worn wisdom and the best kind of `I'd always thought but never managed to think it so clearly' psychological insight. I'm full of awe and admiration * Alain de Botton *
The wild and hysterical adventures of crime solving Nancy and Ursula turned loose on Oxford University. Plum Sykes knows her world, skewers it, and serves it up as murder. Delicious -- Delia Ephron, author of SIRACUSA
A riot and very page turning and written with terrific panache -- Barbara Trapido, author of BROTHER OF THE MORE FAMOUS JACK
Bright and funny, Bergdorf Blondes is haute couture chick lit -- Candace Bushnell
Plum Sykes channels Nancy Mitford and Holly Golightly with great charm and sweetness -- Jane Green, author of Mr. Maybe and Jemima J.
Sykes has a distinctive, wily and well-deployed comic voice ... Into the blender go Bridget Jones, Anita Loos, Sex and the City and Clueless; out comes a diabolically amusing concoction -- Janet Maslin * New York Times *
Perfectly pitched - playful, funny, satirical and sweet. I laughed out loud many times -- Anna Wintour * Vogue *
Sparkling, bliss, glitteringly honest ... I haven't had so much fun since rereading the Mitford novels -- Rachel Johnson * Spectator *
Highly entertaining and intelligent ... whips along at an exhilarating speed * Mail on Sunday *
Savagely funny * Observer *
Plum Sykes dishes the dirt on upper crust girls in this murder mystery comedy ... Sykes has a ball recreating the strict hierarchy of social types - and the 1980s fashions - in this delightful, daft-as-a-brush-caper as effervescent as the champagne everyone in the novel keeps necking * Metro *
wickedly funny ... Grab this for a spot of unashamed escapism by the pool * Saga *
great fun, wonderfully written and deliciously moreish from start to finish * Daily Mail *
This smart, stylish and fun read is the perfect companion on any holiday. Sykes studied at Oxford and is now an editor at American Vogue, which plays beautifully into this comic murder mystery set in the dreaming spires of the Eighties and populated by aristocrats throwing endless parties ... Beautifully written and deliciously moreish from start to finish * Sara Lawrence, Daily Mail, Summer Reading *
This comic murder-mystery is like Nancy Drew for grown-ups. The vibe is akin to a less angst-ridden Brideshead Revisited meets a young Downton Abbey, before embarking upon a whimsical, Pimm's-fuelled adventure ... Fun and frothy, it is packed with laugh-out-loud moments and wry, whip smart observation * Sunday Herald, Summer Reading *
An absolute hoot ... A frothy souffle of a tale in which Agatha Christie and Nancy Mitford are given a 1980s spin ... As a crime novel, it's perfectly serviceable - and plays fair to the rules of the golden age - but its real pleasures lie not in uncovering whodunit but in joining the author as she turns an acerbic eye on the gilded sybarites of her youth ... Sykes, who arrived in Oxford in 1988, has both an insider's knowledge of this fastest of fast sets and enough sharp-eyed detachment to send it up, albeit with affection. Her characters might be stereotypes - posh cads and faux-Bohemians, hearty female rowers and slippery dons - but the author's eye for detail ... ensures they ring amusingly true. * Sarah Hughes, Independent *
She's back: the author of Bergdorf Blondes has written the first in a series of murder mysteries set at Oxford University during the Eighties ... This jolly book has everything: a beguiling heroine, dishy dons, the champagne set and even spiky footnotes. Yes, footnotes * Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler, Summer Reading *
Gently mocking its cast of stock Oxford types, Party Girls is a fun and easy-read romp that has two university freshers trying to discover whodunnit after the dead body of the glamorous Lady India Brattenbury is discovered in the room of dishy don Dr Dave * Townswoman *
Author Bio
Plum Sykes was born in London and educated at Oxford. She has written two novels, Bergdorf Blondes, a top ten Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller, and The Debutante Divorcee, a New York Times bestseller. She is a Contributing Editor at American Vogue where she writes about fashion, celebrity and society. Party Girls Die in Pearls is her third novel, the first in her Oxford Girl Mysteries series. Plum Sykes lives on a Cotswolds farm with her husband and two children. Find her on Instagram @therealplumsykes