I struggled with this one. I liked the sound of the novel's concept: a light, fluffy Agatha Christie-esque mystery set at Oxford University, plus, the title intrigued me. Ursula Flowerbutton is a "fresher" starting her university life. A murder takes place, then she turns amateur detective to find the culprit. It feels to be the start of a series of books, so really, this introduces the reader lots of characters and sets the scene for future books. I felt that the author got bogged down in 80s references (A LOT of them!) and discussing day-to-day goings on of the students, rather than providing a fluid storyline. I hope the sequel will be an improvement on Book One.

Like an old fashion whodunit but with an aristocratic twist. Not the most exciting plot twist kinda book but it does keep you riveted and keeps you guessing who might be the murderer in this many character book. Plenty of larger than life characters and descriptions of bourgeois parties gleaned from Plum Syke's own experience in Oxford.

I loved this-it's a funny ,frothy tale of murder and mystery,with all the trappings of life for the privileged students of 1985 Oxford.I really look forward to the next in the series.Clearly the author knows lots about the traditions of the University which all add to the interest of the book.Perfect holiday reading!

To quote from this book... "it is as light and frothy as ice-cream soda" :)
Ursula and Nancy take us on a brilliant tour of 1985 Oxford woven in an Agatha Christie/Nancy Drew style murder mystery...
Ms Sykes writes an enjoyable tale! Kudos!
Tahnk you Netgalley for my ARC! :)

Ursula Flowerbutton has won a place at Oxford University.  She is an orphan being brought  up by her maternal and paternal grandmothers.  On arrival she meets up with an American girl, several titled boys and girls and a lot of Hooray Henrys.  It appears that there are no "ordinary " students in this college. Within the first few days there is a murder and Ursula finds the body, it appears that any student can walk straight into their Don's rooms! I regret I found the constant explanations of ridiculous words and names annoying. The book is not well researched, although I appreciate it is a work of fiction.  I regret I did not enjoy it at all.

A bit of a slow start although the story gain momentum as it progressed. the depiction on life on campus is very full on and probably true to the time, the mystery was well written and made one want to read on to the end. The character where fun, although many and hard to keep track of, but one got used to them as one read on.  There were some things I did like but overall it was a good, readable and fun book to read.

I've always enjoyed Syke's non-fiction; Vogue articles such as 'A Twist to the Wrist' are smart and entertaining so after reading 'Party Girls Die in Pearls' all I can ask is "what the hell happened, Plum?"

I realise that this is not Literature. I accept it is supposed to be a light romp through Plum's self-referencing past as an Oxford student but when the writing is as immature and badly edited as this novel's is, it beggars the question, how in God's name was this manuscript ever allowed to leave the building?

Whilst the ubiquitous (and admittedly enjoyable ) references to mid-eighties  fashion entertain the reader, no matter how clumsily delineated, there are colloquial errors aplenty. I was at university at the same time as Plum. We did not describe things as' sick' and the term 'homophobia' wasn't commonly used although its first appearance in a magazine was in 1969. 

The narrative is one-dimensional. The character are one-dimensional. When I compare this novel to others from the eighties (Lace, Scruples,. The Debutantes,, Princess Daisy) I could weep with disappointment, Considering the people who have endorsed this book- and they should really know better because there are limits to professional friendships when it comes to bad writing- I had higher hopes for an enjoyable plot-driven blast from the eighties past. Instead what I got was the first novel by Plum, aged fifteen, found in a drawer and put out by her publishers, decades later..

I thought I'd enjoy this book so much! Disappointingly it didn't live up to my expectations and fell quite flat. :/