Nancy Mitford meets Clueless, with a touch of Agatha Christie, in this tale of cocktails, murder and mayhem in 1980s Oxford Oxford, 1985. Ursula Flowerbutton, a Fresher and wide-eyed country girl, arrives for her first term at the famous university. What she hasn’t bargained on is finding a body. Oh, crumpets. Who killed the beautiful India Brattenbury? With the help of her fellow fresher, glamorous American Nancy Feingold, Ursula sets off to unravel the mystery. The girls’ investigations lead them into a world of black-tie parties and dining societies, sex and secrets. Ursula soon realises that Oxford’s not all Pimm’s and punting. From broken-hearted boyfriends to snobby Sloanes, lovelorn librarians to dishy dons, none can be presumed innocent.Nancy Mitford meets Clueless, with a touch of Agatha Christie, in this tale of cocktails, murder and mayhem in 1980s OxfordAbout the AuthorPlum 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. Plum Sykes lives on a Cotswolds farm with her husband and two children. Find her on Instagram @therealplumsykesReviewsWonderfully written and deliciously moreish * Daily Mail *An escapist beach read to savour * i *Thoroughly fabulous * Vogue *A frothy souffle of a tale in which Agatha Christie and Nancy Mitford are given a 1980s spin … * i *Terrific fun and really clever! — Katie FfordeA total hoot … Easily the best thing she has ever written * Sunday Times *A masterpiece: never has intelligence been so wickedly dark, on-point and outright funny * 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 SIRACUSAA riot and very page turning and written with terrific panache — Barbara Trapido, author of BROTHER OF THE MORE FAMOUS JACKBright and funny, Bergdorf Blondes is haute couture chick lit — Candace BushnellPlum 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 *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 *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 *Book InformationISBN 9781408882610Author Plum SykesFormat PaperbackPage Count 352Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLCPublisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLCWeight(grams) 290g