Eva and her best friend George are spending the week at Beecham College in Oxford as part of the interview process to earn a place to study there. However, when they arrive, it quickly becomes apparent that there are some people there who believe they are more entitled to a place than others. At dinner, it is clear to Eva that George is behaving very differently and she can't get to the bottom of why. Then when Seb from Reapington Manor College challenges George to a dare, Eva grows annoyed and storms off. And that is the last time she sees George alive, for when she finds him the following morning, he is dead on the steps of a statue in the grounds of the college. The police quickly decide that this was nothing more than a tragic accident but Eva is adamant that George was murdered and sets out to prove she is right.
I love a murder mystery and what better time to read a book set in an Oxford college than whilst on a train taking me to Cambridge for the weekend! (there is a fierce rivalry between the 2 colleges so the irony was not lost on me).
Eva and George are from the same state school and are, rightly so, incredibly proud of the fact that they have both earned a place at interview week. Eva is a dedicated student and it's been a dream to earn a place at Oxford to read English. She wants nothing more than to get her place through her own merit and doesn't want anything to distract her from that and that includes her skin colour and socio-economic status which she worries will work against her and is why she lives with the words of her mother from the night before she died 'You astound me, Eva, there is nothing you can't do.' There is a feisty determination in Eva which becomes increasingly apparent at the plot unfolds - she is forced to draw on strengths she didn't know she had, but ends up putting herself in danger.
What at first seems to be just a murder mystery is in fact a book that delves into some though-provoking topics: privilege and the influence wielded by secret societies; equality and equity in the Oxbridge system; funding from controversial sources... it would certainly be a book that would create debate in a senior school classroom.
I loved Oxford Blood! It's well written and engages from the beginning; the plot is an intricate one with plenty of twists and intrigue that keep you guessing. I found myself completely immersed and gobbled it up in under a day as I just couldn't put it down!
Oxford Blood publishes 28th August and I highly recommend pre-ordering it.
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