Delightful piece of escapism, because who doesn’t love a campus novel, a murder mystery set in Oxford and an excitable group of female undergraduates who try some sleuthing?

A lovely little story, and an easy-to-read mystery. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon or a vacation. It's style and tone may feel dated to some, but death and intrigue at a private girls school, complete with secret societies, never goes out of style.

A romp around Oxford - that's generally worth the price of the ticket for Golden Age fiction and it (for the most part) works here. The mystery is thin and not particularly perplexing, and there's plenty of weird British prejudices to go around so be prepared, but the read is a fun one. Not stellar but a nice read for a rainy day.

Death on the Cherwell is an old fashioned mystery set in a ladies college in England.. I did enjoy this title, it was along the lines of a "Cozy" mystery story. Very much reminded me of classic Nancy Drew, not my usual read but a sweet diversion from the more modern aggressive mystery/crime tales.

I've been in two minds as to whether to write a review right now about this book, but decided to give it a go. I read this in late 2016, at a time that I became a touch apathetic around reading in general, and this might well have soured enjoyment of any book I read during this time.

This should be exactly my type of book - set in a woman only college, with plucky gels suspecting foul play; their best men friends/brothers being pulled into the investigation (despite them being asked to do unspeakably bad things - like ask their friends questions!; a random Yugoslavian student who may be mad enough to kill; and several older, gentlemanly policemen who have to put up with women going where they shouldn't.

In reading other reviews of this book to get some inspiration, it seems that other people are able to articulate my general mood - one calls it a "curate's egg" (i.e. "good in parts"), whilst others say that the story "ebbs and flows". This is generally what I was thinking, where the conversations between the girls for example are good, but there is far too much time spent working out possibilities in terms of alibis, motives and routes taken. The attitudes of some of the characters are quite old fashioned to modern day audiences, but are very much a product of the time the book was written - and should not be a surprise to consumers of Golden Age Crime.

In Summary: I might well read this book again in the future when I'm in a better frame of mind, and should my reaction change, you'll find out about it!