REVIEW: The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury
Oxford, England, 1951 – The Honorable Ginevra Bishop likes red lipstick, clever retorts, and earning top marks in her tutorials. She’s following her mother’s footsteps by studying at Oxford, eager to prove she’s more than a debutante.
Sidney Braithwaite likes brooding, Latin, and ignoring his nightmares. He’s determined to forge a new life for himself at Oxford, far from his childhood mining village and free from memories of the war.
Though Gin and Sidney have little in common, the British Security Service is keen to unite her charm with his espionage experience: there’s a Soviet spy at the university, and the agent tracking them down was poisoned. MI5 wants Gin and Sidney to pick up the trail and identify the informant before more sensitive information is compromised. As a team, the pair of undergraduates clash in personality, upbringing, and taste––but have a connection neither can deny. Gin and Sidney must unite their respective talents to follow the clues before they’re caught in the traitor’s crosshairs…if the sparks flying between them don’t blow up the operation first.
Dear Ms. Westbury,
Despite the title which sounds like it’s for a wallpaper historical, the plot does actually contain scandal and lies. It also contains some little details that seemed “off” to me to go along with a convoluted plot and too many characters. But I still wanted to see it to the end.
In early 1950s Oxford, times are changing. The Old Boys network of wealth and privilege is there but some working class students have stormed the gates. The Honorable Ginevra Bishop and working class Sidney Braithwaite are opposites who clash then avoid each other until the death of a Bodleian librarian brings them together via an old acquaintance of Sidney’s with whom he worked during the war. Intelligence stuff. Bad history between them stuff. The Rook (and I never stopped sniggering at this name) runs intelligence networks and reels Sidney back in along with Ginevra.
Of course these two clash. Sidney and Ginevra both have their reasons for agreeing to help and are soon up to their necks trying to figure out what is going on in Oxford as well as dealing with their personal issues and oh yes, keeping up with their courses. Frankly I don’t see how they had the time especially as they have to take on even more activities in order to keep their eyes on the possible suspects.
I figured out one mystery fairly quickly even without the occasional heavy handed clues. The other mystery had more suspects, with varied possible motives to keep track of in my head. Sidney and Ginevra have friends and acquaintances, many of whom added even more people to keep up with. So many times I had to momentarily stop and think, okay this character is this person who knows Ginevra or Sidney for this reason or that one.
I like both Sidney and Ginevra. Sidney has more depth for me but Ginevra is a go-getter. I did get tired of her being just so darn good at everything she tries. Even Sidney, who stayed alive in France during the war doing intelligence work, is impressed with her albeit reluctantly impressed. Poor Sidney is the one with survivor guilt and PTSD. Yay that he’s finally reaching out to his working class parents by the end. Of course aristocratic Ginevra discovers something in her background that reinforces that the Upper Class are the twats the story portrays them as.
Can’t say I was surprised at the ultimate revelation of who is the spy. The villain exposition is, as these things usually are, silly and left me thinking “that’s it?” And there were just too many moving pieces in the finale. I also wondered at The Rook casually mentioning “Bletchley” and Sidney spilling what happened to him during the war. Did the Official Secrets Act not apply? I could be totally off base here but some of this stuff pulled me up while reading.
As the book is labeled as “The Oxford Guide #1” I am not surprised at the final chapter revelations designed to lead to book #2. I will read reviews of it but am not convinced that I will read further in this series. C+
~Jayne
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