Rating: 
Summary: Gripping and Intelligent
Review: "Gaudy Night," one of the last Lord Peter Wimsey books Dorothy Sayers wrote, was the first one I read. I can't say was disappointed, especially having gone back to the beginning of the series and read the first three I think it fun to know in advance the kind of mature and together character Lord Peter will become. Sayers chooses to tell this story from the perspective of Harriet Vane, a mystery writer by profession who gets to say what her creator can't say straight out about the writing life and the reading public.Sayers is a writer who knows how to create atmosphere, in this case the inner and outer life of Harriet as she experiences a reunion weekend at Oxford with its inevitable but welcome punting along the Thames, and pondering the value of the life of the mind. Sayers also know how to make her mysteries crisp and entertaining, including here much running around with flashlights in the dark, chasing after vandals in the dark and the author of a series of poison pen letters that shake up the old maids of Shrewsbury College. Vane has been saved from a murder charge by Wimsey in an earlier book, and she has not yet forgiven him for it, especially since he can't stop proposing marriage to her since. Will he finally soften her up? It's fun to watch him try, even as he helps her solve the series of particularly sinister crimes against the campus community. "Gaudy Night" will not disappoint.
Rating:
Summary: Gaudate Discipuli
Review: 'Gaudy Night,' Dorothy Sayers' penultimate novel in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, was originally intended to be the last. Unlike the rest of the series, it is Harriet Vane's tale, first and last. Lord Peter does not appear in person until the last third of the story, when he takes his place as romantic lead and solver of all things mysterious. Sayer's takes this opportunity to both reveal unexpected depths to Miss Vane's character and create a remarkable elegy of her own memories of Oxford, where she took highest honors in a world made by and meant for the male sex. Harriet returns to Shrewsbury College to take part in the annual Gaudy night, something a bit like our own college reunions, not quite sure what to expect. While renewing her friendship with both her old classmates and instructors, she brushes against the start of a mystery when she finds some very unpleasant notes expressed a vitriolic hatred for the denizens of the college. Brushing it aside as an isolated occurrence, she returns to the festivities without realizing that she has seen is only the tip of the iceberg. Several months later, Harriet finds herself called back to Shrewsbury by the Dean. The few isolated occurrences had become an onslaught and the school desperately needed help in resolving the problem without any adverse publicity. Miss Vane, a successful mystery writer, a survivor of a murder charge, and a friend of the esteemed Lord Peter Wimsey, seemed the ideal person to come to the aid of the Senior Common Room. The idea of a woman's college was still newfangled to Oxford and a scandal could become a major setback. What Harriet found was a steadily escalating attack on the sanity and safety of the college on apparent waged by a devious and hate filled mind. The tale is a psychological thriller, told against the backdrop of Oxford and the University. Sayers fills the book with loving (and sometimes not so loving) details of academic life and its foibles. Her style often mimics Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy and the novels of a century past, providing a comedy of manners as counterpoint to the grim tale of a mind gone awry. Distraught students and instructors alternate with appearances by Wimsey's madcap nephew and countless caricatures, one right after another. 'Gaudy Night' is a tour de force, coupling some of Sayer's finest writing with ideas that were novel and controversial when the book made it's first appearance. It is a unique story from the first disturbing note to the last surprising twist and turn in the relationship between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane. And one that is very, very well told. Whether this novel or 'The Nine Tailors' is the better novel will be argued forever, but there is no question that 'Gaudy Night' is one of the best from a mystery writer who stands at the head of her class.
Rating:
Summary: Can Lord Peter find true love with a 'New Woman'...
Review: ...and solve a mystery, too? Gaudy Night was the first Sayers book I ever read, & what a find! GN is first & foremost the resolution of the Harriet Vane/Lord Peter relationship begun in Strong Poison. The 'mystery' serves primarily as a pretext to contrast traditional ideas of marriage & woman's 'place' with Sayers' very different & 'modern' ideas on the topic. At times, it's practically an intellectual treatise on the subject, argued by woman dons at the high table. Drenched in the atmosphere of 1930s Oxford, drunk with the poetry of Donne, GN is a tour de force of intellectual seduction. Harriet is not an easy woman to love--she's been deeply hurt, she's much too independent, & she's far too intellectual for her own good. There are readers who will never appreciate Harriet, or think her 'worthy' of the witty, sensitive & intellectual Lord Peter; their loss. In the 1930s, women believed that they had a forced choice between matrimony & a career. A large part of Harriet's reluctance to say 'yes' is the very real fear of losing her hard-won selfhood: "If I once gave in to Peter, I should go up like straw." In this, she mistakes her man; Lord Peter doesn't want a 'mere' wife, he wants an equal partner! He may actually be the first male feminist in detective fiction; no wonder poor Harriet can't believe it. Such men are hard to find even today, much less in Harriet's day. This is the ultimate thinking woman's romantic mystery!
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh.
Review: A frustrating and appallingly silly book. Gaudy Night is an interminably related love story framed by an underdone mystery- perfect if you like that sort of thing. Its one redeeming value is that it gives the kind of lift to a highball you just won't get with a coaster.
Rating:
Summary: Ugh.
Review: A frustrating and appallingly silly book. Gaudy Night is an interminably related love story framed by an underdone mystery- perfect if you like that sort of thing. Its one redeeming value is that it gives the kind of lift to a highball you just won't get with a coaster.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent mystery novel
Review: After reading this excellent novel, it was easy to understand Dorothy Sayers' popularity as a writer. Lucid, intelligent, witty, and perceptive, this novel was a pleasure to read. Besides a good plot and interesting characters, the Oxford setting and the fascinating activities of academia were added bonuses. Recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: Among the Best
Review: Although surpassed by the more tightly written Murder Must Advertise, Gaudy Night is my personal favorite among Sayers' Lord Wimsey murder mysteries for the author's amazing skill in depicting the details and atmosphere of a now bygone era and institution. Although leisurely written, the mystery itself is quite taunt and intriguing and the many complex characters that people the novel are exceptionally well-rounded and believable. Sayers clearly enjoyed creating this particular work, and her pleasure in it illuminates the book to an exceptional degree.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read (NOW) book
Review: Brilliant - a grown-up book! Harriett and Peter are real people (unfathomable, brilliant, deeply sensitive). However, it's Miss de Vine who makes the pivotal, profound point - decide what you care about. Oh, the joy of being drunk on words!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Clever and Suspenseful
Review: Dorothy L. Sayers is the greatest mystery writer of all time. At least in my opinion. I was lucky enough to discover her with the help of my mother and grandmother. Her work is simply brilliant and so well written. It's smart, educated and well thought out. I was anxious, nervous, and on the edge of my seat at all times. I never knew what was going to happen and couldn't wait to turn the page. I'm new to the world of mysteries and if they are as talented as D. Sayers, I'm in for a real treat.
Rating:
Summary: One of the classics of detective fiction, and with reason
Review: Dorothy L. Sayers wrote some of the best mystery novels that ever appeared in print. In fact she wrote most of them. Gaudy Night is mainly a novel of Oxford, despite its being ostensibly a mystery. Harriet Vane is the main character of this novel, though of course Sayers' best creation, Lord Peter Wimsey, plays an important part in this book. The dialogue is as clever and wonderfully piffling as ever, the story thought-provoking, and best of all it is here that Peter is finally successful in wooing his Harriet. (The punt scene! And the finale...) There never was a better mystery writer. I would suggest, before reading this, that you read Strong Poison and Have His Carcase for the full effect. Oh, and follow Gaudy Night up with Busman's Honeymoon.
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