Rating: 
Summary: A Mystery Without a Murder?
Review: Dorothy L. Sayers' book _Gaudy_Night_ is one of the best mystery books ever written, if you enjoy beautiful, educated writing and brilliant, sympathetic characters, not to mention a great plot. Harriet Vane, one of the first female Oxford graduates, like the author, struggles with poison-pen letters, personal focus, and the attentions of Lord Peter Wimsey as she returns to Oxford after attending the annual Gaudy (a reunion of old students). Without a corpse in sight, the book may not appeal to many readers of grity detective novels, but this mystery is solved with wit, wisdom, and Vergil. For what more could one ask?
_Gaudy_Night_ is eriudite as well as entertaining, standing up well to the passing of over six decades. The themes of academia versus business, career versus marriage, and town versus university are still alive today. The writing of Dorothy L. Sayers is not to be missed, and this is arguably her best book (along with _The_Nine_Tailors_).
Rating:
Summary: A must-read classic for lovers of British detective fiction.
Review: Dorothy L. Sayers, a contemporary of Agatha Christie's, was an something of an enigma, and not unlike Harriet Vane, the heroine of this novel. A graduate of Sommerville, devout Christian theologian, and unwed mother, her few contributions to British Golden Age detective fiction are rightly deemed classics for the depth of her characterizations and for the scholarly intelligence so evident in her writing.In this novel, Sayers takes an unusually personal perspective, concentrating principally on the internal struggles of Harriet Vane, a detective fiction writer who was tried and acquitted of the murder of her live-in lover in the earlier novel Strong Poison. Sayers's detective Lord Peter Wimsey was responsible for Harriet's acquittal, and has doggedly pursued her in the intervening years. Harriet has refused his proposals of marriage but has never ended the relationship. Here, she at lasts slays her internal demons by returning to her "inalienable place," Oxford. She returns for a reunion, finds acceptance and peace....and then evidence of a particularly vicious madness directed against educated women. As Harriet struggles to identify the mad poltergeist vandal haunting her old college before anyone is harmed, she also comes to grips with her desire to escape from the world, and the realization that each person must do her "proper job" in life, whatever that job is. Lord Peter appears rather late in the story, to assist Harriet with the investigation. Here, too, Sayers displays a new depth of character development, showing her detective as a complete and vulnerable human being. Yes, Harriet and Peter do come together at the end in a most satisfactory way. Do read the Harriet Vane novels in order to gain maximum satisfaction: first, Strong Poison; then Have His Carcase; followed by Gaudy Night; and finishing with Busman's Honeymoon.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read classic for lovers of British detective fiction.
Review: Dorothy L. Sayers, a contemporary of Agatha Christie's, was an something of an enigma, and not unlike Harriet Vane, the heroine of this novel. A graduate of Sommerville, devout Christian theologian, and unwed mother, her few contributions to British Golden Age detective fiction are rightly deemed classics for the depth of her characterizations and for the scholarly intelligence so evident in her writing. In this novel, Sayers takes an unusually personal perspective, concentrating principally on the internal struggles of Harriet Vane, a detective fiction writer who was tried and acquitted of the murder of her live-in lover in the earlier novel Strong Poison. Sayers's detective Lord Peter Wimsey was responsible for Harriet's acquittal, and has doggedly pursued her in the intervening years. Harriet has refused his proposals of marriage but has never ended the relationship. Here, she at lasts slays her internal demons by returning to her "inalienable place," Oxford. She returns for a reunion, finds acceptance and peace....and then evidence of a particularly vicious madness directed against educated women. As Harriet struggles to identify the mad poltergeist vandal haunting her old college before anyone is harmed, she also comes to grips with her desire to escape from the world, and the realization that each person must do her "proper job" in life, whatever that job is. Lord Peter appears rather late in the story, to assist Harriet with the investigation. Here, too, Sayers displays a new depth of character development, showing her detective as a complete and vulnerable human being. Yes, Harriet and Peter do come together at the end in a most satisfactory way. Do read the Harriet Vane novels in order to gain maximum satisfaction: first, Strong Poison; then Have His Carcase; followed by Gaudy Night; and finishing with Busman's Honeymoon.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful blend of mystery and romance
Review: Dorothy Sayers has frequently used autobiographical experiences as a starting point for her writing - as an example, "Murder Must Advertise" was set in an advertising agency and based on Sayers' own experiences in the field. Here again, Sayers goes back to her past days as an Oxford student at Somerville College and this makes "Gaudy Night" a unique entry in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Harriet Vane, an Oxford alum, attends the Gaudy, which is a reunion of past students and is asked by her old professors to turn her talents as a detective writer to practical use. Someone is terrorizing the faculty and students of the college by sending vicious anonymous letters. The college is terrified of this leaking out to the press and giving education for women a bad name, therefore discretion is vital. Rather relectantly, Harriet accepts and comes down to Oxford to stay for a term. She discovers that the perpetrator is not now satisfied by just sending letters and is moving on to more serious offences like trying to burn the books in the college library, destroy the works of the faculty and eventually attacking certain faculty members. Harriet struggles with the realization that the perpetrator may be a professor as well as with the realization of her growing feelings for Lord Peter Wimsey. The actual unraveling of the mystery is fascinating by itself, but I was particularly intriuged by Sayers taking the opportunity to discuss issues such as society's view towards University education for women, and the need to maintain one's own identity, even in a serious relationship. "Gaudy Night" is therefore a truly feminist work and Harriet's internal struggle between her love for Wimsey and her desire to maintain her independence is something all women can identify with, even today. Although she is hard to like at times, being prickly and sensitive to a fault, we can all sympathize with her predicament. In a nutshell - absolutely fabulous and required reading for all Sayers fans!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful blend of mystery and romance
Review: Dorothy Sayers has frequently used autobiographical experiences as a starting point for her writing - as an example, "Murder Must Advertise" was set in an advertising agency and based on Sayers' own experiences in the field. Here again, Sayers goes back to her past days as an Oxford student at Somerville College and this makes "Gaudy Night" a unique entry in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Harriet Vane, an Oxford alum, attends the Gaudy, which is a reunion of past students and is asked by her old professors to turn her talents as a detective writer to practical use. Someone is terrorizing the faculty and students of the college by sending vicious anonymous letters. The college is terrified of this leaking out to the press and giving education for women a bad name, therefore discretion is vital. Rather relectantly, Harriet accepts and comes down to Oxford to stay for a term. She discovers that the perpetrator is not now satisfied by just sending letters and is moving on to more serious offences like trying to burn the books in the college library, destroy the works of the faculty and eventually attacking certain faculty members. Harriet struggles with the realization that the perpetrator may be a professor as well as with the realization of her growing feelings for Lord Peter Wimsey. The actual unraveling of the mystery is fascinating by itself, but I was particularly intriuged by Sayers taking the opportunity to discuss issues such as society's view towards University education for women, and the need to maintain one's own identity, even in a serious relationship. "Gaudy Night" is therefore a truly feminist work and Harriet's internal struggle between her love for Wimsey and her desire to maintain her independence is something all women can identify with, even today. Although she is hard to like at times, being prickly and sensitive to a fault, we can all sympathize with her predicament. In a nutshell - absolutely fabulous and required reading for all Sayers fans!
Rating:
Summary: Mystery! Romance! Oxford!
Review: Dorothy Sayers reached a peak here, with this wonderfully engaging novel about a mystery writer who goes back for her college reunion and stays to continue her studies, only to find a mystery has followed her there. Lord Peter and Harriet Vane are both in full-forward-momentum mode throughout (to borrow a phrase for Lois McMaster Bujold), except when it comes to each other. It's wonderful to watch these two amateur sleuths together -- but it's also wonderful to watch them separately. Yes, there is life beyond mystery solving....
Rating:
Summary: A Gem
Review: Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries began, I believe, as a way to earn some ready money, and they were cast (in part) as pastiches of Wodehouse. None of the earlier mysteries (though *Strong Poison* is important to understand the background of *Gaudy Night*) can compare to this wonderful book. It is, simply put, the ideal romance for literary intellectuals, and the mystery is merely the context for the romance between Lord Peter and Harriet. If you like this kind of thing, there is truly nothing better of its kind (though the sequel, *Busman's Honeymoon* is delightful in its own way).
Rating:
Summary: When Lord Peter almost fights a duel
Review: Five stars for a genre book is unusual, but deserved in this instance. An alternate title to this review could be Harry Potter for adults. I am struck by the leisurely pace of Dorothy Sayers and the richness and the variety of the storytelling in this work. Shrewsbury College is imaginary. Balliol College, Lord Peter Wimsey's school, does exist. Dorothy Sayers's own college was Somerville. The action of the book takes place in 1935. Harriet Vane is notorious. She has been tried for a murder. She had taken a first in English. A letter arrived entreating her to attend the Shrewsbury Gaudy. Harriet has broken all her old ties. She thought to herself when at the scene that that she had always had great affection for the Dean. The Warden greeted Harriet graciously. Miss Lydgate was the English tutor. She reminded Harriet that she always had had a scholarly mind. Even Oxford did not offer Harriet a respite from Lord Peter Wimsey and the marriage question. Harriet was questioned about his lordship. Not knowing the identification of a wrongdoer, one does tend to suspect everyone. There had been some unexplained events of nasty messages in chalk and newspaper cuttings and petty vandalism. Following the Gaudy, Harriet heard nothing of Shrewsbury until she was summoned to attend the opeing of a new library. The Dean wrote that there had been unpleasantness. The disturbances came to be characterized under the heading of the poison pen. It was learned that one of the students was being bothered with more than thirty anonymous messages. Her death while on the water was averted through quick-thinking by Harriet and others. Harriet had never connected Peter and Oxford in her mind when he showed up at chapel. An acquaintance said that Wimsey very much exemplified the Oxford manner. In a serious discussion Lord Peter admits that he has been running away from himself for twenty years. Lord Peter, being somebody, is able to give one of the female historians access to an out of the way source. Eventually a discussion at dinner leads to a consideration of false results in scholarship. Scientists do not suppress facts. They do not publish falsehoods. Historians follow a similar ethical path. The descriptions of Lord Peter are particularly telling in this scene. He is clearly brilliant, disinterested, capable of superior work. The impression one has had of him as a sort of joke is altered. There were no problems at Shrewsbury until a Miss DeVine arrived. In her former placement she uncovered a scholarly misdeed. The college servants are called scouts. The scouts and the faculty are the groups from which the wrongdoer must emerge since the students have alibis. The mystery is decoded by Harriet and Lord Peter.
Rating:
Summary: When Lord Peter almost fights a duel
Review: Five stars for a genre book is unusual, but deserved in this instance. An alternate title to this review could be Harry Potter for adults. I am struck by the leisurely pace of Dorothy Sayers and the richness and the variety of the storytelling in this work. Shrewsbury College is imaginary. Balliol College, Lord Peter Wimsey's school, does exist. Dorothy Sayers's own college was Somerville. The action of the book takes place in 1935. Harriet Vane is notorious. She has been tried for a murder. She had taken a first in English. A letter arrived entreating her to attend the Shrewsbury Gaudy. Harriet has broken all her old ties. She thought to herself when at the scene that that she had always had great affection for the Dean. The Warden greeted Harriet graciously. Miss Lydgate was the English tutor. She reminded Harriet that she always had had a scholarly mind. Even Oxford did not offer Harriet a respite from Lord Peter Wimsey and the marriage question. Harriet was questioned about his lordship. Not knowing the identification of a wrongdoer, one does tend to suspect everyone. There had been some unexplained events of nasty messages in chalk and newspaper cuttings and petty vandalism. Following the Gaudy, Harriet heard nothing of Shrewsbury until she was summoned to attend the opeing of a new library. The Dean wrote that there had been unpleasantness. The disturbances came to be characterized under the heading of the poison pen. It was learned that one of the students was being bothered with more than thirty anonymous messages. Her death while on the water was averted through quick-thinking by Harriet and others. Harriet had never connected Peter and Oxford in her mind when he showed up at chapel. An acquaintance said that Wimsey very much exemplified the Oxford manner. In a serious discussion Lord Peter admits that he has been running away from himself for twenty years. Lord Peter, being somebody, is able to give one of the female historians access to an out of the way source. Eventually a discussion at dinner leads to a consideration of false results in scholarship. Scientists do not suppress facts. They do not publish falsehoods. Historians follow a similar ethical path. The descriptions of Lord Peter are particularly telling in this scene. He is clearly brilliant, disinterested, capable of superior work. The impression one has had of him as a sort of joke is altered. There were no problems at Shrewsbury until a Miss DeVine arrived. In her former placement she uncovered a scholarly misdeed. The college servants are called scouts. The scouts and the faculty are the groups from which the wrongdoer must emerge since the students have alibis. The mystery is decoded by Harriet and Lord Peter.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and profound
Review: Gaudy is probably my favorite of all Sayers' novels. The whole story is very gripping, but the deep moral, romantic, and psychological undercurrents make for a wonderfully literate mystery novel - something which one doesn't come across too often. Sayers' fits right in with all the best British crime novelists: Doyle, Chesterton, Christie, and James.
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