Rating: 
Summary: A book I read and re-read
Review: The very best of the Wimsey books! When a nasty, anonymous note is slipped into the sleeve of Harriet Vane's gown when she attends the Shrewsbury College Gaudy, she thinks it is a reference to her personal history. But it soon turns out that the animus is directed at the College, and Vane is asked to investigate. In the course of so doing, she begins to wonder if she should return to the scholarly life.
Sayers' great strength as a mystery writer, particularly apparent in the Wimsey-Vane books, was her ability to write about relationships. The working out of Harriet and Peter's relationship is crucial to this book. It is not that the mystery is secondary; indeed, it is in the unraveling of that mystery that Harriet is able to confront her concerns about Peter and is also learns more about him than in all the time she knew him.
But the crux of this book is the importance of intellectual honesty in the face of personal considerations, of the need to do work that matters to you. It is about women's struggle for a recognized place in the public realm, as well as the private.
There are wonderful by-ways here as well. Harriet's life as a writer, both of mysteries and scholarly works, is described in fine detail, with the addition of a humorous description of the 30's London literary scene. Oxford itself, both town and gown, is a character in the book. How lovingly it is drawn!
Rating:
Summary: A detective story with romantic interruptions
Review: This 1936 novel is the 12th Lord Peter novel. Lord Peter Wimsey (for anyone not familiar with the series) is the very wealthy younger brother of the Duke of Denver. He is a very sought after man about town, "lends a hand at the Foreign Office from time to time" and pokes his nose into private detection from time to time.Five years before (STRONG POISON) he saved the unjustly accused Harriet Vane, a well-known mystery writer, from execution for the murder of her former lover. During the case Peter fell head over heels in love with Harriet who was too upset to even consider romance. Their romance proceeded in this very one-sided manner for five years. GAUDY NIGHT focuses on Harriet and her detection efforts. She has been invited by an ill college friend to attend the "Gaudy", and end of term celebration at their alma mater, the fictional Shrewesbury College at Oxford. Harriet reluctantly agrees and finds herself embroiled in a poison pen campaign that has been plaguing the college. She takes up residence in the college to try to get to the bottom of the problem. During her time there she makes the acquaintance of Lord Peter's nephew, Viscount St. George, and through him, begins to see her persistant suitor in a new light. When Peter himself appears Harriet finds facets of him that she had not seen before. Working together they solve to problem of the poison pen and resolve the long standing romantic issues as well. Those looking for a 'straight' detective novel like some of the earlier Lord Peter stories will probably be frustrated by this one although the mystery is challenging, in and of itself would it would justify a long short story at best. Those looking for a romance story to resolve this long courtship will be even more frustrated by the very scant amount of interaction between the 'lovers'. So just what makes this worth 5 stars? Harriet Vane finally emerges as a character every bit as complex and interesting as Peter. Do read this one and the next book, BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON.
Rating:
Summary: A detective story with romantic interruptions
Review: This 1936 novel is the 12th Lord Peter novel. Lord Peter Wimsey (for anyone not familiar with the series) is the very wealthy younger brother of the Duke of Denver. He is a very sought after man about town, "lends a hand at the Foreign Office from time to time" and pokes his nose into private detection from time to time. Five years before (STONG POISON) he saved the unjustly accused Harriet Vane, a well-known mystery writer, from execution for the murder of her former lover. During the case Peter fell head over heels in love with Harriet who was too upset to even consider romance. Their romance proceeded in this very one-sided manner for five years. GAUDY NIGHT focuses on Harriet and her detection efforts. She has been invited by an ill college friend to attend the "Gaudy", and end of term celebration at their alma mater, the fictional Shrewesbury College at Oxford. Harriet reluctantly agrees and finds herself embroiled in a poison pen campaign that has been plaguing the college. She takes up residence in the college to try to get to the bottom of the problem. During her time there she makes the acquaintance of Lord Peter's nephew, Viscount St. George, and through him, begins to see her persistant suitor in a new light. When Peter himself appears Harriet finds facets of him that she had not seen before. Working together they solve to problem of the poison pen and resolve the long standing romantic issues as well. Those looking for a 'straight' detective novel like some of the earlier Lord Peter stories will probably be frustrated by this one although the mystery is challenging, in and of itself would it would justify a long short story at best. Those looking for a romance story to resolve this long courtship will be even more frustrated by the very scant amount of interaction between the 'lovers'. So just what makes this worth 5 stars? Harriet Vane finally emerges as a character every bit as complex and interesting as Peter. Do read this one and the next book, BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON.
Rating:
Summary: A book that has everything and more
Review: This book is amazing: not only does it comment intelligently on just about every human life issue, but it does so while being a very competent murder mystery, and consistently enjoyable to boot. Gaudy Night is the novel that shows the world why Dorothy L. Sayers is the master. Her style is as beautiful as always, and this third book in the 4-book Harriet Vane/Peter Wimsey series is a fascinating piece of whodunit mystery fiction, a commentary on the single-sex environment as well as the place of women in education and education in women, a treatise on love, and a breathtakingly realistic and satisfying romance that anyone who's been following Harriet and Peter through Strong Poison and Have His Carcase will appreciate. The fourth and final book, Busman's Honeymoon, is the only thing that could possibly crown Gaudy Night, and I recommend them both. I think anyone who's pondered the very real problems in reconciling Harriet and Peter and how Sayers could approach them while remaining true to both will feel as I did--bought the book, liked it, will keep it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but could move a little faster
Review: This book is most remarkable for its ability to frame the issues faceing women in the 20th century and now in the 21st. Whether marriage and children can be balanced with a career and intellectual pursuits. How women who choose to pursue an intellectual life without partners or children and women who devote their lives to their families see each other. What does the decision to marry do to the life of a woman who has been living life focused on other pursuits? Gaudy Night is the name of the reunion that Harriet Vane attends at her alma mater, Shrewsbury College. There she gets the first of what will be many menacing drawings sent to those working or studying at the College. As she tries to help the College determine who is sending these letters and causing the acts of vandalism which follow (all of which express disapproval of women's pursuing careers or education instead of families), Miss Vane must resolve her feeling about marriage, career, and Lord Peter Whimsey. Whimsey, who proposals at regular intervals, despite her uncertainity about whether they are good for each other, eventually joins her at Shrewsbury to help unlock the mystery. All the book's resolution could come a bit faster, it was a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: Perfection
Review: This intelligent, entertaining and captivating work has remained near the top of my personal list for many years. Here is a feminist before her time (author and character) that celebrates independent thought, academic life and romantic love, all superbly intertwined. If you are looking for gory details or grisly murders, this is not the book for you. Sayers has a way of adroitly inserting her own personal philosophy (Christian, feminist, libertarian) into her works without seeming heavy-handed. In this way Sayers resembles the brilliant English writer, Edmund Crispin, who wrote witty and technically proficient mysteries starring Gervase Fen, an English professor at Oxford.
It is difficult to select the best aspect of the book - plot, character, descriptions, philosophy, romantic interplay.... As one can gather from other reviews, the writing is top-notch - the story as well-crafted as a sculpture of Tiffany cut glass.
The way the tale weaves and winds back on itself is itself a work of art. Although it is helpful to have read the other books in the series, this story easily stands on its own as a classic of mystery literature.
Rating:
Summary: Ten stars needed!!
Review: This intelligent, entertaining and captivating work has remained near the top of my personal list for many years. Here is a feminist before her time (author and character) that celebrates independent thought, academic life and romantic love, all superbly intertwined. If you are looking for gory details or grisly murders, this is not the book for you. Sayers has a way of adroitly inserting her own personal philosophy (Christian, feminist, libertarian) into her works without seeming heavy-handed. In this way Sayers resembles the brilliant English writer, Edmund Crispin, who wrote witty and technically proficient mysteries starring Gervase Fen, an English professor at Oxford.
It is difficult to select the best aspect of the book - plot, character, descriptions, philosophy, romantic interplay.... As one can gather from other reviews, the writing is top-notch - the story as well-crafted as a sculpture of Tiffany cut glass.
The way the tale weaves and winds back on itself is itself a work of art. Although it is helpful to have read the other books in the series, this story easily stands on its own as a classic of mystery literature.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: This is an enjoyable book. Why? There is no murder; but you expect one at any moment.
We start with the "Gaudy Night" a reunion and meeting of female graduates and present students. First there are unsettling and obscene scrawlings. It escalates to a prank in the chapel; then vandalism in a student's apartment.
There are many red herrings in this novel. When you think you've got it figured out, along comes another clue!
This is not a traditional whodunit in the tradition of Agatha Christie. The novel has a romantic subplot and some polemics. This does not detract from the story.
I loved the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Many writers get stuck in the mode of putting the sleuth in the character of a Jane Marple or a Hercule Poirot. Lord Peter is a unique character.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time greats
Review: This is Sayers' masterpiece, and one of the top ten or so mystery novels of all time. It's literate, intelligent, consistently challenging at both an intellectual and emotional level. Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey are 100% adult characters, who think and feel deeply, and never respond predictably. The Oxford setting is brilliantly laid out and the supporting characters are all beautifully sketched. The mystery itself is well-plotted and powerfully resolved, and works superbly as a tragic counterpoint to the story of Harriet and Peter. This book has already been described in full detail by the other reviewers; all I can say is: read it.
Rating:
Summary: The English Classic Mystery
Review: Whereas we Americans were sopping up noir novels and films of Chandler and Cain, the English were serving up their version of the mystery with the elegant writer Doroty L. Sayers. In this novel she puts her detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, into the story, as usual, but gives his girlfriend, Harriet Vane, center stage. Harriet returns to her college reunion and while having a great time with her old chums suddenly starts receiving poisen pen letters. Like her American counterparts though, Sayers is interested in the characters and what they are able to observe of the best and worst in people. However, they don't do it with the hard edged noir American style. The English style is quiet, elegant, country houses and colleges, lords, gentlemen and their ladies and then, intruding into this perfect world, The Crime and what the crime does to the people around it. Sayers remains my favorite of the British writers who either started this tradition or carry it on today.
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