Gaudy Night: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery with Harriet Vane

This was the book I'd been waiting for, reading my way through all eleven previous books in the serious (a mostly positive experience) to reach. At last, Harriet and Peter are going to make a decision about their future together - or apart. But first... Harriet is having doubts. It's very, very difficult not to read Harriet in this state as the author being very autobiographical. I know that she actually quit writing the Lord Peter Wimsey series earlier, and only went back to it when her life and fortunes changed. Harriet is doing very well for herself as a writer of detective fiction, but she sees her writing as second-rate, she's embarrassed by it, and longs for a more literary and academic life. In Oxford, her alma mater, she wonders if this is really possible, and as the story (slowly) unfolds, we see her pondering and debating at length, the issue of academia versus the real world. Can a woman be an academic and a wife? Can she have her own, fulfilled and independent life and at the same time share her life with a man? (Slightly straying from the point here, but this is the debate every one of my own heroines have with themselves in my books, and I know it's an ongoing debate still, with a great, great many women.) While Harriet is pondering, and witnessing for herself the hothouse of emotions that accompany the enclosed (almost nun-like) world of the woman's college in Oxford, there's of course a crime going on, and this is her excuse to remain there, and to continue to debate her future with herself. The crime - as with most crimes in this series - is secondary to the human interest stories here, the intertwined, often toxic relationships, the pressures on women to conform, or to accept that they will be forever outsiders if they don't. That issue is in every one of the books, but her it is right at the fore - and it's enthralling. It's tedious in some bits, in fact, because it's so enthralling if you get my drift - the going round in circles, I mean, sounds so familiar, that you want Harriet to get on with it, even though you know that it would be a mistake - huge mistake - for her to just close her ears and jump one way or the other. I was invested to a degree in finding out whodunnit, but most of the time I was simply rooting for Harriet to find a way to have it all. And most of the time, incidentally, Lord Peter himself was very much absent. This was not flawless. I think it was a little bit too long, a little bit too repetitive. I found the Oxford world a bit toe-curling - no, a lot toe-curling - because I doubt it's changed that much, and so much oppressive and obvious privilege always makes my wee socialist toes curl. I found the 'insider' dialoge, the acronyms and customs, also a bit tedious, and some of the more academic debates also. But nothing that seriously detracted from my enjoyment of this. And nothing th...

One of the most famous detectives of the British Golden Age of Mystery is not a policeman, but the brother of the (fictitious) Duke of Denver, Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. He is wealthy enough to do what he wants with his life, and has devoted himself to oenology, bibliophily, and criminology, i.e. wine, antiquarian books, and murderers. Unfortunately, Lord Peter is out of England for most of "Gaudy Night" doing mysterious work for the British Foreign Office. Harriet Vane, whom he had rescued from the hangman's noose in Strong Poison (1931) narrates this tenth book in the series. She has reluctantly returned to Shrewsbury College (fictional), Oxford to attend a college reunion weekend called 'Gaudy Night.' She is afraid that her former teachers and classmates will shun her, even though she was declared innocent of poisoning her former lover. Much to her surprise, she is welcomed warmly, although a couple of anonymous letters strike a sour note to the festivities. A few months after the reunion, the Dean of Shrewsbury asks Harriet to return to her former college and do a bit of detecting. A poison pen/vandal has been making life miserable on campus, and the teachers and students are busy pointing fingers at each other. Harriet returns under the cover of researching a new book and attempts to locate the miscreant. The attacks gradually worsen, and when one of the more sensitive students attempts suicide after receiving a series of vicious letters, Harriet finally admits that she is stumped and calls for help, and Lord Peter comes flying back from Rome. This book is part mystery, but there are huge tracts of portentous sociological maundering on whether women should confine themselves to 'kinder kirche küche,' (very popular in the Germany of that era) or dedicate themselves to careers that involve the search for truth and intellectual rigor. Admittedly the topic is interesting and vigorously debated, but I wasn't fond of having it served up in the middle of a mystery. "Gaudy Night" is the least favorite of my entries in this wonderful mystery series.

A delightful read! Not at all what I expected. It must be made into a movie ASAP! Where has this been all my life.

Yes, I know lord Peter is smart, but does he have to recite limitless poetry and talk in ways few understand? The beginning portion of “Busman’s Honeymoon” was the best part of this book! Written in a style we are all able to understand and enjoy, why couldn’t Gaudy Night be similarly written?

Gaudy Night was written in 1935, but its themes are timeless. On it, Harriet Vane and other women are plagued by nasty letters and graffiti as well as threats. No internet mob could be nastier than the perpetrator of these crimes. What is different about today is that the women who are victims at first stay silent and when they do reveal their plight, they are determined to find the culprit without help of the police for fear of a ruined reputation for themselves and the women’s college at Oxford. While working out her plot, Sayers explores themes such as mothers in the workplace, differences and inequity in social rules for men and women, capital punishment, Communism, socialism, and other issues pertinent to her time as well as ours. The story is mainly told from Harriet’s perspective. She often wonders how love and work can be balanced and almost gives up on love altogether because of its dangers to the mind as well as the heart. As the Harriet’s conflict is resolved and the reason for the perpetrator’s crimes is revealed, the reader is reminded that we must be fully committed to both truth and love so that both remain undamaged. Because of these weightier themes, the story is much more than a common detective story. Sayers’ prose is interesting and vivid. Her characters are fun and often funny. She writes beautifully. Her work deserves its place among the great pieces of literature of our time. I read it twice as a young woman, and recently, in middle age, I began listening to it on YouTube. Unfortunately, the story was incomplete and Audible did not have a copy. I was happy to be able to get the Kindle edition for $1! Having said this, I do not necessarily agree with all the criticisms lodged against women who leave their profession to serve their families. I personally was rather taken aback at Harriet’s selfishness at times which were written as if in order to be true to herself, she must only pursue her own intellectual passions. Because Sayers was a Christian, I think I can interject some Christian observation here without being unnecessarily preachy. As a Christians, when we look at Jesus, we see someone willing to serve others and sacrifice themselves for good of others (and I do mean good, not just so that others can pursue their own passions). It seems to me that the self-sacrifice of service is the element of love that was missing in this book. Self-sacrifice in the area of service for the true good of others is necessary of both men and women in order to make a family whole. It is not just expected of servant class but humbly modeled by the King of Kings, Jesus, as an example for all of us to follow. “He that wants to be the first should make himself the servant of all.” In spite of this, I found myself wrestling with some of the same issues as these ladies discussed and Harriet felt. For that reas...