Gaudy Night
First edition
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| Author | Dorothy Leigh Sayers |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Lord Peter Wimsey |
| Genre | Detective fiction, Mystery fiction |
| Publisher | Gollancz |
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Publication date
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1935 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | The Nine Tailors |
| Followed by | Busman's Honeymoon |
Gaudy Night (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth in her popular series about aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third featuring crime writer Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's alma mater, the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (a thinly veiled take on Sayers' own Somerville College), have invited her back to attend the annual 'Gaudy' celebrations. However, the mood turns sour when someone begins a series of malicious pranks including poison-pen messages, obscene graffiti, the destruction of a set of proofs and crafting vile effigies. Desperate to avoid a possible murder in college, Harriet eventually asks her old friend Wimsey to investigate.
"Gaudy" derives from the Latin gaudium and Old French gaudie, meaning "merry-making" or "enjoyment". A college gaudy at Oxford is a meeting for former members. The phrase "gaudy night" is taken from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra:
Let's have one other gaudy night: call to me / All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more / Let's mock the midnight bell.
Harriet Vane returns with trepidation to Shrewsbury College, Oxford to attend the Gaudy dinner. Expecting hostility because of her notoriety, she is surprised to be welcomed warmly by the dons, and rediscovers her old love of the academic life.
Some time later the Dean of Shrewsbury writes to ask for help. There has been an outbreak of anonymous letters, vandalism and threats, apparently from someone within the college, and a scandal is feared. Harriet, herself a victim of poison-pen letters since her trial, reluctantly agrees to help, and spends much of the next few months in residence at the college, ostensibly to do research on Sheridan Le Fanu and to assist a don with her book.
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Wikipedia