When Harriet Vane accepts an invitation to a reunion weekend at
Shrewsbury College, Oxford, she is at first reluctant to go.
Oxford graduates are not supposed to be tried for murdering their
lovers, even if they are cleared by the efforts of Lord Peter Wimsey,
and Harriet is a little afraid to face her old friends. However,
Harriet refuses to act the coward and goes to the Shrewsbury Gaudy,
where she finds herself depressed by her friends but enjoys meeting
with the faculty, and where she sees the first salacious output of an
anonymous letter writer.
Several weeks later back in London, Harriet receives a second
invitation to Shrewsbury from the dean, this time to the opening of the
new library wing. When she accepts, Dean Martin asks her to
investigate a campaign of pranks and poison-pen letters which is
upsetting the college calm. Women are struggling to be respected
as equals at Oxford, and if the story of these episodes becomes common
knowledge, it will hinder their progress.
Harriet accepts and takes up residence at Oxford, working toward an
English degree and helping Miss Lydgate with the proofs of her new book
while investigating the activities of the prankster. The
prankster’s activities increase in intensity and soon progress from
damaging to dangerous, as one of the undergraduates attempts suicide
because of a particularly nasty note. Indeed, before it is over,
Harriet will nearly lose her life.
Naturally, Harriet consults Lord Peter Wimsey, a graduate of Balliol
College and the amateur detective who cleared her of poisoning her
former lover.
As they work together to unravel the mystery,
Harriet and Lord Peter finally also sort out their personal
relationship, which has been a recurring thread in several previous
novels.
Dorothy Sayers, who graduated from Somerville College, Oxford, uses the
novel to discuss the concepts of one’s proper job and intellectual
integrity. They recur throughout her novels, but in Gaudy Night
are topics of conversation between Harriet and various faculty members
and, of course, Lord Peter. At the time that Dorothy Sayers
attended Oxford, women academics were often held in disdain or even
ridiculed, so discussion of the role of higher education in the lives
of women was topical. In fact, discussion of how women can
balance an academic career and family life is still relevant
today. These discussions are integral to the story, essential to
understanding the motive of the criminal, and drive the plot to its
satisfying end.
This is a fascinating look into the world of Oxford University in the
years when women were just starting to be accepted in academic
circles. It is also undoubtedly a favourite of all Lord Peter
Wimsey mystery fans.