Some time later the Dean of Shrewsbury writes to ask for her help. Harriet's short stay is, however, marred by her discovery of a sheet of paper with an offensive drawing, and a poison pen message referring to her as a 'dirty murderess'. Expecting hostility because of her notoriety (she had stood trial for murder in an earlier novel, Strong Poison), she is surprised to be welcomed warmly by most of the dons, and rediscovers her old love of the academic life.

Harriet Vane returns with trepidation to her alma mater, Shrewsbury College, Oxford to attend the Gaudy dinner. Despite the dons' reluctance to share the secret with an outsider, Harriet convinces them to let her bring in Lord Peter Wimsey to assist the investigation - but his involvement is not without complications, both personal and professional. However, the mood turns sour when someone begins a series of malicious acts including poison-pen messages, obscene graffiti, and wanton vandalism. The dons of Harriet Vane's alma mater, the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Sayers' own Somerville College), have invited her back to attend the annual Gaudy celebrations. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane. And Harriet finds herself ensnared in a nightmare of romance and terror, with only the tiniest shreds of clues to challenge her powers of detection, and those of her paramour, the dashing private investigator Lord Peter Wimsey.Gaudy Night (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. When Harriet attends her Oxford reunion, known as the Gaudy, the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obscenities, burnt effigies, and poison-pen letters, including one that says, 'Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup.' Some of the notes threaten murder all are perfectly ghastly yet in spite of their scurrilous nature, all are perfectly worded. Now available as a limited Olive Edition from Harper Perennial. Sayers's Gaudy Night takes mystery writer Harriet Vane to Oxford University, Harriet's alma mater, for a reunion, only to find herself the target of a nightmare of harassment and mysterious, murderous threats. And Miss Sayers has long stood in a class by herself.'-Times Literary Supplement (London) Dorothy L. 'Gaudy Night stands out even among Miss Sayers's novels. Sayers's Gaudy Night takes mystery writer Harriet Vane to Oxford University, Harriet's alma.

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