Trudy J. Morgan-Cole feels Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night is a must-read for classic mystery buffs
Trudy J. Morgan-Cole is a writer and teacher in St. John's. She writes historical fiction and many of her books are set in or near her Newfoundland home.
Her latest book, A Roll of the Bones, goes back to the establishment of the settlement of Cupids in Newfoundland. It zeroes in on the lives of the women of the colony.
Morgan-Cole is also an avid reader and spoke with The Next Chapter about the the 12th book in Dorothy L. Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey series, Gaudy Night.
"This is a golden age detective story written in the 1930s. I first read it when I was 16 or so. It is one of the later volumes of the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series, but it also works as a standalone novel.
"I love Gaudy Night for the love story it tells. It's a real 'thinking woman's love story' between Lord Peter Wimsey and the mystery novelist Harriet Vane. It is a novel that's amazing for its time, in the degree to which it wrestles with the meaning of true equality in a marriage.
I love it for the love story — it tells because it's a real 'thinking woman's love story' between the Lord Peter Wimsey and the mystery novelist Harriet Vane.
"It is not only a fantastic mystery and love story, it is a very witty, funny, insightful book. I have read it over and over again throughout the decades since I was 16.
"I feel like I find something new in it every time."
Trudy J. Morgan-Cole's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
