You can imagine my excitement when I discovered the Oscar Wilde Mystery series by Gyles Brandreth. Brandreth is British biographer who is one of the leading experts on Oscar Wilde, which is what lead him to writing this mystery series. He is as historically accurate as possible, using actual dates when Oscar met and interacted with people such as Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of Sherlock Holmes) and Brom Stoker (the author of Dracula). To ensure the accuracy of his manuscripts, he even sends them to Oscar Wilde's grandson (Merlin Holland, who lives in France) to proof read them before they're published. In his first mystery, Holland caught that Brandreth had Oscar Wilde drinking Dom Perignon champagne. He said this was not possible, for "Dom Perignon did not exist as a brand of champagne in Oscar’s day. Oscar Wilde drank Perrier-Jouet." Talk about detail oriented!
His latest installment in the series comes out in about a week (on May 14th). I own all the other books in the series and have pre-ordered Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol.
The other titles in the series are:
Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders (2012)
Oscar Wilde and the Vampire Murders (2011)
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile (2009)
Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder (Sept. 2008)
Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance (Jan. 2008)
Disclaimer: I would have to classify this series as an "adult read." While not overly sexual, there are sexual themes and moments within the series. Most are there for their "shock value," either in context of the crimes they're attempting to solve or as a glimpse into the spheres in which Oscar Wilde traveled, which likely lead (or at least contributed) to his...alternative lifestyle, let's say. From reading prefaces by Gyles Brandreth, he clearly takes no issue with Oscar Wilde's homosexuality, which is reflected in the series. You do feel a profound sympathy for Oscar's wife, Constance, who clearly loves him and I'm sure was brokenhearted by his downfall.
Taking this into account, I would still recommend the series if you're at all a fan of Oscar Wilde. Brandreth does an impressive job at capturing Wilde's wit and style, partly by using lines from his plays as part of the dialogue whenever possible, which helps lend a very Wilde air to the stories.
~ Katie
P.S. Little known fact, Oscar Wilde ultimately became Catholic on his death bed.
...I had never seen anything like that. What will they think of next? Earnest Hemingway and the Countess Davenport Murder?
ReplyDeleteHaha...well, it's a mystery series with Oscar Wilde as the hero...like Sherlock Holmes, only Oscar Wilde. The author, Gyles Brandreth, uses a lot of the dialogue from real Oscar Wilde plays as Oscar's dialogue, so he sounds like himself. And they have him interacting with Arthur Conan Doyle and Brom Stoker, because Wilde was friends with them in real life. Brandreth tries to use as much historically accurate information as possible, which makes for an interesting read. I enjoy them a lot. :)
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