The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries

This is a series, written by Gyles Brandreth, set against the exotic backdrop of London, Paris, America and the Vatican and evokes Oscar Wilde’s trademark wit and brilliance with huge flair, intertwining all the intrigue of the classic English murder mystery with a compelling portrait of one of the greatest characters of the Victorian age. I would call it historical faction as the diaries of Richard Sherard (Oscar Wilde’s biographer and grandson of William Wordsworth) have been shown to be a major source of information. “Lovers of historical mystery will relish this chilling Victorian tale based on real events and cloaked in authenticity” according to Gyles. 

I have read the first 4 of the 6 novels. (http://www.oscarwildemurdermysteries.com/b6_description.php provides shot synopsis of each book and also the alternative titles for the USA market for some of the books.)

1.      Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders

2.      Oscar Wilde and The Ring of Death

3.      Oscar Wilde and Dead Man’s Smile

4.      Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers

5.      Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders

6.      Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol

The stories are well told and the element of mystery is extremely well handled. In fact for the 4 stories I have read the twist in the tale identifying the culprit at the end defiantly comes as a surprise. As the tale is told from the detailed information within the diaries all the facts have been laid out and still the plot is not easy to unravel. I have had such fun reading this and puzzling over the identity of the murderer and also the motive of murder. 

The other draw to the books is reading about personalities you have heard of, for example Sir Arthur Canon Doyle is a friend of Oscar and is around the time when he has just published his first Sherlock Homes book. He is a part of many of the tales and seems to pick ideas and events that he could later weave into this books. Indeed he is seen to be stating often that Oscar could be Sherlock and with Richard Sherard keeping a detailed written account of his daily life he was easily demonstrating the role of Watson. Arthur Canon Doyle is a practicing doctor and also a sculpture. There is a fascinating glimpse in this well-known personality. 

Bram Stoker is another name I recognised who is a friend, and well ‘into’ the existence of vampires while researching for his famous character Dracula. One of the stories runs around the theatre and gives us glimpses of the lives of Sarah Bernhardt and actor-manager Edmond La Grange. In another tale you see the lives of the Prince of Wales, his son, and other royalty such as Duke and Duchess of Albemarle. There is a look at the then understanding of and practice of psychiatry with hypnosis being the popular therapy for most mental illnesses and in particular hysteria of all kinds as well as medical research. There are other actors, painters, musicians that are dotted around the stories and most are, of course, familiar names. 

The final fascination of these stories is the description of life in those times which can be surprising considering the eventual straight-laced attitudes of the British people. The open use of drugs such as cocaine was normal and they were indeed sold over the counter and advised for healthier living. Having a wife did not stop men from having affairs. It seems that while this was happening in many of the marriages that it was a norm but not on display as such. All wink wink nudge nudge variety. While it was not legal to be a homosexual during these times, the stories tell of how clandestine groups and friendships existed all on the hush hush. There was also an accepted fact that ‘men will be men’ and so will form relationships with actresses, dancers, ‘ladies of disrepute’ and so on.  Thus the times, fashion and lives of people are described well in the stories. Gyles provides a good deal of detail with regards to the fashion of this period, which sometimes boggles the mind at the combinations of colours and fabrics. 

So besides a good mystery these books provide a look at the times, live of various well known figures and of course a lot about Oscar Wilde’s personality, his friends, his writings, his wife and sons. While there is no need to read them in any particular order as each one is a clear stand-alone story I am obsessed in reading according to the order of publication. I am on to my next book………Hope you enjoy them as well.

“Death in” series by JD Robb

JD Robb is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts. This is a detective / murder mystery series set in the late 2050s – early 2060s. I found it by chance in the local library. I was browsing for authors and books in the same genre. I had not heard of this series and the synopsis looked good so I borrowed the book. It was a while back and so I cannot remember that first one I read. I started buying the books as I saw them in the book shops. More recently I found the whole series as e-books and so I have actually read then right from the first one all over again in the correct sequence. You will wonder why I say that but this is a series which shows a progression in the lives of the characters of the book. I also chose to review the series; there are 44 books now; instead of book at a time for this reason.

First aspect that is worth looking at is the futuristic view of the world. There are fancy cars that fly. There is a mention and often referred to something called the Urban Wars which seems some kind of revolution to overthrow the oppressing inequality in the society. Most of the early books have some reference to it and some information about it with how it affected the lives of various characters. There seems to be a fairly divided society with the haves and the have-nots. There seems a lot of emphasis on body beautiful and many ways to ensure it and live longer with more ways to entertain and please self. There is the usual balance of the good and bad seen in any society.

The lead figure of this story is LT. Eve Dallas who leads the team of detectives investigating murders in New York City. We start the series with the murder of the granddaughter of a prominent figure in politics. This appears to be her first lead in a major crime investigation where she must be diplomatic with all the highly placed persons. The investigation brings her in contact with Roarke who is her chief suspect. He is an extremely rich business man who ‘owns half the known universe’. And so starts a romance and love story that sees their relationship developing throughout the series. Both characters are a foil for each other, with tragic pasts and reaching their present status through hard work and ingenuity, with parts being revealed and personalities explored as we read through the series.

Then, of course, we have the detective’s side kick / partner Delia Peabody, who she finds as a uniform at the crime scene, sees her potential and gets her transferred to her division. She hero worships Dallas and again her character develops both as a person and as a police detective. She is a mixture of her Free- Age upbringing and a city dweller with law enforcement. Now this being the future the technology is much more sophisticated and so of course there is an electronic division to help with the forensics. The head of it, Captain Feeney, is the old partner, mentor and father figure, of Dallas. As the life of the character gets woven Peabody’s love life brings in the smart and expert IT guy Detective Ian MacNab.

There are a team of good detectives we get to know well over the series, Commander Jack Whitney her immediate superior, a police psychologist and profiler Dr Mira (we also know her family eventually), the Medical Examiner Morris, APA Reo are the characters regularly seen.

The other players of the story are Lawrence Summerset who manages Roarke’s home, Mavis a friend of Dallas who she has stopped from carrying on a life of crime and who has a talent for singing which eventually gets to shine and she becomes a big star, and families of the main characters come and go as the story demands. It is not easy to try and encapsulate a series but I am attempting to do so in the hope that I can express the essence of continuity of the lives of people involved. The central theme is usually the murder, uncovering of conspiracy, serial killers in varying scenarios and yes it can get to feel well known after a while but the continuity of characters and their lives and the social structure formed by all these lives interweaving is fascinating. The quick reminder of past aspects maybe even from way back in the earlier books is vital in helping the reader to see it all as one big story and each book more or less chapter of that mega story. 

Some things can be seen as clichés for example many of the stories are woven around one or other of the ‘good’  guys being under suspicion of the murder and Dallas has to work hard and by the book to ensure that the real criminal is found and her ‘friends’ kept safe. Again this does not detract from the pleasure of reading as when there is such a focus on one of the characters the author takes the time to explore this character and his / her relationships with others in the story. The basis of any good story - the triumph of good over evil and the victory of justice to keep the public safe is the same cliché that works well in this genre. Yes the individual stories can be read a stand-alone and one-off reads but as I found the pleasure was in reading the series and in the order of the publications as this is what keeps me reading and waiting for the next book. The characters become familiar like friends with their predictable quirks, shortcomings and passions. So anyone wanting the familiar murder mystery in a police detective variety will find the reading of this series with that little twist an enjoyable expericne.

Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan is really nothing like “Bones’ except for the name and the profession. I do like the Temperance in the books better. This one starts out in Montreal with a death of an antique dealer and she is called to assist as the face has been damaged by cats. The dealer is a Jew and so there is a conflict about performing an autopsy. A man approaches Tempe in the corridor outside the mortuary and gives her a photo of a skeleton that looks like it is from an archaeological dig.

Does this have something to do with the death of the dealer as after careful observation it is decided that this is a murder and not a suicide. Her usual partner from the Montreal detective squad is Ryan. She has been having an off again on again relationship with him for a while now. Both of them try to find information about this skeleton photo and about the circumstance that have led to the dealer’s death. She contacts an archaeologist friend to discuss the authenticity of the photo with the skeleton. He is very mysterious and secretive about the information he has discovered.

Meanwhile, Tempe manages to recover the skeleton from an old friend of the dealer and is asked to transport the remains, which have been identified as belonging to Israel and have to be repatriated to the ministry of antiquities.  Ryan has been looking for the man who had given Tempe the photo and discovers that he is involved in smuggling of antiques and was known to the dead dealer and his widow. But the man has flown to Israel and Ryan has to go there to question him about the murder. So both Tempe and Ryan are off to Israel.

The story is interesting with its usual twists of religious intrigue, archaeological finds and conspiracy theories. Tempe and her archaeologist friend are threatened and injured by a group of people who do not like the disturbance of old graves and tombs. The skeleton Tempe has brought gets stolen and the official at the antiquities is not pleased. The plot thickens when the man they had come to question tells them he was hired to kill the dealer. So who hired him? Who is interested in trading that skeleton?

So what is the real story of the skeleton in the photo? There is another skeleton with a shroud found in the caves where the archaeologist had taken Tempe. Do this cave and its inhabitants have any link to the skeleton that was lost? How will they decide what is the truth and who is behind the murder and threats?

Interesting plot and a complicated conspiracy theory. However, I am not a fan of this book as the end seems a little flat and dare I say even a letdown after all the build up?

The Third Girl by Agatha Christie

I am not sure if I have seen this novel converted to a film. It is a good mystery which begins with a young lady barging in to see Poirot just as he was finishing his breakfast. She says, she thinks, she may have murdered someone. When pressed to explain what she means, she suddenly turns reticent and says Poirot is too old to be of any help and rushes out. 

Saddened to think of himself as a too old, he accepts the invitation by his friend, the mystery writer Mrs Oliver, to tea, to cheer him up. When Poirot tells her about the young lady who had visited him and what had happened, Mrs Oliver states that she might have met this person at a party she went to recently. So she describes the party and the people and their background. The young lady she feels certain is the daughter of this rich business man who has returned from South Africa with a younger second wife. He had inherited the business from his brother. The daughter has moved out to live in London with 2 other young women. The father is living with his uncle until they can find a place of their own in the city. Meanwhile, it is suspected that the step mother is being poisoned. 

So Mrs Oliver decides to go find out what the young lady is up to by visiting the flat in London. Poirot wangles an introduction and visits the father’s home so see what he can find out about the family. What is the mystery? The young lady has gone missing and the father hires Poirot to find his daughter. He is seemingly writing big checks to buy off his daughter’s unsuitable boyfriend. Mrs Oliver finds the young lady meeting her boyfriend, purely by chance, and tries her hand at detecting by following the boyfriend, after she has called Poirot. All she gets for her trouble is a conk on the head and concussion. 

Poirot is sure there is something much more sinister going on and is determined to find out what is happening. There is something not right with the ‘third girl’ in the flat. Was it a coincidence that the first girl is the secretary of the business man? The second girl is an arty type who works in a fashion and occasionally models and hangs out with new painters. Is there any connection to the death of an old lady in the same block of flats? Also why is the third girl so very confused? Why can she not remember if she did or did not murder someone?

This intrigue is well set and yes once again it is not an easy puzzle to solve. It is indeed a mystery as to what really is the mystery right until the last chapter when Poirot reveals the whole truth. I really good read.

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

This is the first book of the series about a private informer, Didius Falco, in the Roman Empire. The background of Falco is slowly explained after the plunge into the first mystery as to why a beautiful young lady is running in the Forum being chased by some unsavoury characters. Falco rescues her and take her to his home. Soon he finds out that she is related to a senator who hires him to find out why this young lady was abducted. Slowly facts emerge that something had been hidden in the young lady’s bank vault and this was the cause of the attempted kidnap. 

Falco obtains this object, a silver pig, or ingot of lead with silver before it is extracted. This is from the silver mines in Britain and is the property of the government. So what is it doing here in the streets of Rome? It had been found and kept secretly by the senator while investigations were initiated to find out how this ingot got out of the hands of the government. But just as Falco takes up the case to keep the young lady safe she is murdered. Who killed this very pretty young lady and why had she asked Falco to meet her at a warehouse? 

It appears to tie in with the silver pig and so Falco sets out to Britain to find out how the ingots were being smuggled out from there and reaching the Roman rebels, as this much finance could only mean a plot to overthrow the emperor. The only way Falco can find out what is happening to get work in the mines by impersonating as a runaway slave. Will he succeed? How will he get out of the mines again? I need to stop giving away the plot here as this takes us well into the first part of the conspiracy uncovered by Falco. He has still a long way to go before he can identify who killed his young client. He meets the cousin of that young lady who at first is not very endearing but she grows on Falco as they spend time together.

This is a good murder mystery with a political conspiracy to thicken the plot. The way of life during those Roman Empire days are well described. The places are of course named as they were then and often require guess work particularly when they are in West Country in Britain. There is romance and friendship and tussle between republican and royalist ideology. I am going to enjoy reading the rest of the series if this first sample is anything to go by. Happy reading to all.