Get ready for a Wilde ride (Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth)

Member Name: Mildew82

Product:	Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders - Gyles Brandreth
Date:	13/08/09 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clever and thoroughly amusing plot

Disadvantages: Maybe a bit silly for some

From the ingenious brain of Gyles Brandreth comes a highly original new series of murder mysteries revolving around none other than Oscar Wilde himself. The first in the series, Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders, is set in August 1889 when Oscar Wilde is 35 and is narrated by a characterisation of the real-life great grandson of William Wordsworth Robert Sherard, who in real life wrote three posthumous biographies of Oscar Wilde based upon their genuine friendship.

Not only content to use one of the greatest minds from the 19th Century as his main protagonist, Gyles Brandreth also incorporates another in the form of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into the story, having discovered through reading "Memories and Adventures" by Conan Doyle that they really had been friends.

With the wit and charm of Oscar Wilde and the unwavering logic of Arthur Conan Doyle embodied in his creation of Sherlock Holmes this book has all the hallmarks of being a thoroughly clever, entertaining, if not slightly whimsical, murder mystery. Elementary, I hear you cry?

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The Plot
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Oscar Wilde, late for an appointment at a small terraced house in Crowley Street hurriedly enters his designated room only to be hit by the sight of a very naked and very dead Billy Wood, a local rent boy, with his throat slit ear to ear surrounded by the glow of dozens of candles - a seemingly brutal ritualistic killing.

A hasty exit, followed by a return with his friends Robert Sherard (our narrator) and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose knowledge of detection should come in handy, leads to a second discovery - the body and all evidence of any foul play have disappeared - was it all a sick joke, could Oscar have imagined it all, or did it really happen?

To investigate further, one of Conan Doyle's friends on the force Inspector Aidan Fraser is recruited, but mysteriously his help seems less than forthcoming, and, as the body count starts to rise with a string of bizarre deaths, to quote an old cliché, the plot thickens.

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My Opinion
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The premise for this book, taking a real-life character and fictionalising a murder mystery around a period of their life gave me faint reminders of The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld - a story about the time the psychologist Sigmund Freud was in America, but Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders takes a much less serious approach.

Brandreth creates a richly detailed and atmospheric world which draws you into London society in the late Victorian times. With the traversal of London as part of the investigation, London is mapped out before you in such a way that you could feel you were almost there, standing in the street waiting to hail a cab, slipping into the more dangerous areas of London in houses of ill repute or sitting wasting an afternoon in a gentleman's club (well not me obviously but you get the idea).

This, added to the accurate historic detail about the personal lives of our main protagonists from weaving in Oscar Wilde's wife Constance and his two sons Vyvyan and Cyril, Robert Sheridan's wandering eye when it comes to the ladies denoted by the fact he had three wives in his life and much emphasis on possible sources of inspiration for Sherlock Holmes courtesy of the character of Oscar himself.

The characterisation of Oscar Wilde is done to absolute perfection. The way Brandreth portrays him is as a high flying member of society of who just about everyone aspires to become acquainted to, especially to be in his inner circle of friends - something which it almost feels like us as the reader have achieved (by proxy to Robert Sheridan). He is also portrayed as a born entertainer in the way he is liable to give impromptu speeches/stories at engagements full of wit and charm to captivate the whole room.

The wit of Oscar Wilde is something that I believe Brandreth has managed to capture exquisitely. I could quite easily have been reading The Importance of Being Earnest or An Ideal Husband in the way that the witticisms just leapt off the page:

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"This Cowley Street - is it a reputable address?"

"I do not know. It is very near to the Houses of Parliament."

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"I amaze myself, but I think I agree with you."

"Oh, no! Please, Arthur, no! Whenever people agree with me, I always feel I must be wrong."

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"How was Oxford?"

"Exquisite! Made more so by the fact that my visit was cut short."

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I could go on...

Brandreth also uses Wilde's wit to keep the book completely light-hearted - even when faced with grizzly murders and mortal peril, his cavalier and deadly unserious attitude gives the story a frolicsome feel which goes to keeping you completely charmed and amused all the way through.

With such a care-free style of writing the plot flows at break-neck speed with what is actually a very clever mystery - it had me guessing all the way with lots of red herrings and plot twists and I utterly failed to predict the ending which is always a bonus in a murder mystery.

So, in conclusion, Oscar Wilde and The Candlelight Murders is a rip-roaring ride through 19th Century London on a thrilling murder investigation. With wit and charm galore, this book will have you tittering all the way through until the exciting climax - highly recommended for fans of murder mysteries or Oscar Wilde.

Summary: Recommended for fans of murder mysteries and Oscar Wilde alike