Love this series. There is always a genuine murder and plenty of period interest and Wilde wit.this one is harder than the others, as it is hard to think of Wilde alone, unable to read or talk, but the author keeps it moving and doesn't get you so emotionally involved that you can't enjoy the story ( )

This wasn’t an easy read. With the harshest conditions meted out to Oscar Wilde the beginning was heartbreaking and I thought of abandoning the book but decided, rightly, as it turned out, to carry on. The atrocious conditions continued but I had to know the story. Brandreth has mixed a murder mystery into this account of Wilde’s life story, and it’s not readily apparent where the fiction begins or ends. When Brandreth was asked how much of this is true, he replied “All of it. Or almost all of it. Certainly more than you would think.” I was glad I continued reading. Additional material includes: Rules for prisoners, a letter from Wilde to the Home Secretary, and more. Recommended. ( )

Great series but this is a poor book ( )

L'épisode certainement le plus sombre de la série nous conte de manière très documentée les dernières années du génie, enfermé dans la geôle de Reading. Quelque peu tarabiscotés, mais toujours aussi accrocheurs, le mystère et sa résolution holmésienne en surprendra plus d'un. ( )

In 1895 Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for homosexuality. He spent two years at hard labor, in a dismal setting where the prisoners starved, were beaten, died of untreated illness, and were not allowed to talk or even look at each other. Despite being in proximity to others a couple of times a day, they were effectively in solitary confinement. This is the setting for this novel, the 6th in the series that feature Wilde as a detective so clever that his friend Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes on him.

The story is told by Wilde to his biographer Robert Sherard (a contemporary of Wilde’s), but it’s a retelling of how he told the story to a stranger in Paris, where he fled after his release from prison. In this tale, two gaolers were killed, perhaps murdered. Brothers, one was known as vicious while the other accepted sexual favors from prisoners in return for leniency. Someone higher up wants to know if it was murder, and if so, is the person being blamed the real killer? Wilde is given some leeway and preference in the name of figuring this out.

It’s a good mystery story, and Brandreth uses a lot of historical detail to bring the dank, stinking, horrible prison to vivid, unpleasant, life. There are a couple of nice twists in the tale. All in all a very entertaining adventure. ( )