OSCAR WILDE AND THE CANDLELIGHT MURDERS

TITLE: OSCAR WILDE AND THE CANDLELIGHT MURDERS
AUTHOR: GYLES BRANDRETH
Pages: 328
Date: 24/03/2008
Grade: 4.5
Details: no. 1 Oscar Wilde Murder Mystery
Library

I'm glad I found this book, and I'm delighted that it has turned out to be the first book in a series. I'm looking forward to spending more time with Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Sherard.
Robert Sherard, the narrator of this book, was a real person; a real friend of Oscar Wilde and his biographer. So once again we're dealing with a work of fact based fiction.
Going to work with a pupil but running late, Oscar Wilde walks into a room, not to find the pupil he expects, but the body of Billy Wood, a beautiful young man and other pupil of Oscar's, murdered and surrounded by candles.
Oscar leaves the place distressed and does nothing until 24 hours later when he brings Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Sheridan to the scene, only to find no trace of either the body or the crime.
That's when Oscar decides to solve the mystery in the style of Conan Doyle's hero, Sherlock Holmes. But although Oscar is quite good at deductions, he still can't prevent more deaths.
The only slight drawback to this book was the fact that I had the guilty party picked very early on. Other then that, it was fabulous entertainment.

The following are 4 quotes, either real or fictional, from Oscar Wilde:
* "Life is the nightmare that prevents one from sleeping."
* "Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative"
* "I am the prince of procrastination. I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do - the day after."
* " Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. There are no choices. All the world's a stage, but we must play as we are cast."