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Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder: A Mystery (Oscar Wilde Mysteries)
by Gyles Brandreth
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Touchstone (2008-09-09)
ISBN: 1416534849
EAN: 9781416534846
Dewey Decimal #: 823.914
Binding/Media: Paperback - 416 pages
Edition: Original
SKU: 7O-XTGQ-XHJN
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Historical mystery. Trade paperback, this is Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder by Gyles Brandreth, Touchstone (division of Simon and Schuster), NY:2008. Book has clean, tight pages, no creasing but a little rubbing and shelf wear, 1st edition with full number line, paperback.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
The second witty installment in an astonishingly authentic historical mystery series featuring detective Oscar Wilde and his partner in crime, Arthur Conan DoyleIt's 1892, and Wilde is the toast of London, riding high on the success of his play Lady Windemere's Fan. While celebrating with friends at a dinner party he conjures up a game called "murder" that poses the question: Who would you most like to kill? Wilde and friends -- including Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and poet Robert Sherard (the novel's narrator) -- write the names of their "victims" on pieces of paper and choose them one by one. After leaving the party, Wilde scoffs at the suggestion that he may have instigated a very dangerous game indeed.... The very next day, the game takes an all-too- sinister turn when the first "victim" turns up dead. Soon Wilde and his band of amateur detectives must travel through the realms of politics, theatre, and even boxing to unearth whose misguided passions have the potential to become deadly poisons...not only for the perpetrator of the seemingly perfect crimes but also for the trio of detectives investigating them. Richly atmospheric and as entertaining as Wilde himself, this book is the second in a series destined to delight mystery readers and fans of historical fiction alike.
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Customer Reviews
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A Real Page Turner
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-07-12
This is the second in a series of so far three novels about Oscar Wilde narrated by Robert Sherard. I read them out of order but that's okay it is not necessary to read them in order. This one starts out with Wilde's Socrates Club meeting on their usual Sunday night to have dinner. Each of the members was instructed to bring a guest with him for the meeting. It is customary for them to play a game after eating so Wilde suggests they play a game called "murder". Each person is instructed to write down on a piece of paper the name of someone they would like to see dead and then the names are put into a bag and mixed together. Each name is pulled out one at a time and the members have to guess who wrote that name. Of course the game takes a serious turn when an invited guest's name is drawn four times and then Oscar Wilde and his wife's name are both drawn. Wilde insists it is merely a game and nothing to worry about.
The next day; however, the first name drawn is indeed found dead. Then subsequent names on the list are found dead and Wilde and Sherard begin to investigate who is killing off the names of the people listed from their game. Sherard's narration is a page-turner filled with mystery, wit and charm as you don't want to put the book down for a minute. Brandreth has filled the novel with historical figures such as Donan Coyle, Bram Stroker, and Lord Alfred Douglas just to name a few. This is a colorful mystery which was a delight to read. I highly recommend all three of Brandreth's Oscar Wilde's mysteries.
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Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-06-24
I am enjoying this series. As a fan of Oscar Wilde, I love the inclusion of his quotes and a bit of history surrounding Wilde and his time. Just delightful and a good mystery besides.
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The celebrity sleuth done right
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-05-18
Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder is the second of a projected nine books featuring Oscar Wilde as sleuth. It's a worthy sequel to the first book in the series, Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance. Brandreth is a master of foreshadowing and his original characters are as believable as his real-life characters are true to their originals.
I enjoyed this book very much, and highly recommend it.
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Good, not great
Rating (4)
Date: 2009-12-13
Summary: Oscar Wilde gathers a group of friends for a nice meal, that ends with a game where each chooses someone they want to murder. That same night the first of the victims dies and each night after, they die. Unfortunately Oscar is the 13th victim and his wife is the 14th. Can he find the murderer in order to save their lives?
This is a mystery featuring Oscar Wilde as a detective told from the perspective of Robert Sherard, his friend and first biographer. It is the second in the series but I didn't read the first and I don't think it's necessary to read them in order. It would be helpful to be interested in the fascinating personality that is Oscar Wilde and this book also has appearances from Arthur Conan Doyle and Bram Stoker.
It's quite a funny book utilizing, I'm sure, many of Wilde's famous sayings (I'm not entirely familiar with all of his work but I imagine some of it is). I was slightly perturbed by the depiction of Wilde as quite a Sherlock Holmes, both with his deductions and personality, and seeming almost to inspire the character as Conan Doyle is far less observant. I also found it heartbreaking to watch the mostly pleasant home life of Oscar and his family, knowing what will come in 1895 (The book is set in 1893.)
Again I did not quite figure out the murderer but I did make some important deductions that brought me closer than I usually am to figuring out the mystery. But I will definitely keep an eye out for the other books in the series.
Overall: 4/5 for a fun book but not entirely gripping (it took me about three days to read because I didn't care that much about finding out who the murderer was).
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Dinner with Oscar
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-09-26
Oscar Wilde, the very successful playwright and colorful man about town has formed an eating club - men only in truest Victorian fashion - that would meet monthly. Each member was to bring an interesting guest to the mix and Wilde, of course, would set the menu and the program. When a game of 'who would you murder' was introduced the results were shocking, not just who would be murdered but that those named were actually beginning to be eliminated. Wilde was particularly desperate to solve the crimes quickly since one name on the list was that of his own beloved wife, Constance.
This is the second in a series of novels featuring Oscar Wilde as a detective. The author has done a great deal of research into Wilde's life and that of the late Victorian period. The events in the novels are carefully entwined into actual events in Wilde's life and incorporate people Wilde really did know. The stories are interesting and bring this intriguing figure to life.
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