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. ( )

C'est désormais depuis la geôle où il est enfermé pour "attentat à la pudeur" que l'écrivain tente de résoudre les mystères qui l'entourent. Le dernier volume des aventures d'Oscar Wilde est certainement le plus documenté historiquement et biographiquement. Les descriptions des conditions de détentions et les réflexions métaphysiques de Wilde prennent parfois le pas sur l'intrigue, mais n'en rendent ce roman que plus bouleversant. ( )

I had read three of the books in this series and found this one to be the most interesting. The author does a great job of combining biographical information on Wilde with a series of murders occurred during his time at the Reading Gaol. It's a quick and interesting read and I highly recommend it. ( )

This book is a mystery/biography combined. It tells of Oscar Wilde's time spent in Reading Gaol. It tells of his two different lives, the life he lived in prison with it horrors and his privileged life he lead before being caught doing unheard of and illegal things. I had not heard of the series before this book but I now intend to read the whole series.

Thank to Edelweiss and the publisher for helping me become acquainted with this series. ( )