August, 1889. Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright, wit and raconteur, chances on the naked and mutilated corpse of sixteen-year-old Billy Wood, posed by candlelight in a dark stifling attic room, he cannot ignore the brutal murder. With the help of fellow author Arthur Conan Doyle he sets out to solve the crime.

 

Set against the exotic background of fin-de-siècle London, Paris, Oxford and Edinburgh, Brandreth recreates Wilde’s trademark sardonic wit with huge flair, intertwining all the intrigue of the classic English murder mystery with a compelling portrait of one of the greatest characters of the Victorian age.

 

355 pages, paperback