Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile by Gyles Brandreth

According to Mr Brandreth Oscar Wilde claimed that he could tell if a man was a potential murderer if he showed his lower teeth when he smiled but, of course, this is Oscar Wilde and noone knew if he was joking. As with the previous books in this series the story is told by the writer Robert Sherrard who acts as a Watson to Wilde's Holmes. Appropriately this story begins with Sherrard giving the manuscript of this case to Arthur Conan Doyle in the tea room of Madame Tussauds at Wilde's direction. Ten years previously Wilde had undertaken a lecture tour of the United States and there met the great French actor/manager Edmond La Grange who asks him to collaborate on a translation of Hamlet. Wilde agrees and journeys to Paris only to become involved in a series of bizarre fatalities. Gyles Brandreth's meticulous research introduces us to a cast of fabulous characters in a setting as elaborately fantastical as the Art Deco decor of the period whilst his skilful narrative draws the reader onwards to the intelligent conclusion. I eagerly await Oscar's next outing.