Wilde West

This is an absolutely great book and it's too bad it's out of print and nobody seems to have read it! I have been listening to the audio tape in the car. The reader is a little over-dramatic in places...like he makes a walk down the street sound as breathless and ominous as a murder scene...but on the whole, he's excellent, too. It has mystery, wit, excitement, suspense! And Oscar Wilde to boot. It's completely captivating...bring it back!

This was the best bit of historical fiction I have ever read. I can't believe it's out of print. In an attempt to boost his income, Oscar Wilde tours on a lecture/performance circuit across the USA. Unfortunately, as his retinue crosses the West, dead prostitutes start appearing in ever city he and his entourage visit. He becomes a prime suspect, and attempts to solve the mystery himelf with, as he puts it, "...a systematic application of the poetic imagination." It is a wonderful story, with all the elements of great Old West Literature, including horses, trains, gunfights, Doc Holladay, a little sex, and a herd of goats.