The Case of the Ill-fated Playwright

This book is short novel built around the premise that Oscar Wilde engaged the services of Sherlock Holmes to establish the source of a number of apparently threatening pictures sent to him during the period of his dispute with the Marquis of Queensbury. As I am not familiar with the details of Wilde’s life, I cannot attest to the plausibility of the premise or to the existence of the pictures. In general, the reasonableness of the author’s presentation and the level of detail included in the book encourage belief in the author’s viewpoint.In addition to the Marquis of Queensbury, George Bernard Shaw and Robert Ross as primary characters, the book contains portraits of a number of subordinate personalities. The entire dispute between Wilde and Queensbury is depicted as a minor incident in the lifelong dispute between the Marquis and his son, two unreasonable and domineering personalities. Wilde’s life and career become merely incidents in their decades-long feud, where their only object is to harm one another. Of course the outcome, the ruin of Wilde and his imprisonment and early death are not the best subjects for light comedy, so this is not a ‘happy’ book. On the other hand, the author manages to lace even the dreariest scenes with flashes of wit by Wilde that show why his dialogue delighted generations of theater-goers.Holmes and Watson clearly play supporting roles in this book, but they also portray the voices of reason and common sense. Both seem to appreciate Wilde’s humor and to enjoy his skills as a writer, but neither is able to approve of his action choices in a culture that considered a trans-sexual lifestyle an abomination and punished it with dreadful duty. The presentation of this downfall of a brilliant playwright partakes of Greek Tragedy, with a healthy leavening of comedy. The book is fun to read but sad to contemplate. The reader’s attitude toward the role of Government in matters of human sexuality is likely to color one’s attitudes toward this book, but the aphorisms of Oscar Wilde remain amusing, witty and charming, no matter what one’s opinion of his lifestyle.The editing and grammar are well-done as compared to many other books in publication. I was not able to find many glaring errors in usage or language and even titles and ‘Honoraria’ were well-handled. The attitudes and activities of Holmes and Watson also seemed to be appropriate to the characters, with no glaring errors in timing or dialogue.Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, May, 2012