Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders: Oscar Wilde Mystery: 5

And here was me under the clearly mistaken impression that author, Gyles Brandreth, concerned himself only with politics, punctuation, grammar, biographies of the Royal Family and guest appearances on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ broadcast. Why didn’t I know that he also dipped his toes into writing fiction? Being a sucker for a plot and intrigue story set in the environs of the Vatican, my chance discovery of this little pearler was a genuine treat.

Brandreth’s flourish of the pen is highly entertaining, adroitly matching up the flamboyant wit and style of playwright Oscar Wilde with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the renowned detective Sherlock Holmes. It is a stroke of pure genius. The pair, meeting initially in Bad Homburg, embark on an informal investigation into an apparent murder in the Holy City. This is a case that cannot seemingly be entrusted to the corrupt local carabinieri or the Swiss Guard.

A set of intermittent parcel correspondence arrives addressed to Sherlock, c/o Baker Street, London, containing a severed hand, a finger, what appears to be a lock of hair and a rose-gold ring etched with the cross keys of St. Peter, all of which bamboozle narrator, Conan Doyle, and his companion, Wilde. Introducing as suspects an accompanying cast of senior clergy including monsignors in personal service to the pontiff, a Capuchin friar, a sacristan, an Anglican priest appointed to Rome with his ostensible sister, Brandreth leisurely chronicles the tale of an ‘innocent’ missing Vatican laundry girl, the appropriately named Agnes. An enigmatic British diplomat and a Swedish physician, Dr. Axel Munthe, the latter known as ‘Dr. Death’, also feature.

To whom do the body parts and jewellery received in the post belong? Who sent them and why? Did the body of pure Agnes miraculously ascend into Heaven and is she really a candidate for beatification or was she simply a victim of abduction or homocide? There are plenty of avenues to explore in this rich and delightful visit to Italy, its Roman churches and tourist sites, all interspersed with Wildean quips and his philosophical quotations from much admired late poet, Keats. This book is a great outlet for aficionados of crime and mystery novels. I hope you enjoy.