Wilde West - Walter Satterthwait

A ruthless killer shadows Oscar Wilde across the frontier in this "perfect blend of mystery, satire and travelogue" by the author of Miss Lizzie (Publishers Weekly).

An outrageously controversial literary icon in Great Britain, Irish poet, novelist, and playwright Oscar Wilde has taken his act to America in 1882. The renowned wit is thrilling audiences on his tour of the American West, while gleefully soaking in the rugged ambiance of dusty cow towns and rough saloons.

But all isn't well on the lecture circuit. At every stop, soon after Wilde's arrival, eviscerated corpses of redheaded prostitutes are turning up—a grim "coincidence" that hasn't been lost on dour, alcoholic federal marshal Bob Grigsby. Apparently there's a serial killer hiding among the writer's traveling entourage: a motley group of managers, servants, and European aristats that has lately included the famed gunman John "Doc" Holliday.

Between his liaisons with married admirer Elizabeth McCourt Doe and fending off potential assaults by unamused cowboys, the flamboyant dandy decides it might be prudent to assist Grigsby in his investigation. After all, his reputation has already been savaged. Unmasking a killer might help to repair it—as long as the manhunt remains entertaining enough . . . and Wilde lives to quip another day.