At Bedales, the young Brandreth got to know the school's founder, J. H. Badley (1864-1967), who, over a series of Wednesday afternoon games of Scrabble at his home in the school's grounds, provided Brandreth with vivid accounts of Oscar Wilde's manner and conversational style- including Wilde's habit of trying out lines on family and friends that would later resurface in his stories and plays. John Badley had been a friend of Oscar and Constance Wilde, and their older son, Cyril, was a pupil at Bedales at the time of Wilde's arrest.

Like Robert Sherard, Gyles Brandreth went on to New College, Oxford, where he was a scholar, President of the Union and editor of the university magazine, and then, again like Sherard, embarked on a career as an author and journalist. His first book, Created in Captivity (1972), was a study of prison reform; his first biography, The Funniest Man on Earth (1974), was a portrait of the Victorian music-hall star, Dan Leno. More recently he has published a biography of the actor, Sir John Gielgud, as well as an acclaimed diary of his years as an MP and government whip (Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries 1990-97) and two best-selling royal biographies: Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage and Charles and Camilla: Portrait of a Love Affair.

Robert Sherard's forebears included William Wordsworth. Gyles Brandreth's include the somewhat less eminent poet, George R. Sims (1847-1922), who wrote the ballads 'Billy's dead and gone to glory' and 'Christmas Day in the workhouse'. Sims was also the first journalist to claim to know the true ident.i.ty of 'Jack the Ripper'. Sims, a kinsman of the Empress Eugenie and an acquaintance of both Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, was arguably the first 'celebrity columnist'. He was also well known in his day for his endors.e.m.e.nt of an 'infallible cure for baldness': 'Tatcho-The Geo. R. Sims Hair Restorer'.

As a broadcaster, Gyles Brandreth has presented numerous series for BBC Radio 4, including A Rhyme in Time, Sound Advice and Whispers- coincidentally the t.i.tle of Robert Sherard's first collection of poetry. He is a regular guest on Just a Minute and Countdown, and his television appearances have ranged from being the guest host of Have I Got News for You to being the subject of This is Your Life. On stage he has starred in an award-winning revue in the West End and appeared as Malvolio in a musical version of Twelfth Night in Edinburgh. With Hinge and Bracket he scripted the TV series, Dear Ladies; with Julian Slade he wrote a play about A. A. Milne (featuring Aled Jones as Christopher Robin); and~ with Susannah Pea.r.s.e, he has written a new musical about Lewis Carroll, The Last Photograph.

Gyles Brandreth is married to the writer and publisher, Michele Brown. They have three children: a barrister, a writer and an environmental economist.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

Writing a book is a lonely business. This is the second in my series of Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries. In writing it I have been encouraged by the great generosity shown towards the first. I am especially grateful to a number of distinguished writers-David Robinson, Alexander McCall Smith, Anne Perry, Stephanie Barron, Stephen Fry, Roger Lewis, Lee Langley and Theo Richmond among them-for their kind words and generous encouragement. During the bleaker hours imprisoned at the word processor, such kindness makes a difference.

I am grateful, too, for the sustaining support of a variety of friends-ranging from my best friend, Michele Brown, to my good friend, Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde's grandson and biographer, who put me right when I went wrong with Volume One (and did so with great grace) and I trust will do the same again should he have cause. I hope that my portrait of Oscar Wilde is accurate: if you spot any errors do please write to tell me.

As ever, I am indebted to my literary agent, Ed Victor-and to more than the tune of fifteen per cent. I have been involved in publishing for forty years: he is simply the best. He also employs the best and I am especially indebted to his foreign rights manager, Morag O'Brien, who, with charm and skill, has introduced this series of books to publishers throughout the world. I am grateful to her, not only for her professionalism, but also for the fact that, because of her, I have made, and am making, new friends in countries as various as Spain and South Korea, Lithuania and Brazil.

In the United Kingdom and Australia, the series is published by John Murray-the publishers of Arthur Conan Doyle. I am profoundly indebted to Roland Phillips and Kate Parkin and their colleagues at John Murray in London, to Trish Grader and her colleagues at Simon & Schuster in New York, to Emmanuelle Heurtebize and her colleagues at Editions 10/18 in Paris, among many others, for their considerable creative and commercial contribution to the series. From the first, Kate Parkin has also been a matchless editor, guide and friend. I am very grateful to her and to Jitesh Patel, the inspirational designer of the covers for the UK and US editions.

'Nothing that actually occurs is of the smallest importance,' said Oscar in his Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young. I don't believe he meant it. Saying thank you is important. I am very grateful to all those who have made a contribution to the making of this book-the named ones and the unnamed, too and I am especially grateful, of course, to you for reading it. There would not have been much point otherwise. Thank you.

GB.

London, 2008.

For details of the first and forthcoming t.i.tles in the series, for reviews, interviews and material of particular interest to Reading Groups, see:.

www .oscarwildemurdermysteries .com.

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