Wilde West

In 1882, Oscar Wilde made a lecture tour of the United States, generously explaining Art and Esthetics to the American middle class. Among the places he visited that spring were Denver and Leadville, Colorado. Wilde West takes place in both cities, and some of the characters included did in fact actually exist. The book's premise is that, unknown to Oscar and to most of the people who travel with him, in every city in which he has given a lecture, a prostitute has been found brutally murdered and mutilated. One member of the entourage, it seems, is a vicious serial killer.