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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Second Bierce mystery not up to the quality of the first, February 6, 2003
This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings (Hardcover)
I admire Ambrose Bierce's work above all other 19th century writers, with the exception of O. Henry. I enjoy visiting San Francisco. So when I saw that Oakley Hall had written a sequel to Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades, I was eager to read it. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the promise of the first book. Bierce was a short story writer and biting satirist who wrote newspaper columns and generally made a public nuisance of himself in the latter half of the 19th century. A Civil War veteran, his writings on the war anticipate much of the disillusionment and despair that characterizes later writings by Viet Nam veterans. He also wrote a considerable body of horror and ghost stories that are more modern than you might expect. He disappeared in the Mexican Civil War in 1914, and his fate has never been determined reliably. The movie Old Gringo speculated on this, and others have done so. One theory had it that he'd written The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which anyone who'd read Bierce would know was highly unlikely. He despised novels. So here we have the second of a series of novels about him. In the first there was motivation for him to get involved in the mystery, but here there isn't. Instead we have a missing Hawaiian princess, a dying Hawaiian king, and Bierce looking for said princess. There's no explanation of why Bierce is doing the looking, and no explanation of why his friend Tom Redmond decides to help. They just do. And there's also no suspense: it becomes obvious that she's gone of her own volition, and a friend tells them she's safe. Half of the book slides by before we finally get to some suspense. An elderly Hawaiian judge is killed, and his rooms set on fire. Bierce and Redmond three-quarters of the book insisting they aren't interested in who killed him, and then are reluctantly drawn into figuring it out. It's mildly entertaining, but no where near as suspenseful or intricate as the first book. Redmond, meanwhile, has recently lost his wife to illness, and romances a half-Hawaiian lady of considerable stature (over 6') who apparently likes him, but is determined to marry someone prosperous (Redmond's a mere reporter). Redmond accepts this, and it somehow robs the romance of whatever fire it would otherwise have. There are scenes in restaurants, bars, houses, and the city jail, and all read believably, and interestingly. Bierce and the other characters are well-drawn, and interesting, and I enjoyed the character and atmosphere of the book. Unfortunately, there isn't much of a plot.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hawaiian royalty, the Gay Nineties, and period atmosphere., November 5, 2001
This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings (Hardcover)
You can almost smell the literary mothballs as this very old-fashioned mystery, set in Gay Nineties San Francisco, unfolds and develops. Adhering faithfully to the tone and atmosphere of the time, and using much of the vocabulary and style of the period, Oakley Hall fills his pages with historical detail as he fleshes out a story of the death of King Kalakaua of Hawaii, including the rivalry for his throne, the influence of the sugar barons, and the pressure of the U.S. government for a lease on Pearl Harbor as a Pacific port. Despite the complex subject matter, Hall's style is surprisingly economical and restrained, and he advances the action quickly, presenting Ambrose Bierce, a real 19th century journalist and writer, as his clever, Holmes-like detective, with the narrator, Tom Redmond, as his much more sympathetic, Watsonian sidekick.
Old Hawaiian customs, sensitive issues of race and color, and America's imperialism all directly affect this plot, and Hall takes great care to depict these issues accurately. Unfortunately, the book gets bogged down in its own minutiae. Well over two dozen characters play roles here, some with similar names, and the reader, not knowing who may eventually become important in all the plots and subplots, must keep track of them all in order to understand the action. Additionally, the main plots regarding succession to the Hawaiian throne involve complex genealogies and political motivation, and there are innumerable subplots and digressions. These include the disappearance of a princess, mysterious and unavenged deaths from the past, blackmail and extortion, Haunani Brown's various love affairs, her search for information on her parentage, the women's suffrage movement, spiritualism and voodoo, white slavery, the introduction of leprosy and other diseases to the islands, and even a gay love connection in San Francisco, certainly enough to keep any reader fully occupied.
Still, if you are fascinated by Gay Nineties San Francisco and by Hawaiian history, this unusual mystery with its careful rendering of the atmosphere of the period should provide you with hours of pleasure. It is not quick or easy reading, but it is intriguing. Mary Whipple
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, fun, and interesting mystery, November 29, 2001
This review is from: Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings (Hardcover)
It is near the end of the 19th century and America's destiny seems to compell it to reach further west, to the independent kingdom of Hawaii, already largely dominated by the descendents of white missionaries now turned merchants and sugar barons. The King of Hawaii is in San Francisco, dying without clear indication of the succession. When a Hawaiina princess vanishes, poet and newspaper columnist Ambrose Bierce is called upon to find her. Bierce, in turn, asks for help from his friend Tom Redmond, the novel's narrator. From the start, it is clear that there is more than a missing person. Bierce and Redmond run into the woman's sufferage movement, spiritualism, and the powerful force of Hawaiian magic. When a Hawaiian judge is found murdered, Redmond finds himself under attack from Hawaiian magic. Author Oakley Hall has created a delightful view of America at the turn of an earlier century. Bierce, with his cynical, yet somehow optimistic, view of the world, makes an effective sleuth, doomed to be disappointed by those he attempts to save. Negative historical attitudes toward women and persons of color are integrated into the story without apology yet without any sense of approval either. As Bierce explains near the end of the novel, all of the clues are available to the reader. Even those mystery readers who guess the killer will enjoy Hall's smooth writing, the depth of historical detail, and the insights into an important historical/literary figure in Ambrose Bierce, turn of the 19th century America, and the end of the history of Hawaii as an independent country. A well written and completely enjoyable novel.
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