Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings Hardcover - 2001

From the publisher

An accomplished writer in several genres of fiction, veteran novelist Oakley Hall has been praised as a novelist who never seems to make a wrong move. . . . He is a writer to read again and again (Richard Ford). The San Francisco Chronicle has included him -- along with Wallace Stegner, John Steinbeck, and Larry McMurtry -- in its Western 100 list of the best twentieth-century works of fiction written by an author from the American West.Now, Hall unveils the riveting and entertaining sequel to his acclaimed Ambrose Bierce and the Queen of Spades. Once again the hero is the historical figure Ambrose Bierce -- William Randolph Hearst's star journalist and San Francisco's most celebrated writer. This time Bierce is investigating the disappearance of a Hawaiian princess attached to King Kalakaua's entourage. As the aged king slowly expires in the Palace Hotel's Royal Suite, San Francisco plays host to a throng of Hawaiian royal courtiers and counselors embroiled in a swirl of political intrigue surrounding the successor to the throne. As Bierce and his protege, Tom Redmond, search for the missing princess, Hall weaves a wonderfully tangled narrative of murder and mystery. Intelligent, gripping, and often humorous, Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings will appeal to all readers of mysteries, adventure tales, and historical novels.