Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings

Ambrose Bierce #2

by Oakley Hall

Hall unveils the sequel to his 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. While 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 very funny, Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings will appeal to all readers of mysteries, adventure tales, and historical novels.

Genres: Mystery, History, Historical Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Oakley Hall also wrote under the nom de plume of O.M. Hall and Jason Manor.

Oakley Maxwell Hall was an American novelist. He was born in San Diego, California, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and served in the Marines during World War II. Some of his mysteries were published under the pen names "O.M. Hall" and "Jason Manor." Hall received his Master of Fine Arts in English from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Reviews

[Brett Bydairk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambrose Bierce may be the detective, but the main character is Tom Redmond, the narrator. He is a reporter, and a friend of Bierce's. He meets and has a relationship with a Hawaiian noblewoman, while Bierce is pursuing a missing princess, and trying to discover who killed the King's adviser.
Lots of Hawaiian atmosphere, even though it transpires in San Francisco in 1891.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know that noted cynic and general sourpuss was the hero of a series of mystery novels set in and around San Francisco?  I didn't either, until reading this book.  On the surface, Ambrose Bierce would appear to be an obvious choice for a second life as a fictional hero of mysteries.  He was a fond writer of crime fiction and generally prided himself on his brainpower, and he lived in an area where there were always a lot of mysterious things going on related to moral and political corruption, which remains true today.  And certainly this novel has a lot to do with moral and political corruption, as it involves some fictionalized goings on related to the death of the last King of Hawaii that dealt with questions of religion, political legitimacy, and the imperialistic desires of many to spread manifest destiny across the sea and for the United States to secure Pearl Harbor for itself, all of which would have fateful long-term consequences.  On the surface, at least, this book has all the materials for a great mystery novel, but unfortunately this novel is not one that satisfied me the way I hoped it would.

This particular novel takes place over a short period of time when King David Kalakaua moved from Southern California to San Francisco to die of Bright's Disease.  Our heroes, the narrator Tom Redmond and his mentor, fellow reporter (and real life cynic) Ambrose Bierce, are hired to solve the mystery of a princess who has disappeared.  It so happens that she is in love with her cousin (?!) and step-brother (!), who is a potential heir to the throne, and it happens that she has a good but disappointing reason for disappearing because she doesn't want the prince to abandon the possibility of ruling Hawaii in order to take care of her in her dying days from an incurable and highly contagious malady.  Meanwhile, our hero Tom Redmond engages in sexual tourism with a half-Hawaiian, half haole young woman whose mincing poet uncle is trying to pawn her off to rich white people in California and prevent her from going back home to Maui, even as she sleeps with Tom and finds herself pining after a marriage with the scion of Hawaii's biggest sugar baron who is waiting for his wife to die.  Of course, when people start dying by being bludgeoned by rocks, the mystery takes a far darker turn, especially when Tom is arrested for one of the murders.

So, why is this novel not as good as one would hope?  The biggest problem is the book's framing.  The author (and his mouthpieces the detectives) make a big deal about their superiority to Judeo-Christian standards of ethics, as can be seen by their enjoyment of fornicating and their trickery involving spiritualism and its practices, including voodoo and seances.  Yet while the authors fancy themselves to be above the level of morality, so much of the plot and its conclusion revolve around moralism, whether it is Bierce whining about the corrupt politicians and the yellow journalism and the hypocritical motives for imperialistic expansion, or the author's (and Bierce's) hostility to evangelical Christianity, something which I find personally offensive.  On top of that, the framing isn't even properly enlightened in that it views Princess Haunani as merely a trophy wife or sexual object for various white men in competition with each other and it makes the villain a foppish but racist homosexual who has been trying to cover up his niece's identity her entire life.  This book can't even be properly immoral in that it simultaneously manages to offend both Christian and pro-LGBTQ+ sensibilities simultaneously.  And it is a rare novel that can manage to screw that up.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book which centers on the takeover of Hawaii by the US, takes place in San Francisco where the current king of Hawaii is dying. Although the book is instructive about that piece of history, I found it to be slow moving up until the last pages where it is then brought to a swift conclusion. None of the characters made much of an impression on me and although I did find the historical information interesting, overall I did not care for the book as a mystery.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a writer! Loved the writing, characters, historic San Francisco and learning about the outrageous co-opting of Hawaiian land and culture by sugar barons and the US government. Deplorable. Will read the rest of this series.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of an entertaining series in which Ambrose Bierce moonlights as a Sherlock Holmes-type detective and whose stories are narrated by a sidekick. Using late 19th C San Francisco as a setting, this is a well done whodunit.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

California ,The Detective Ambrose Bierce investigates the disappearance of a Hawaiian princess as her father the King lays dying. The annexation of Hawaii hasn't happened yet. Intrigue, romance and history

[Carolyn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story although a little slow to develop. Fascinating time and place - 1890s in San Francisco. Don't snooze or you'll lose track of Hawaiian politics and those involved.

[shadesofwords · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting enough...more doing and less solving kind of mystery. Learnt a little about Hawaiian politics in late 18th century

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious.

[Marley]

I don't often see Ambrose Bierce and Dollar General in the same sentence, but here it is. I have a part-time job as an inventory taker, and at a Dollar General store a couple weeks ago, I found this gem amongst bodice rippers and chick books. And what a gem it is. iterature, witty, and full of the dark side of America's history in Hawai'i. This is one of the best historical mysteries I've ever read, and a real page turner. I'm going back to read #1 in the series and then on from there.

[Ace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder and mayhem abound in turn of the century (that's the 20th century) San Francisco. Ambrose Bierce and his young friend, Tom Redmond are hot on the trail of the man responsible for the murder of a Hawaiian dignitary. A good story mixed in with a moderate dose of Hawaiian history.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've borrowed this book from the lending library at the hotel where I was staying. Great idea, that hotel lending library. (It was a Country Inn & Suites)