Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories

These eight high-spirited stories were written at the height of Oscar Wilde’s creative power, between 1887 and 1891, when he delighted polite society with the epigram and controversy which flowed from his pen. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime is a masterpiece of polished cynicism, in which poison, explosive clocks and finally murder forerun married bliss; and The Canterville Ghost is a venerable – and resourceful – family spork thoroughly unhorsed by his new American owners. Two of Wilde’s best-loved stories for children are also included, together with The Portrait of Mr W. H., a masterly example of scholarly detection, and three rare pieces by the man for whom, above all, there was ‘no Mystery so great as Misery’.