Oakley Hall. Ambrose Bierce and the Death of Kings (2001) 276 pp.
Ambrose Bierce, William Randolph Hearst’s star journalist and San Francisco’s most celebrated writer 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. Assisting Bierce in the search for the missing princess is his protégé, Tom Redmond.