A Death in Vienna

November 28, 2005
British author Tallis (Love Sick
) sets his intelligent murder mystery in the stormy, atmospheric Austrian capital at the turn of the 20th century. Psychoanalyst Max Lieberman, a contemporary of Freud's, takes time out of his busy schedule treating hysterics to help his friend Det. Oskar Rheinhardt solve the perplexing case of a beautiful medium found dead in a locked room on the day of her weekly séance. She's left a suicide note and died of a gunshot to the heart, but there's no weapon or bullet in her body. Rheinhardt is certain she's been murdered, and as he interviews each of her clients, he uncovers a number of potential suspects with motive enough for murder—but without the know-how to accomplish this impossible deed. Midway through the investigation, one of the medium's clients is bludgeoned to death in his sleep—also inside a locked room. Despite Rheinhardt's superior sleuthing and Lieberman's keen observational and analytical abilities, the murderer and the key to his modus operandi elude them until help comes from an unlikely source. Tallis convincingly animates Lieberman and Rheinhardt in a picturesque Vienna roiling with cultural and intellectual change.

December 15, 2005
Too many characters crowd this otherwise clever whodunit set in turn-of-the-century Vienna. The circumstances of medium Charlotte Lowenstein's murder befuddle Detective Oskar Rheinhardt from the start: her body is found in a room locked from the inside. She has been shot, but there's evidence of neither a bullet nor a gun. Rheinhardt decides to consult his longtime friend, psychoanalyst Max Liebermann. Although all signs point to a supernatural killer, Liebermann, who puts a premium on hypnosis, dreams, and accidental utterances (Freudian slips), isn't so sure. He interviews members of Fraulein Lowenstein's seance circle, some of whom seemed more drawn to her beauty than her credentials in the occult. Among them: a nervous banker, a neurotic locksmith, an unkempt count, and a lustful stage magician who fled the city shortly after the crime. Tallis is a clinical psychologist and an expert on obsessive behavior, and his third novel is worth reading, not so much for the story as for the atmospheric renderings of the Viennese cafe scene (including many mouth-watering mentions of pastry) and for cameo appearances by Mahler and Freud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

January 15, 2006
In fin-de-siè cle Vienna, psychiatrist Max Lieberman appreciates the work of his colleague, Dr. Freud, and eagerly applies his techniques when asked by friend and inspector Oskar Rheinhardt to investigate the murder of a beautiful medium, found shot to death in her locked sé ance room. But no gun or bullet is found. Is it a demonic event, or did one of the other attendees at the sé ance manage it somehow? British psychologist Tallis deftly brings to life a city of contrasts, caught between polite manners and virulent anti-Semitism. This first volume in a new historical series should appeal to Sherlock Holmes fans as well as those of John Dixon Carr's locked-room puzzlers. Tallis lives in London. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ "11/1/05; Tallis has recently been shortlisted for Britain's Crime Writers Association's Ellis Peters Historical Dagger Award. -Ed.]

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