Vienna Secrets

Starred review from February 1, 2010
Tallis's excellent fourth puzzler set in early 20th-century Vienna (after 2008's Fatal Lies
) neatly blends mystery and history. A scary series of murders, which may have a supernatural component, challenge psychiatrist Max Liebermann and Det. Insp. Oskar Rheinhardt. Two men, both with a track record of anti-Semitism, have turned up dead, their heads ripped from their bodies by some powerful force beyond the capacity of a single killer. The first, Brother Stanislav, was a regular contributor to Das Vaterland
, a right-wing Catholic newspaper, and spoke at a rally that ended with the fatal stabbing of a young Jewish boy. The second victim, city councillor Burke Faust, had also fomented hatred. An important clue comes from a witness who heard a “whirring sound, like a giant insect” near one crime scene. Meanwhile, Liebermann's defense of a dying patient's rights puts him at odds with the Catholic church. Fans of Caleb Carr will feel right at home.

December 1, 2009
Grisly murders shock an elegant city.

In turn-of-the-century Vienna, Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls his friend Dr. Max Liebermann to examine a horrific murder scene. Piarist monk Brother Stanislav has been decapitated, his head literally torn from his body. The first wave of questioning depicts the victim as a saintly sort, with no enemies, but a fellow monk later reveals that Stanislav wrote several articles for the anti-Semitic Vaterland. Indeed, anti-Semitism is flourishing in Vienna. To compete with golden-boy rival Burke Faust and curry the mayor's favor, Councillor Julius Schmidt proposes bigoted initiatives. By contrast, a Jewish study group led by charismatic Rebbe Barash sees the hand of God in the murder. Liebermann inadvertently steps into the middle of this simmering conflict when he prevents a priest from giving the last rites to a dissolute young baron who's finally at peace and oblivious to his imminent death. Liebermann and Rheinhardt share their theories during informal musical evenings, with Liebermann at the keyboard and Rheinhardt on vocals. In the nights that follow, Liebermann, who's recently broken off his engagement, has increasingly graphic dreams about his feminist friend Amelia Lydgate. When Faust is found decapitated like Stanislav, the case goes from an aberration to a serial killing. The only clue is the thick dark mud found at both murder scenes.

In Liebermann's fourth case (Fatal Lies, 2009, etc.), Tallis again paints an elaborate portrait of Vienna. The precision and economy of his intelligent prose keep his story in balance and tension high.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 15, 2010
In this fourth series title featuring psychoanalyst Max Liebermann in 1903 Vienna (after "Fatal Lies"), Tallis again combines murder with elegant, erudite descriptions of a period and place in which modern, scientific, and rational thought clash with prejudice, ignorance, and racial hatred. When he's called by his police friend Rheinhardt to help investigate the decapitated corpse of a monk, both men are baffled. Then a rising politician meets a similar fate, and it appears that Jews may be at fault. Nonreligious Liebermann is forced to confront his own Jewish heritage as he discovers discomfiting similarities to a Jewish myth of the golem, a Frankenstein-like creature of monstrous strength. With his professional position threatened by anti-Semitic forces, his love life in shambles, and his beliefs shaken by questions about collective racial memory, Liebermann must use language and dream analysis plus scientific training to make sense of these mystic elements. VERDICT As in Tallis's earlier works, the murder mystery is almost second to larger themes involving dreams, architecture, music, racial politics, and even pastries in a Vienna that we realize is soon to break apart. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 12/09.]Roland Person, formerly with Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
The fifth Max Liebermann mystery (following Fatal Lies, 2009) finds the psychiatrist once again wrapped up in a police investigation. This time headless bodies start appearing in front of statues all across Vienna. Tallis continues to evoke the sights, sounds, food, and culture of turn-of the-century Vienna; but this time anti-Semitism is a dark whisper in the background, and Liebermann, a non-observant Jew, finds himself worried for his career. The historical details of police work and forensic investigation again are a strong point, and with this books inclusion of a trip to Prague, readers are introduced to another fascinating city. Liebermanns trip is inspired by a desire to understand more about his past and culture, and the resulting backstory will please series fans interested in knowing more about this appealing protagonist. A solid entry in an excellent historical mystery series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)