FRANK TALLIS – A Death in Vienna. Random House, trade paperback, May 2007. First UK edition, as Mortal Mischief: Century, hardcover; June 2005.

   I’d been eying this novel, set in turn-of-the-century Vienna for some time. When I decided to buy a copy, my local bookshop was out of stock, but a copy was ordered and a week later I settled down to read it.

   Dr. Max Liebermann is a follower of the new theories of Sigmund Freud, which puts him in conflict with his superior at the hospital where he is affiliated. He is also the good friend of Detective Oscar Reinhardt, and when a psychic is murdered inside her apartment in a room locked from the inside, with no apparent means of entry other than the door, Oscar invites Max to assist him in his investigation.

   Vienna, in 1902, was a center of the arts. Mahler was conducting at the symphony and opera, Gustav Klimt was exhibiting his works at a museum, and the city was rich in cultural events, first-class restaurants and the inevitable conflicts between the conservative past and the new, more open present. Tallis evokes the city with great skill all the while constructing a plot that tests the professional and personal skills of his protagonists.

      Series: The Liebermann Papers

1. Mortal Mischief (2005). US edition: A Death in Vienna, Random House, May 2007.

2. Vienna Blood (2006). US edition: Random House, Jan 2008.
3. Fatal Lies (2008). US edition: Random House, Feb 2009.
4. Darkness Rising (2009). US edition: Random House, Mar 2010.