Vienna Blood: A Max Liebermann Mystery

Dateline Vienna 1902, location - the sprawling majestic Schönnbrunn Palace's Tiergarten Zoo. Detective Oskar Reinhardt is called to the scene of a grisly slaying - the cruel killing of a 30 foot long anaconda that has been cut into three sections with a saber. But even such an unprecedented bizarre case must fade into the background when Reinhardt is faced with the brutal maniacal slaying of a brothel's madam and two prostitutes. Reinhardt and his close friend, Dr Max Liebermann, a respected practitioner of Freudian psychology, are convinced that the murders, with a strong resemblance to the recent Whitechapel Jack the Ripper executions, are the work of a demented serial killer who will soon be looking for a fourth victim. "Vienna Blood" is a superbly crafted historical mystery built around a compellingly recreated Vienna. Rheinhardt is portrayed as an early believer in the infant science of forensics and profiling. But, even in turn of the century Vienna, like his modern counterparts, he is faced with internal political pressures. He is being harried to stick to solid, established techniques of dogged police work and to produce a quick arrest. "Vienna Blood" is a magnificent travelogue of what is arguably one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in Europe and the classical music capital of the world - the Opera House under the leadership of Gustav Mahler, the cafés, the scrumptious calorie laden Mozart and Sacher tortes, the Ringstrasse, the birth of the electric tram system, the magnificent art gallery in the Belvedere; the entertaining natural history collection in the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the extraordinary outdoors beauty of the Vienna Woods on the western fringe of the city. "Vienna Blood" is also a frightening political commentary. Dealing with the disturbing prevalence of secret societies in Vienna in the early twentieth century, Tallis makes a convincing argument that faults Vienna's "Law on Associations" with driving subversive political groups underground and making them even more dangerous. Tallis shows how the sinister Guido von List - a successful journalist and writer, much loved at the time by hardcore Teutonic Germans obsessed with superiority of the Aryan race and preserving the purity of German bloodlines - was likely the seed that sprouted into the National Socialist movement and their anti-Semitic policies. Finally, "Vienna Blood" is a wonderful story of the cultural and social milieu of the city. Reinhardt, who is engaged to the vapid but sexually enticing Clara Weiss, realizes that he simply cannot in good conscience marry her because he does not love her. He struggles with the difficulty and the social embarrassment of breaking off the engagement as he realizes he is growing fond of Amelia Lydgate who is studying medicine at the Anatomical Institute. In a most interesting side plot, Amelia is forced to deal with the chauvinistic (nay, misogynistic) attitudes towards women, the clearly inferior sex, who woul

"Vienna Blood: Volume Two of the Lieberman Papers" is set in the freezing winter of 1902. Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt is summoned to the zoo to investigate the slaying of a thirty-foot long anaconda named Hildegard. An unknown assailant knocked the keeper unconscious and sliced the snake into three segments with his saber. This bizarre crime soon fades into the background when Oskar and his assistant, Herr Haussmann, are called to the scene of a terrible atrocity. Four women have been slaughtered in a brothel and three were viciously mutilated. For some time now, Inspector Rheinhardt has involved his close friend, Dr. Maxim Liebermann, a practitioner of Freudian psychology, in his inquiries. Max's role is analogous to today's profiler; he has an uncanny gift for applying his knowledge of psychoanalysis to the workings of the criminal mind. More murders follow, and Oskar once again teams up with Max to resolve a troubling and complex case that has the police baffled. Although he has a satisfying medical practice, Max is not without his personal problems. He is engaged to the lovely but shallow Clara Weiss, a woman who attracts him physically but bores him intellectually. Can a successful marriage be based on lust alone? He is also guilt-ridden by his secret interest in Amelia Lydgate, a British woman who is studying medicine at the Anatomical Institute. She is beautiful and brilliant, a perfect match for the intellectual Liebermann. As Oskar and Max proceed with their investigation into the aforementioned massacre, they ask Amelia to analyze microscopic fibers and blood, using the limited technology available at the time. All of this occurs against the backdrop of a cosmopolitan and scenic city that harbors ugly secrets. One of them is an organization, "Primal Fire," consisting of bigots who subscribe to a nationalist Pan-German agenda and would love to do away with Slavs, Jews, Catholics, Freemasons, and other non-Aryans who might pollute pure Teutonic bloodlines. The group is led by Baron Gustav von Triebanbach and includes a mediocre and frustrated artist named Andreas Olbricht, a misogynistic doctor, Erich Foch, and an aspiring young composer, Hermann Aschenbrandt. They all admire Richard Wagner and defer to Guido List, who has written works filled with racial and religious hatred. What connection, if any, exists between List's acolytes and the aforementioned homicides? Oskar, Max, and company will need all their powers of observation and analysis to capture a lunatic who is both devious and deadly. Frank Tallis's vivid description of the atmosphere, language, and culture of Vienna at the turn of the century is fascinating and masterful. He skillfully incorporates historical figures such as Sigmund Freud into the narrative, and he cleverly uses the ideas of psychology, evolution, medicine, and forensics in his well-constructed plot. The characters are nicely drawn: Max is a principled and intelligent individ

Following the monumental debut novel, A Death in Vienna, the author has followed up with a second book of equal proportions. He brings back psychiatrist Dr. Max Liebermann and Inspector Oscar Rheinhardt as they face a formidable serial killer who leaves strange symbolic signs in what appears to be random murders. The novel takes place at the turn of the century in Vienna and is filled with hints of the onset of Nazism and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its culinary tastes. Sigmund Freud plays a minor--but crucial-- role in providing Max with psychiatric insights into the meaning of the killer's psyche. The combined talents of the police inspector and the psychiatrist again fortify each other's efforts to discover the identity of the savage murderer. The depth of the descriptions of Viennese society and the city are magnificent. The plot is overwhelming and supplies a penetrating look into Max's personality and ethics. It is a great novel.

If you read A DEATH IN VIENNA by Frank Tallis, you will be pleased to know that 1) VIENNA BLOOD is a sequel to that gripping work and 2) it is worth the wait. If you did not read A DEATH IN VIENNA --- Tallis's introduction to Dr. Max Liebermann and Detective Oskar Rheinhardt, set in Vienna at the beginning of the 20th century --- I would recommend doing so before undertaking VIENNA BLOOD, given that the latter flows from the former, and majestically so. It will increase your appreciation of the new offering dramatically. VIENNA BLOOD is set in 1902, and finds the personal and professional relationship between Liebermann and Rheinhardt intact. While A DEATH IN VIENNA focused on a lock-room murder, VIENNA BLOOD concerns Liebermann's investigation into a series of particularly brutal killings that are tangentially linked, though the victims appear to be unrelated. While Tallis's investigative pair possesses some minor similarities to Conan Doyle's archetypal Holmes and Watson, Liebermann and Rheinhardt are on much more equal footing intellectually. Indeed, it is through Rheinhardt's intervention that Liebermann's talents as a psychiatric expert are brought into the mix, even as there is a tacit and subtle, though friendly, one-upsmanship that informs their investigations. However, it is not Liebermann's medical skills that provide the turning point in Rheinhardt's investigation. Rather, it is an event in his personal life, one that not only puts the team on the road toward solving the case but also begins the resolution of a problem of Liebermann's own creation. As with A DEATH IN VIENNA, there are a number of suspects of equal possibility, yet the truly magnificent and riveting elements of VIENNA BLOOD dip and swirl around Vienna itself. Tallis brings the time and place alive, down to the last nuance, yet without sacrificing plot or characterization. The return of a number of supporting characters (including a couple of unexpected ones) introduced in A DEATH IN VIENNA serves not only to provide continuity but also fodder, apparently, for future volumes. VIENNA BLOOD more than sustains the momentum created by Tallis's first Vienna novel, even as it makes the potential wait for a third installment all the more excruciating. Jump on this beautiful ride now while the journey is just beginning. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

In the winter of 1902, Vienna Police Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt is working on the high profile case of who slaughtered the royal anaconda at the Tiergarten Zoo when his superiors yank him off that investigation. Instead he is assigned to lead the inquiry into who is killing prostitutes; as several victims have suddenly been found in the frozen city streets. The killer leaves brazen cross-like marks on his victims that lead Oskar to believe one clever diabolical person is responsible. He knows he needs special help on this strange case witch as far as he knows has no local precedent although there is some experience in London of an apparent mentally sick yet brilliant predator. He asks Freudian adherent Dr. Max Liebermann, who collaborated with him on A DEATH IN VIENNA, to provide him insight into the culprit's mind so that they can put together a pattern and find the killer. Max realizes that the serial homicides ties into Mozart's classic The Magic Flute, but why and who remains unknown as more hookers are killed. Readers will believe they are visiting Freud's Vienna at an exciting time in the city even if the Empire is tottering on the brink of extinction as Frank Tallis through the actions of his serial killer and the collaborative team bring the turn of the century to life. Although the police procedural is fun to follow with its link to Mozart even if it is somewhat obvious to the reader, this prime plot actually enhances the vivid look at the still thriving capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1902 as historical fans will fully treasure the tour though paved with blood. Harriet Klausner