Starred review from November 19, 2007
British clinical psychologist Tallis follows his superior debut, A Death in Vienna
(2007), with this gripping sequel. Viennese Det. Insp. Oskar Rheinhardt, already faced with finding the person who butchered the emperor's favorite anaconda, comes under even more pressure from his superiors when several murders are committed in quick succession. The inspector enlists the assistance of insightful Freud disciple Max Liebermann, who quickly deduces that the killer is choosing his victims to correspond with the plot of Mozart's The Magic Flute
. The book's strength lies in the relationship and interplay between the two detectives, whose friendship, which includes a shared love of music, may remind some of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin. The clever plotting and quality writing elevate this above most other historicals, even if the solution to the crimes comes as no great surprise.
Starred review from November 15, 2007
Tallis offers another installment in his intelligent, challenging, masterfully crafted series set in turn-of-the-century Vienna and featuring Freudian disciple Dr. Max Liebermann. In this outing, Liebermanns policeman friend, Rheinhardt, asks the doctor to help solve one of the most brutal andbloody crimes in Viennese history. The case begins on a bizarre notean anaconda at the Vienna Zoo is found dead, cut into three pieces and arranged in its cage in an almost ritualistic manner. But, then, four prostitutes are slaughtered and mutilated, and the killer scrawls a mysterious, crosslike symbol on the wall of the murder site in the victims blood. This is quickly followed by the brutal murder of a Czech national. It appears that the victims were all killed with the same weapon, but thats the only commonality. Despite Dr. Liebermanns attempts to analyze the killers mind-set, he can find no clues to his motive, rationale, or choice of victims. Its only when Liebermann and Rheinhardt discover links to Viennas mysterious secret societies and to a deadly mission fueled by racial prejudice and hatred that they begin to move toward a solution. Early-nineteenth-century literature, art, music, politics, and medicine provide a vivid backdrop to Tallis enthralling, unusual, intelligently written literary thriller. A superb book for mystery buffs, history lovers, and connoisseurs of European culture.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)