Death and the Maiden by Frank Tallis

This is the most recent in the series of novels about the team of Detective Oskar Reinhardt and Dr. Max Liebermann. The setting is pre-WWI Vienna and the series is somewhat like the work of Jonathan Kellerman who, in contemporary Los Angeles, also writes crime novels and pairs a child psychologist and a police detective. Published in 2012, Death and the Maiden is the fifth of the crime novel series that I’ve reported on in MRB and while this book has not been recognized with the same awards for mystery fiction as his earlier books, this one may be the best yet. Admittedly, I’m somewhat of Vienna-phile, especially for this specific era, the very end of the Hapsburg reign that lasted for 700 years. The book centers on the apparent suicide/murder of Ida Rosenkrantz, the principal soprano at the Court Opera that is run by Director Gustav Mahler. Despite her enormous talent and beauty, Ida was an insecure woman who slept with some very powerful men, including the infamous Handsome Karl Lueger, the Mayor of Vienna. Author Tallis skillfully takes us through the mystery of this murder as well as the politics in the Security Office and the Palace where Emperor Franz Joseph runs the empire but is at odds with the Mayor of his own city.

Tallis writes about the intrigues arising from the artistic personalities at the opera house, including the soprano who was displaced by Rosenkrantz's superior talent. He takes us through very believable encounters with the emperor, the mayor, and Sigmund Freud. Meanwhile, pressure is building in the city as anti-Semitism advances, an election approaches, and assassinations in Serbia are occurring. The author also carries forward from prior books with the romance of Dr. Liebermann and Amelia Lydgate. Tallis notes the awkwardness of this building relationship between a doctor and a woman who was once his patient. Nicely paralleling the primary crime, the author also takes us through the solving of an old crime, the murder of a composure that was always thought to have been a suicide.

This is an excellent story about characters that I care about. The bad news is that this appears to be the last one in the series. The good news is that I’ve discovered one that I missed, so there’s still another Tallis book in my near future. Like Tallis’ other books, this one gets my strongest recommendation.

Vienna Twilight

This is my fourth Frank Tallis novel in the series which takes place during the first decade of the 20^th century in Vienna, about Max Liebermann, the psychoanalyst, and Oskar Rheinhardt, the detective inspector with the Security Office. Tallis further develops the contrast between his two protagonists, as well as their friendship, while he makes use of the newly introduced technique of psychoanalysis to solve crimes and understand the psychopathology that drives such behaviors.

In this book, there were three criminal events that had to be solved, all linked through an understanding of the Oedipus complex, which Tallis adequately explains. In the story, the author gives Freud a quote: “The sexual instinct is, I believe, infinitely pliable with respect to its aims. Indeed, I am of the belief that all human beings are born with what might be described as a polymorphously perverse disposition – that is to say, a disposition that can be diverted into all possible kinds of sexual irregularly. If one defines healthy sexual behavior as that which is necessary for human reproduction – namely heterosexual congress – it follows that all other forms of arousal-seeking behavior are surplus, and therefore in a literal sense, perverse.” In the book’s primary crimes, Liebermann kept referring to “thanatophila,” the fascination with death, which he distinguishes from necrophilia, the love of the dead. You get the idea that this book is dark, and in penetrating the understanding of this darkness and Rheinhardt’s own difficulty grasping the concepts in this ugly realm of human functioning, Liebermann says, “It is always better to understand than not.” Crucial to solving one of the crimes is the psychoanalytic interpretation of Jack and the Beanstalk.  Near the end of the book, Tallis has Liebermann wondering, “What was wrong with the German soul? Why were love and death so intermingled in the German imagination.”

I will continue to pursue this fascinating series of books – Tallis gets my strongest recommendation.

Vienna Secrets

This is my third Frank Tallis book, the best of those that I’ve read, so it won’t be the last. Once again, Dr. Max Liebermann and Detective Inspector Oskar Rheindardt are at work in the first decade of 20^th century Vienna. Max, a psychiatrist, treats patients and Oskar solves crimes. Sometimes, they work together on particularly baffling cases. The first couple books gave the background character development for this one, and in Vienna Secrets, Tallis spent less time on the two men’s relationships with each other, and more time on the plot. It was a much more complex story about religious tensions in Vienna during this pre WWI era when the Hapsburgs were still a ruling force in Europe. There are a series of grizzly murders in which men’s heads are literally being ripped off their heads. Can you imagine the force it would take to do that? Those events revive ancient Jewish lore about the Golem, a supernatural character that defends the Jewish ghetto, but in the lore, it is a character that eventually got out of control and could not just be harnessed for the good of the Jews. Psychoanalytic thought has an important place in the understanding of the crimes that are being committed and of the people involved.

With regard to the growing religious tensions in Vienna, When the Rebbe Barash was asked to explain his teachings to Dr. Lieberman, he said, “When something is broken, it must be repaired. This is our task: tikkun, the mending of vessels, the healing of the cosmos. When you ask yourselves ‘What is the purpose of human existence?’ you now have an answer: tikkun. What is the purpose of the sky, the earth, the stars, and the moon? You now have an answer: tikkun. It is the purpose of the holy books, the purpose of scripture, the purpose of prayer. The achievement of tikkun is the only means of redemption. It brinks perfection back to God and so the universe, to humanity, and to the people of Israel.” The Rebbe said, in professing his radical views, the tikkun could only be achieved by “the unselfish pursuit of religious perfection…. No man is exempt. Without total participation, the tikkun will not succeed, and wickedness with remain in the world.” At the same time Judaic thought was radicalizing, the Christians, under the direction of Mayor Karl Luegar, were beginning the process of removing Jews from all important academic and professional positions in the city.

This was an excellent historical novel. Start with an early Tallis book and work your way forward in time. After three books, Tallis has climbed into my power rotation.

Fatal Lies

This is the second Frank Tallis book that I’ve reviewed, and I liked this one as much as the first. This series of books about Max Liebermann takes place in 1902-1910 Vienna. Lieberman is a psychiatrist with a full-time practice, who occasionally consults with the police on difficult cases. His buddy on the police force is Inspector Rheinhardt whose life is made difficult by his bumbling boss, Manfred Brugel, the police commissioner, who micro-mismanages various crimes and the administration of the Viennese police force. Rheinhardt and Liebermann have a wonderful friendship that extends well beyond their professional relationship. Liebermann plays the piano and Rheinhardt is a baritone, so they practice classical pieces together and Tallis weaves musical themes into the story lines. In addition to the unique setting of early 1900s Vienna and the musical themes, Tallis use of vocabulary is wonderful – far better than what we usually see in crime novels.

In this novel, Tallis mixes two main story lines with a number of subplots that help better identify the main characters. Rheinhardt is called to investigate the death of a student at a Viennese high school military academy. It appears that the student died of natural causes, but the inspector’s intuition suggests otherwise. At the same time, Rheinhardt’s fellow inspector, one of equal rank who always gets the better assignments and is treated as if he is Rheinhardt’s superior, is given a mysterious assignment which keeps interfering with Rheinhardt’s investigation into the death at the academy. In the midst of those stories, Liebermann grows angry with his unrequited love, Amelia Lyngate, and he becomes involved with a femme fatale. That’s enough – this is good writing, good plot creation, and good character development. While reading this book, you’ll learn more about societal forces that were at work in Austria. I’ve already gotten the next Liebermann book, so let that stand as my recommendation.

Vienna Blood

This is the first book to be reviewed in this blog by Frank Tallis, and Vienna Blood is the second in his series of six detective novels, the protagonist being Max Liebermann. This novel takes place in 1902 Vienna, and Liebermann is a sort of Sherlock Holmes savant who studies the works of Sigmund Freud. The Hapsburgs were still in power, and Vienna was teeming with intellectuals, musicians, artists, and wealth. Liebermann is sort of like a Victorian Alex Delaware as written about by Jonathan Kellerman. The plot was extremely clever, starting with the nonsensical murder of a giant anaconda (the emperor’s favorite) in the zoo at the Schonbrunn Palace, but it is quickly followed by the murder of four prostitutes, and then others.

Just like Alex Delaware has a pal in the police department in Los Angeles, Liebermann has a pal in the Vienna Security Office, Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt. At times Rheinhardt is very frustrated with his friend’s withholding of information, but he is dependent on Liebermann for his insights into the crimes that he investigates. Liebermann and Rheinhardt have a remarkable friendship and share intimate information about one another’s lives. Remembering that this is turn-of-the-last century Vienna, there is a lot about the arts that is weaved into the story and which is important to the plot. By reading this book, you’ll learn more about Mozart and Wagner. Also critical to the plot line with a Jewish protagonist is the early development of beliefs in the superiority of the Aryan race. The symbol of the swastika appears in one of the murder scenes, and no one has seen that before.

There is no doubt that part of my enjoyment with this read was being in Vienna and knowing the locations that Tallis uses as the characters move through the city. But, the characters were vivid and three-dimensional, and the plot was excellent. Tallis filled out the story with a number of excellent subplots which made excellent use of the era. I hope I can acquire the first book in the sequence, Mortal Mischief (A Death in Vienna), and I’ve already gotten the third book, Fatal Lies. Can you tell? I’m excited about this author and I appreciate my sister’s recommendation.