Frank Tallis

Inspector Rheinhardt is not having a good day: first he's called to the bizarre killing of the emperor's favourite anaconda at the local zoo, and then he must attend the massacre of three prostitutes and their madam in a brothel in one of Vienna's more dilapidated districts. Baffled and disturbed, he requests the help of his friend Max Liebermann, a young doctor and disciple of Freud, to make sense of the violent deaths. Their investigation brings them into contact with Aryan nationalists, a renowned Austrian cavalry regiment and the Freemasons.

There is much to enjoy in this novel, and indeed the series, though I don't read them because of the crime element; if anything, that aspect is relatively weak. Vienna just after the turn of the century must have been a fascinating place, and Frank Tallis's descriptions, though occasionally overdone, bring the city to life. The main characters are also incredibly well drawn, even though I remain somewhat sceptical of Liebermann's amazing ability to infer facts about someone based on his knowledge of psychology and interest in psychotherapy; a certain London detective famous for his accurate deductions springs to mind. Unsurprisingly, the pace is rather slow, but it is fascinating to witness Austrian nationalists and the Aryan ideology become more widespread, knowing where it will lead in the span of just one generation. The fact that Liebermann is Jewish and so experiences antisemitism first-hand makes the reader all the more invested, in my opinion. I will definitely continue with the series.… (more)