Mortal Mischief by
Frank Tallis
hbk out May 05
Published by Century
at £10.99
An unusual and excellent murder mystery of the old-fashioned ‘locked room’ variety. In fact, the book is itself old-fashioned in that it is set in Vienna at the turn of the last century, when it was the European centre of culture, fashion, medicine and the arts.
Dr Max Liebermann is a young Jewish doctor who is tired of the entrenched methods of treating mental patients and at the risk of being fired by his reactionary professor, espouses the radical ideas, including psychotherapy, of Sigmund Freud, who appears briefly in the book. Max has a good friend, police detective Oskar Rheinhart, who asks for his help on a bizarre murder. A beautiful young woman, a popular spiritualist, has been found dead in her apartment, shot though the heart. The door was locked, there was a presumed suicide note and there was a sheer drop from the windows. Two great problems were that there was no gun present and a post-mortem failed to reveal a bullet, even though there was no exit wound. About half a dozen people were obvious suspects, as they were her regular séance clients; they ranged from a national politician to a locksmith, but extensive police work fails to clarify matters. The Chief of Police, pressured from above - even from Emperor Franz Joseph himself - brings in an objectionable senior officer over the disgruntled Oskar and a spurious arrest is made. However, with Max’s help, things are straightened out in the end.
The only disappointment in the book is the dénouement, which offers a physically impossible solution, but the story is highly entertaining and is a very worthwhile read. Apart from the plot, the lively writing draws an excellent word-picture of old Vienna, with its cafes, its cooking and the general vivacity of life in the great Empire.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
Mortal Mischief by
Frank Tallis
