Book Review: Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis

Vienna Secrets
Frank Tallis
Random House, February 2010
ISBN 9780812980998
Trade Paperback

Dr. Max Liebermann is living in Vienna, attending the lectures of Dr. Freud and seeing patients.  He has concerns about his relationship with one of his patients, a woman after whom he lusts but feels compelled not to pursue.  It’s not just the problem of a doctor and his power over a patient, it’s the problem of a man she trusts abusing that trust.  So he’s conflicted.

He’s also conflicted, although considerable less so, about his relationship with his father, who wants him to give up psychoanalysis and come to work in the family business.  Max finds the business incredibly boring.

When Detective Inspector Oskar Reinhardt comes to him with a problem, Max is happy to lend his expertise.  The problem?  Someone (or something) is killing priests by ripping their heads off.  The priests are found by plague pillars, near schools, surrounded by mud.  Max is asked to determine the meaning of these disparate clues.  The pattern seems clear, until a Jew is killed in the same manner.  Is his religion relevant?  Is there some connection between the third victim and the first two?  How are the heads being separated from the bodies?  Why are there no signs of struggle?  So many questions, and no CSI to turn to for answers.

Max finds himself in Prague, against his will, following the recommendations of a Rebbe who urged him to look to his roots, his history.  Max is unsure what the Talmud has to do with his problems; psychoanalysis doesn’t seem to be helping him that much either.

Vienna Secrets is a mystery for readers who enjoy learning a little something along with their entertainment.  Readers familiar with some of the more “woo-woo” elements of Talmudic lore will think they know where the plot is going but they will probably not be totally correct.  There are three books before Vienna Secrets in the Liebermann saga; it is quite tempting to hunt them down, see where Max came from.

Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, April 2010.

Note: Some of the author’s books in the Liebermann Papers series have been re-titled for US publication.  Vienna Secrets is titled Darkness Rising in the UK.

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April 10, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Full Reviews

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