A Hidden Affair

Jordan Weiss is an agent with the State Department.  When she discovers that her boyfriend did not drown 10 years before but faked his death in order to escape from someone who wanted to get their hands on his research, she sets out to find him.  She starts out in Monaco at the last address in the information provided by her agency.  The apartment is inhabited by a beautiful blonde, Nicole, who says she knows nothing about Jared and disappears shortly thereafter.

On a second visit, Jordan breaks into the apartment (jumping across a 3-foot span from one balcony to another four stories up in broad daylight!) and is attacked by someone (a tall, dark and handsome man named Ari) who is also searching for information in the apartment.  The two decide to pool their efforts and head to Vienna where Jordan encounters Nicole, has a near death experience and is rescued by her partner while Nicole eludes them again.  Jordan finds out some of Nicole’s secrets, including her connection to Jared and her involvement in a swindle with the Italian Mafia and that Ari is a former Israeli agent who has been hired to track down Nicole.

Romance develops as they share information and drive to Northern Italy where they visit a vineyard and are told where to find Nicole.  From Trieste, they take a boat to one of the Greek islands where Jordan finds answers amid collapsing caves and explosions.

Although the synopsis sounds hokie, the book was actually quite exciting.  The action moves along at a steady pace and keeps your interest through all the twists and turns of the plot.  The writing style is good and gives you enough individual background to really develop an interest in the characters.  I would recommend the book.

Reviewed by Sue McLain, November 2010.

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.