Requiem in Vienna: A Viennese Mystery
Set in 1899, Jones's fine second Viennese mystery (after 2009'sThe Empty Mirror) opens with a falling fire curtain narrowly missing Gustav Mahler, the director of the Vienna Court Opera, but killing a soprano during a stage rehearsal. Lawyer and private inquirer Karl Werthen teams with criminologist Hanns Gross to look into this and subsequent accidents apparently aimed at Mahler. As the investigation descends into the damned politics of music, Mahler, a former Jew who must be careful to hide his contempt for fellow composer Richard Wagner, emerges as the nexus for an ever-widening pool of suspects. Complicating matters are big changes in Werthen's home life, in particular wife Berthe's pregnancy. Jones, the author ofHitler in Vienna, 1907–1913and other nonfiction books about the city, smoothly blends a compelling period whodunit with bountiful cultural and social details.(Jan.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.