VIENNA BLOOD by Frank Tallis

This is one of my trade paperbacks that I bought while on 'E-Time' on Fr 6/6/08 and finished reading at FitClub West on We 9/24/08.

Refinished 3/24/24

It's a Police Procedural set in Vienna, Austria in 1902. There is a serial killer on the loose and he is targeting people that are somehow connected to characters in Mozart's 'Magic Flute'. 

Detecitive Oskar Rheinhardt- he is similar to Sherlock Holmes and he works the case with Max Liebermann who is an early psychologist (Alienist?).

***The day before I started the novel I saw a film {THE CORSAGE}about Empress Elisabeth of the Habsburg empire. She lived in a 1,400 room castle called the Schonnbrunn Palace. It is featured in 'VIENNA BLOOD'. 

Sigmund Freud is a minor character in the novel. He recommends cocaine as a cure for heroin addiction.  

From the book's page at GoodReads:

"The second in the Dr. Max Liebermann series, literature’s first psychoanalytic detective.

In the grip of a Siberian winter in 1902, a serial killer in Vienna embarks upon a bizarre campaign of murder. Vicious mutilation, a penchant for arcane symbols, and a seemingly random choice of victim are his most distinctive peculiarities. Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt summons a young disciple of Freud - his friend Dr. Max Liebermann — to assist him with the case. The investigation draws them into the sphere of Vienna’s secret societies — a murky underworld of German literary scholars, race theorists, and scientists inspired by the new evolutionary theories coming out of England. At first, the killer’s mind seems impenetrable — his behaviour and cryptic clues impervious to psychoanalytic interpretation; however, gradually, it becomes apparent that an extraordinary and shocking rationale underlies his actions. . . .

Against this backdrop of mystery and terror, Liebermann struggles with his own demons. The treatment of a patient suffering from paranoia erotica (a delusion of love) and his own fascination with the enigmatic Englishwoman Amelia Lydgate raises doubts concerning the propriety of his imminent marriage. To resolve the dilemma, he must entertain the unthinkable — risking opprobrium and accusations of cowardice."

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From the book's page at Kirkus Reviews:

"An alarmingly prolific serial killer terrorizes turn-of-the-century Vienna.

Police inspector Oskar Rheinhardt is called to a modest house in the rundown Spittelberg district where a madam and three young prostitutes have been brutally murdered. The only definite clue is an enigmatic symbol scrawled on a wall. (It takes Sigmund Freud himself, chapters later, to identify it as a swastika, from the Sanskrit.) As in previous cases, Rheinhardt consults brilliant psychotherapist Max Liebermann, a classically trained pianist who also provides the accompaniment for Rheinhardt’s singing on their musical evenings. Because the weapon appears to be a saber, Rheinhardt begins with the questioning of a swaggering company of military officers. Amelia Lydgate, a feminist doctor with a knowledge of advanced forensic techniques, helps with blood analysis. Liebermann, recently engaged to the beautiful Clara, finds himself inconveniently attracted to the vibrant physician. Two more murders, of a Czech street vendor and the Nubian servant to an influential professor, confirm the presence of a serial killer but bring Rheinhardt no closer to his identity. Could he be connected to Vienna’s recent upsurge of xenophobia, or to the bizarre zoo killing of boa constrictor Hildegard, the emperor’s favorite snake, ritualistically cut into three pieces?

In this intricate sequel to the award-winning A Death in Vienna (2006), Tallis uses his knowledge of medicine, music, psychology and history to create an endlessly fascinating portrait of 1902 Vienna."

I would most definitely read more books by Frank Tallis. His knowledge of history and psychiatry really make the book 'come alive'.