Mephisto Waltz

This is good too:

Very much so. That charm is arguable the main character in these stories. I want to live in that city at that time and drink brandy by the fireplace after listening to these two play a piece of music. (I said that Liebermann played violin...he may indeed, but he also is expert on the piano.) I want to watch the light snow fall on the cathedral-like spires of Vienna's town hall, Herr Rheinhard's favorite building.

I'm reading the second book in the series right now: Vienna Blood. I'll have to hold off on the Amazon Prime series in order to read the books fresh. But I'm itchin' to see how it's been interpreted. Sounds as if they've stayed true to the books.

Yes, lots and lots of the "slow development of criminal investigation and forensic science." In Vienna Blood, we've just witnessed one of the earliest uses of a technique to determine whether or not the blood in question is human or not. It involves a rabbit. No lasting harm apparently for the rabbit.

In Mephisto Waltz there is early (very early) use of fingerprints as evidence. And, of course, Herr Liebermann is a walking, talking profiler that is now all the rage in modern investigations. This is especially the case (so far) in a case of multiple grisly murders.

I haven't commented on this writer so far, as I only saw the "Vienna Blood" TV series and read the book. Frankly, I can't remember much from either. I did like the police inspector much more than the the shrink. I found the young-screaming woman something of a bore. Sounds like the "Mephisto Waltz" is better.  I may give it a try.

I am more than a little spoiled having completed the Bernie Gunther series, which basically starts in Berlin some 20-30 years later than "Vienna Blood." 

Yeah, the Bernie Gunther series is something I ought to try out.

I can’t say I like either Max or Oskar better than the other. I guess I like them both although I’m always wondering how much Freudian psychology I’ll have to swallow down with Max.

But it was refreshing to read this passage. Liebermann is part of an elite 5-man weekly (or so) bunch who meet at Freud’s house where they would smoke cigars…oh, and maybe discuss cases. But the cigar smoking seemed to be the thing. Funny imagery the author gives to this at times.



Gotta love that. Love the “roiling numbus.” But I liked this next bit even more because it’s at least irreverent. Liebermann had presented the case of a Mr. B to the weekly meeting. Mr. B was a fellow who had a delusional fixation on a princess. Mr. B had also described some terrifying dreams to Dr. Liebermann and then Lieberman presented them to Freud and his companions. Later Liebermann was perhaps a bit skeptical of Freud’s analysis:



Well, at least while wading through this Freudian stuff, the elephant in the living room did not go unnoticed.

Nearing the end of Vienna Blood. I can definitely see why this was made into live action. It has the perquisite body count desired of all dull people in order to try to jiggle their senseless senses.

I'm very near the end and it seems the killer has been discovered. But there is about zero believability to it. Yes, I accept that someone did all this killing. But it seems lifeless and gadgety. There's little drama or interest in why someone did this. But there could be some twists and turns at the very end the perhaps puff some life into this rather lifeless plot.

But the characters (including Vienna) are still good. It's an interesting (perhaps underdone) plot point where Herr Liebermann decides to break his engagement with Clara. It's a good scene with him breaking this news to Clara's father. Ouch. No easy way to do this without looking like a complete ass.

I finished Vienna Blood and it did end better than I thought it would. We learn more about what was going on with the killer. But some of this info should have been filtered into the story earlier. Without it, the murders and murderer seem distant and rather pro forma. The body count keeps piling up but the plot really has no meaning to it and thus even the villain lacks interest. Any story needs a good villain and this really didn't have one until the very very end.

I've started my third Max Liebermann Mystery: Fatal Lies. It also happens to be the third in the series. They have about 10 of these available in the online library but not the first book in the series at the moment.

Max and Oskar have taken their gals to a fancy ball where they are waltzing to Strauss. dressed in their finest. Oskar is interrupted by an out-of-breath constable who tells him of a death.

The death (not yet proven to be a murder) is of a 15-year-old at a middling school for boys located in the sticks. The school seems rife with prickly and pompous schoolmasters. There's an autopsy. And that's about where I left it. Pretty good so far.

If it rings a bell it's because this plot has been done many times. Boys school. Weaker boys being bullied. Was it murder or suicide? Etc. etc. We'll see if Tallis can bring something more to this typical plot. One-quarter into it, there is still no evidence of it being murder. But there is mounting evidence of an internal "Lord of the Flies" reigning amongst many of the pupils. It obvious that one or more teachers must be involved in this somehow as well. We'll see how dark the plot gets. Looking perhaps very dark -- and Freudianly sexual as well. The schoolmaster's wife is a younger babe in a loveless marriage and, well, she likes to have some of the boys over...including the fellow who died. Perhaps totally innocent. Don't know yet.

Yeah, they finally wrapped up all the threads in Fatal Lies. One was a little coincidental, as was the other. But then the author is free to write himself into or out of any situation regardless of the plausibility. But it all more or less worked.

I get the impression that in Vienna they eat desserts like a main course.