A Death in Vienna

About this book

An elegant historical mystery . . . stylishly presented and intelligently resolved set at the dawn of psychoanalysis (The New York Times Book Review). In Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century Max Liebermann a contemporary of Sigmund Freuds is at the forefront of psychoanalysis practicing the controversial new science with all the skill of a master detective. Every dream inflection or slip of tongue in his hysterical patients has meaning and reveals some hidden truth. When beautiful medium Charlotte Lwenstein dies under extraordinary circumstances Maxs good friend Detective Oskar Rheinhardt calls for his expert assistance. Her body has been found in a room that can only be locked from the inside. Shes been shot through the heart but theres no gun and absolutely no trace of a bullet. All signs point to a supernatural killer but Liebermann the scientist is not so easily convinced. Especially when one of Charlottes clients is also found in a locked roomthis time bludgeoned to death. Unfolding in the Vienna of Klimt and Mahler a time of unprecedented activity in the worlds of philosophy science and art A Death in Vienna is an engrossing portrait of a legendary period as well as a brain teaser of startling perplexity (Chicago Tribune).