Maybe I should just write “this mystery is great” and be done with it. But that would surely frustrate readers – and me. On the other hand, I can ramble forever on how good this picture of Vienna at the turn of the 20th century is, until I’ll surely become a bore. Anyway, if you’re looking for an entertaining thriller for the summer (this is not for the faint-hearted, some crime scene descriptions are gore!) with magnificent background research, look no further!

I’m glad I gave Tallis a second chance: I’d loved his debut mystery Mortal Mischief (US title: A death in Vienna), but had a few reservations about Fatal Lies, because the murder is set in a military school for elite cadets and interested me less than the bustling city life! Vienna Blood is actually number 2 in the series (I am hopeless in following a series, as you may know) and deals with many themes of the period: the budding psychoanalysis (Freud plays a minor role, and it’s no wonder given that Tallis himself is a psychiatrist), nationalism and anti-Semitism, conservatism and the fear of decadence, Eastern minorities in the Austrian empire, women emancipation etc. All these pieces of information are deftly woven into the plot and never seem artificial. Throw into the mix the normal evolution of the 2 heroes from one book to the next and a side plot around one of the 2 main characters’ love interest and you have a pretty lush picture to look at.

The odd thing about this book (which can be a plus or a drawback, depending on your own personality) is… omg, the desserts! I swear, don’t take this book if you’re on diet, it would be torture! As I read it during my commute in the morning and evening, I heard my stomach grumble at the detailed description of Austrian cakes. Do you think you can actually gain weight by reading about carbohydrates and sugar?? Whenever the main characters meet to discuss the development of the investigation, they need to eat a cake or two. And they are different every single time! Evidently there has been some research done on the subject. In some mysteries, the heroes never seem to sleep, eat or drink, but here I nearly thought it was too much. “Stop eating, guys, go back to work and find this murderer!”, I wanted to tell them. After I noticed this, all this food couldn’t leave my mind. It’s quite odd for a historical mystery, don’t you think? Is it because Tallis loves desserts or by way of compensation because he can’t eat them? For a psychiatrist, that would be a funny thing to analyze!

(And because I don’t want to be the only one obsessing about Viennese desserts in 1902, I’ll happily share with you a few excerpts as soon as I’ll have time to copy them)

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