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Mortal Mischief

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Mortal Mischief

By: Frank Tallis
Narrated by: Richard Burnip
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About this listen

 Vienna, 1902: a beautiful medium has been found shot dead, and Dr Max Liebermann, a young disciple of Sigmund Freud, is called upon to help his friend Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt investigate her death. The room containing the body has been locked from the inside, and a cryptic note suggests a malevolent supernatural power is at work. Using the new science of psychoanalysis, Liebermann probes the minds of the suspects in an attempt to unravel this bewildering crime.© Frank Tallis; (P)Oakhill Publishing Ltd Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Tallis' writing and feel for the period are top class." ( The Times)
"A mouth-watering view of Viennese café society....well and forcefully written." ( Literary Review)
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I highly enjoyed Mortal Mischief. The plot is ingenious. The main characters are extremely well drawn. The multiple levels of historical detail of Vienna at the turn of the century is fascinating and very educational - covering politics, culture and the history of scientific ideas.
There were only a couple of aspects I found irksome - some of the architectural descriptions seemed cumbersome, but that is a rather petty criticism. Slightly more irritating was the political correctness of the main character. The other characters were clearly portrayed as creatures of their time but the main character is so 21st century in his outlook he could be a on a modern day student unions speakers list- oh and he happens to be a practising psycho-analyst ...just like the author. His critique of Freud seems very modern, and not what one might have expected of a young doctor of that era. This leads me to think that the book is rather a vehicle for the author's views on Freud, and so written as both thriller and text book. I am the wiser for that, but it felt slightly incongruous in that genre.

Well researched thriller - very clever

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Love Vienna Blood on TV based on these books, which are, as always, better

Great story and well read

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Well developed plot and characters which all fit together well. Intriguing murder investigation which all hinges on psychology. My only criticism is that there were a few too many members of the circle and possible suspects and they were not immediately memorable.

Intriguing murder investigation

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Mortal mischief was the first of three Frank Tallis books I listened to on Max Lieberman, psychiatrist who, solves mysteries in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. The criminal mystery is not the main theme in the novel. The atmosphere of this interesting city at that particular time with it's bureaucracy and anti Semitism are much more important, and definitely not least the jewish doctor's engagement to a nice but quite shallow jewish girl and his beginning fascinatination — even infatuation — of a young gentile Engiish student of medicin.
For anybody with some knowledge of Vienna and interest in classical music (which the protagonist executes together with the real detective) will experience a great delight in this and the two following novels. The reading by Richard Burnip is congenial with the text: magnificent!

Peter Cassirer, Sweden

Great listening!

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A much richer narrative than the TV series, providing insights into nascent psychoanalysis and forensic science alike, with vivid descriptions of pre WWI Vienna. And the narrator sings Schubert very well!

superbly written and narrated

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Having been intrigued by the TV series of Vienna Blood I thought I'd try the books. I wasn't disappointed, the storyline is excellent and the books allow for more character definition and depth. I like that Rhienhardt is happily married in the books, and that he and Liebermann enjoy musical evenings together. This is evidenced in the narration by Richard Burnips very pleasant vocal interludes which add colour and texture to the discussions of the music. The atmosphere of pre WW1 Secession Vienna is captured beautifully and the descriptions transport you back in time to the age of elegance and the Belle Epoque while at the same time unravelling crimes that would have been profoundly shocking in that environment.

Holmes and Watson go to Vienna

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Kept losing my place as it was so dull - don’t know why it got such good reviews?

Really boring

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I really felt like I had travelled back in time to 19 th century Vienna. A spooky seance , a woman’s tragedy . A time of seditious thoughts and racially biased and anti- feminist mindsets .
Frank Tallis takes our hero Dr Max Lieberman through the ranks of Viennese society with a clever and convoluted plot . I was entrapped and scared and what’s more I couldn’t guess who did the deed . A real recommendation for you all

Mortal Mischief

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Dull, predictable, written to formula. Couldn't finish it. A written version of paint-by-number: recognizable in the end as a painting, but who wants it on their wall? Ditto for this novel. Life is too short for bad wine or plodding books.

Bored to tears

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