The Melancholy Countess (Short Story)
Read The Melancholy Countess (Short Story) Online
Authors: Frank Tallis
Tags: #Fiction, #Suspense, #Historical, #General, #Mystery & Detective
Praise for
Vienna Twilight
“Perhaps one of the best, if not the best, of Tallis’s Max Liebermann books, the latest in the series featuring the Viennese psychoanalyst and his friend, detective Oskar Rheinhardt, is a gripping read.… With numerous unexpected plot twists, captivating characters, intriguing intellectual interplay between Rheinhardt and Liebermann, and masterful writing, this is a must-read for all mystery buffs.”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“Liebermann’s fifth (
Vienna Secrets
, 2010, etc.) once more folds a nifty mystery into a fascinating portrait of a unique time. And there’s a nice surprise twist.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
“Cleverly done and never dull … with well researched and wonderfully imagined period detail … a rich and riveting read.”
—
The Guardian
(UK)
“With this novel Tallis, a Harley Street clinical psychologist, confirms his place in the front rank of British thriller writers.”
—
Daily Mail
(UK)
Praise for
Vienna Secrets
“Captivating … [an] elegantly designed and executed period mystery.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“Tallis’s excellent fourth puzzler set in early twentieth-century Vienna (after 2008’s
Fatal Lies
) neatly blends mystery and history.… Fans of Caleb Carr will feel right at home.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“The historical details of police work and forensic investigation again are a strong point, and with this book’s inclusion of a trip to Prague, readers are introduced to another fascinating city.… A solid entry in an excellent historical mystery series.”
—
Booklist
“Outstanding … Tallis’s darkest and most compelling novel to date.”
—
The Sunday Times
(London)
“Tallis is exploring serious themes here—among them, the political and religious climate that made the rise of fascism possible, and the conflict between secular and religious ethical systems.”
—
The Spectator
(London)
Praise for
Fatal Lies
“Tallis’s singular achievement is to bring vividly to life many of the glories and dangers of a great city at a crucial moment in its history … immensely satisfying.… The author delights us with rich, often gorgeous prose.… [He] has an exceptional ability to move seamlessly among varied plot elements, characters and emotions.… If you’re looking for the best in popular fiction, it’s well worth seeking out.”
—
The Washington Post
“Frank Tallis has surged to the front of the field riding his dark horse, Vienna in the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.… While it’s always a delight to visit the ballrooms where Strauss is played and the opera house where Mahler is rehearsing and the coffeehouses where ideas are devoured mit Schlag, this smart series has far more to offer than decorative charm.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“Another immensely satisfying novel in Frank Tallis’s intelligent and subtle Dr. Liebermann/Inspector Rheinhardt series … dense, engrossing … a fine adventure.”
—
The Boston Globe
“St. Florian’s Military Academy outside Vienna serves as the forbidding backdrop for Tallis’s stellar third historical to feature Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt and Dr. Max Liebermann.… Several late twists lead to a startling resolution of this compelling tale.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“What is basically a murder mystery becomes something quite extraordinary as Tallis skillfully weaves in the politics, history, music, and social customs of turn-of-the-century Vienna. Another outstanding entry in an erudite and mesmerizing series; a must for historical-mystery devotees.”
—
Booklist
(starred review)
“Elegant.… Tallis has come up with a particularly ingenious method of murder.… His novels show the modern world coming into existence in one of Europe’s great cities, and are all the more poignant for the knowledge that the first world war will soon cast its shadow over his deeply human characters.”
—
The Sunday Times
(London)
“[Tallis’s] handling of the psychoanalysis and criminal pathology are fantastic … a romping tale.”
—
Scotland on Sunday
Praise for
Vienna Blood
“A dazzling tour de force.”
—
The Washington Post
“[Tallis] cunningly folds psychoanalysis, early forensics, eugenics, music, and literature into a captivating suspense novel.”
—
The Boston Globe
“A murder mystery of great intelligence … a fascinating portrait of one of the most vibrant yet sinister cities of fin-de-siècle Europe.”
—
The Times
(London)
“Tallis uses his knowledge of medicine, music, psychology and history to create an endlessly fascinating portrait of 1902 Vienna.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)
“Brilliant … Tallis can ratchet up the suspense.”
—
The Globe and Mail
“Gripping … The clever plotting and quality writing elevate this above most other historicals.”
—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
“Excellent … Tallis handles his themes adroitly.”
—
The Sunday Times
(London)
“Exhilarating … expertly crafted … The layers of Viennese society are peeled away as delicately as the layers of each mouth-watering Viennese pastry that the portly Rheinhardt makes it his business to devour.”
—
The Daily Telegraph
(London)
Praise for
A Death in Vienna
“[An] elegant historical mystery … stylishly presented and intelligently resolved.”
—
The New York Times Book Review
“[
A Death in Vienna
is] a winner for its smart and fin-de-siècle portrait of the seat of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and for introducing Max Liebermann, a young physician who is feverish with the possibilities of the new science of psychoanalysis.”
—
The Washington Post
“Frank Tallis knows what he’s writing about in this excellent mystery.… His writing and feel for the period are top class.”
—
The Times
(London)
“An engrossing portrait of a legendary period as well as a brain teaser of startling perplexity … In Tallis’s sure hands, the story evolves with grace and excitement … a perfect combination of the hysterical past and the cooler—but probably more dangerous—present.”
—
Chicago Tribune
“Holmes meets Freud in this enjoyable … whodunit.”
—
The Guardian
(London)
Also by Frank Tallis
A Death in Vienna
Vienna Blood
Fatal Lies
Vienna Secrets
Vienna Twilight
Death and the Maiden
The Melancholy Countess
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Random House eBook Original
Copyright © 2012 by Frank Tallis
Excerpt from
Death and the Maiden
© 2012 by Frank Tallis
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
This contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book
Death and the Maiden
by Frank Tallis. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.
R
ANDOM HOUSE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
eISBN: 978-0-679-64487-3
Cover design: Flamur Tonuzi
Cover photograph: Adam Burn/Getty Images
v3.1
1
Oktav Hauke looked across the table at his wife. She had hardly touched her starter course. Indeed, she seemed to be more interested in rearranging the contents of her soup bowl than eating. Occasionally, however, she would raise a small dumpling or a morsel of sausage to her mouth. Then she would chew slowly, her jaw moving from side to side like a cow. The light from the gas lamp gave her complexion a sickly, yellowish pallor, and the unfortunate proximity of such a strong source of illumination exposed every flaw, crack, and crevice—particularly the row of vertical creases that occupied the space between her thin upper lip and nose. Her back was slightly hunched, and her head bowed forward, as though the weight of her ornate ruby necklace and matching pendant earrings were proving too burdensome for her withered neck to support.
Although still plush with the trappings of grandeur—Venetian mirrors, gilt flourishes, and marble statues on Doric plinths—the dining room of the Corvinus Hotel was well past its prime. These pompous effects and gestures did not mitigate a pervasive atmosphere of irreversible decline. Within a domed alcove, half concealed by an ostentatious arrangement of potted palm trees, was a pianist, playing Hungarian dances without the necessary zest. It was the same every night.
The waiter (for there was only one) interrupted his oscillations between kitchen and tables to stop, somewhat abruptly, next to Hauke’s wife. In heavily accented German he asked, “Is everything to your satisfaction, Countess?” It was a constant source of irritation to Hauke that his wife was routinely addressed before he was.
“Yes, thank you, Oguz,” the Countess Zigana replied, making a languid gesture that made the diamonds on her fingers flash with conspicuous brilliance.
The waiter bowed and turned to face Hauke.
“Herr Rác,” Hauke declared in his habitual inebriate drawl. “The best
libamáj zsírjában
in Vienna, without doubt.” He speared the last of his slippery goose liver.
The waiter smiled ambiguously and retreated.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Hauke asked his wife.
“Not very.”
Hauke observed his own reflection in a nearby wall mirror and couldn’t stop himself from admiring what he saw—the square jaw, the clear blue eyes, and the burnished mop of gold hair that three decades had failed to thin or tarnish. He was reminded of his old regimental nickname, Apollo. A faint self-satisfied smile played around Hauke’s lips. This smile, however, quickly vanished when he noticed—advancing behind his handsome image—someone he recognized.
A harried-looking man in a long gray overcoat stepped through the open double doors. He brushed some raindrops from his shoulders and scanned the lavish interior.
“Damn!” Hauke growled.
“What is it?” his wife asked.
The man spotted Hauke and approached with a purposeful stride. Like everyone else, he addressed the countess first. “Forgive me for intruding, but I have an urgent matter to discuss with your husband.”