If you have a passion for the city of Vienna and Austrian culture, then there will be much for you to like in J. Sydney Jones’ REQUIEM IN VIENNA, the second of his Viennese mystery series, with the first being THE EMPTY MIRROR. Maybe too much, for it does seem to jam a lot of Viennese life down the reader’s throat. If you can forgive the constant intrusion of Austrian dessert names and reminders of place, the mystery that engrosses Karl Werthen and his capable wife, Berthe, is thrilling enough.
A young woman comes to the lawyer Werthen, who is known for his discreet inquiries, and claims that the famous composer Gustav Mahler is in grave danger of assassination. Strange accidents have been occurring at the Hofoper, the city’s legendary opera house, resulting in the death of a singer. But the woman believes the real target to have been Mahler. Werthen and criminologist colleague Hanns Gross are on the case.
The investigative work is thorough almost to the point of plodding, and it’s true that Werthen and Gross occasionally bungle the process. One of the characters is entirely too coincidental in his appearance on scene, and seasoned mystery readers will have their senses sharpened. Werthen and Gross ignore the development. But they eventually achieve the correct answer, without killing off the curmudgeonly composer. The presence of Mahler in the book is the most rewarding.
It’s very difficult to write fiction and include historical personages without making them mere window dressing (see Katharine Neville’s THE EIGHT). But Jones uses Mahler and the world of Viennese music at the turn of the century as an integral keystone of his novel, exploring the remarkable political machinations of the musical world, and allowing us more jaded denizens of the 21st century to imagine the excitement, controversy and furor that would greet any new development in music.
Like many Austrian pastries, this book can be a bit too much at times, but in the same vein, it’s solidly made, flavorful and a delightful change of pace from your normal mystery routine. —Mark Rose
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My novel “Vienna Dolorosa” looks at Vienna when the Nazis invaded March 12, 1938. Not for the faint of heart, the book includes rape, incest, intergenerational sex, transvestism, teen sex, prostitution, brutality, castration/mutilation, and murder as well as thought-provoking discussions on topics as diverse as Nazism, homosexuality, the history of Vienna/Austria, transgender issues, Viennese sights, masculinity/femininity, and a really unusual take on why we don’t need women (or perhaps it is why God gave us women). Hitler’s excesses are treated with insight and realism, including castration of homosexuals, imprisonment of young prostitutes, and deportation of transvestites and other “degenerates.” Layers of judgment are stripped away, leaving you with images that may be difficult to accept.
Vienna Dolorosa is perfect bound (paperback), 256 pages, and available through Synergy Press and bookstores or Amazon.com
http://www.MykolaDementiuk.com
Lambda Awards Winner 2010/Bisexual Fiction for Holy Communion