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Fatal Lies (Liebermann Papers #3)
by
Frank Tallis
The eagerly awaited third novel in the Max Liebermann series — literature’s first psychoanalytic detective — is about sex, the will to power and deception.
Vienna, 1903. In the rambling hillside edifice that is St. Florian’s military school, a young cadet is found dead, his body lacerated with razor wounds. Once again, Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on his friend — and di...more
Vienna, 1903. In the rambling hillside edifice that is St. Florian’s military school, a young cadet is found dead, his body lacerated with razor wounds. Once again, Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on his friend — and di...more
Paperback, 424 pages
Published
July 3rd 2008
by Arrow
(first published January 1st 2008)
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Much more concise and taut than the previous two books in this series, Fatal Lies begins with the death of a student at a Viennese military academy. Police inspector Oskar Rheinhardt is called away from a ball to go to the scene; he enlists his friend Max Liebermann, a psychiatrist to go with him. Max has been helpful in the past with his experience in Freudian psychology, and Rheinhardt is all for employing new methods in police procedure to better root out crime. The two don't realize it yet,...more
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I liked this book, the third in Tallis’s Vienna series, better than the first one, A Death In Vienna. Perhaps this is because I am more familiar with the characters now. But also because this novel seemed more closely focused than the first one. There are, as in that one, chapters written from other than the main characters’ point of view, but this time they don’t seem to jump all over the place as they did in that one.
In my review of A Death In Vienna, I remarked that more than a few of Tallis’...more
In my review of A Death In Vienna, I remarked that more than a few of Tallis’...more
By the time I got through this, the third Max Liebermann mystery, the shtick was wearing pretty thin for me. The writing is often mannered and pretentious, though the characters are pretty one-dimensional. Though Tallis tries to indicate some of Liebermann's limitations or failings, Liebermann is basically an infallible psychoanalyst-detective, who does everything from face down mortal danger (twice in this book) to enlighten Sigmund Freud on the probable connection between his youthful cocaine...more
It was, in part, the inspiration of Robert Musil's novella, The Confusions of Young Torless, about a young cadet struggling toward self-definition while experiencing the erotic tensions of puberty, that led Frank Tallis to write the mystery novel Fatal Lies.
The heart of the mystery is the machinations a small group of cadets led by Kiefer Wolf, a precocious underclassman. They are attending a private boys' school, Saint Florian, that is replete with ancient traditions and eccentric teachers. It...more
The heart of the mystery is the machinations a small group of cadets led by Kiefer Wolf, a precocious underclassman. They are attending a private boys' school, Saint Florian, that is replete with ancient traditions and eccentric teachers. It...more
This is the second mystery in this series that I've read, and for some reason this one wasn't quite as interesting as the first one. Takes place a military school for boys in Germany in the early 1900s, where strange things are happening. Boys are dying, and no one can figure out why the boy whose death started the investigation has died. There is a lot of bullying taking place in this school, and the headmaster appears to be in on it. He's named Eichmann, and in the postscript Tallis tells us t...more
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Jun 04, 2010
Janet
added it
Oh no, not another series! I picked this up and started reading it without realizing it is part of a series and this is number 3. Unfortunately, I liked it enough that I will have to go back and read 1 and 2, this on top of the series by P.D. James that contains 14 in all. Oh yeah, and Storm picked up book #13 in the Janet Evanovich Plum series, not to mention the Maeve Binchy books I got during one of our book exchanges and Nicole has got me thinking I might enjoy some Stephen King again. Looks...more
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Zelenka, a Czech scholarship boy, dies at St. Florian's military academy near Aufkirchen, seemingly of natural causes, but Rheinhardt suspects foul play even before the history of bullying at the school comes to light. This is Rheinhardt's book - the parallel between his struggle for parity with Von Bulow, his well-born "superior," and the conflict between the well-born boys of St. Florian's and the poor scholarship boys, ties the book together.
Liebermann has an important role in interviewing w...more
Liebermann has an important role in interviewing w...more
The saddest and most disturbing of Frank Tallis' series, The Lieberman Papers that chronicle the crime-solving adventures of Max Lieberman, the psychologist who serves as a police consultant for his friend Oskar Rheinhardt.
This story takes place in a boys school where students are programmed with the "wisdom" of Nietzsche just a bit too enthusiastically. Taking his work as not just justification, but almost a demand for bullying, some students are inflicting a reign of terror on the outcasts, t...more
This story takes place in a boys school where students are programmed with the "wisdom" of Nietzsche just a bit too enthusiastically. Taking his work as not just justification, but almost a demand for bullying, some students are inflicting a reign of terror on the outcasts, t...more
Apr 15, 2009
Bookmarks Magazine
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
may-june-2009
Reviewers found Fatal Lies to be a thoroughly satisfying follow-up to the previous books in Tallis's series. As usual, they enjoyed Tallis's work not only for his still-rewarding device of a psychoanalytic amateur detective but also for his meticulously detailed depiction of fin-de-si_
Another (#3 ) in the Liberman Papers series, of which I have learned that there are 6. This all are set in the last days of Imperial Vienna which is coming to a close. the arts, the military ideals, the sciences, and very set patterns of life are very strongly a part of the fabric. This one concentrates on the military academies, considered ideal schooling for young man who are set to go places by many people of the time. But brutality also exists, and the detective is sent to investigate what b...more
There was a kernal of a good story in there somewhere, a kind of harder-edged Tom Brown's Schooldays with bullying and brutality towards the younger and outcast pupils. Whether it was the author's idea inject authenticity by adding regular refrences to viennese confectionary, the popular classical of the time or psychotherapy theories of that period or whether it was a conceit to display his depth of knowledge on those those subjects, I don't know. But the frequent references to them killed off...more
This mystery is the third in an excellent series set in early 20th century Vienna. Young psychoanalyst Max Liebermann is Freud's student, a talented musician, a middling fencer, a coffeehouse regular, and best friend of a police detective, Oskar Rheinhardt. The hub of culture, science, political ferment, 1903 Vienna is itself a character in these books. It is the stage on which the personal, intellectual, and historical intersect with well-plotted solutions to puzzling crimes. Each volume illumi...more
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The third installment of Tallis's turn of the 20th century Vienna-based thriller series is the best of the bunch thus far. When an unexplained death takes place at an exclusive private boy school, Inspektor Rheinhardt senses that something isn't quite right. The boy, a scholarship student, has odd scars on his body and has developed a seemingly inappropriate relationship with one of his teachers. As usual, Rheinhardt brings in Freudian psychoanalyst, Liebermann, to ferret out the truth behind th...more
Fatal Lies is the third of the Liebermann series about a Vienna psychoanalyst and his sidekick, a police inspector Oskar Rheinhardt. Rheinhardt and Liebermann sing Lieder and solve crimes together in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna and encounter all manner of famous folk of the time, including Vienna's notorious anti-Semitic mayor Karl Lueger, Liebermann's mentor Siegmund Freud, and his musical idol, Gustav Mahler.
In this installment, Rheinhardt is called upon to solve the suspicious death of a...more
In this installment, Rheinhardt is called upon to solve the suspicious death of a...more
The third in Tallis' Vienna detective series, this mystery centers on the goings-on at an Austrian military school in the wake of the death of a student. Contains the rich atmosphere of Tallis' other works, as well as the use of psychoanalysis to solve the mystery. This book delves more in to the political and philosophical stirrings in the late Habsburg Empire.
Once again, Frank Tallis brings to life Belle Époque Vienna (most of all its scrumptious pastries), but the solutions to the intertwined mysteries in Fatal Lies were unsatisfactory simply because each was so painfully obvious from the beginning. It isn't enough to have lavish attention to detail and atmosphere in this genre; you also need a clever and challenging plot.
The author does a good job of painting a picture of life in Vienna, Austria in 1908. He also keeps you guessing. He gives delicious descriptions of pastries that made Vienna famous. Behind the solving of the mystery lies the question he asks, "What are the factors that cause ordinary people to identify with brutal belief systems?" A good read.
I finished this book. Once again there was a big twist in the plot. Trezka, a Hungarian violinist was a (view spoiler)
I was really shocked. The way Liebermann discovers this fact is amazing. I love Liebermann and his conjectures.
Liebermann continues to fight his feelings for Amelia. The man who is seen with Amelia by Max is not her lover, as Max thought but he is in fact her half brother. (another shocking twist)
I would like to have seen the author explore...more
I was really shocked. The way Liebermann discovers this fact is amazing. I love Liebermann and his conjectures.
Liebermann continues to fight his feelings for Amelia. The man who is seen with Amelia by Max is not her lover, as Max thought but he is in fact her half brother. (another shocking twist)
I would like to have seen the author explore...more
These historical mysteries take place in Vienna at the turn of the century. Psychoanalysis is just beginning. Herr Doktor Freud is a minor character in the novel. Detective Reinhardt and Dr. Max Liebermann, a proponent of Freud's theories, band together to solve murder and mystery. Captivating writing, great suspense!
Not a bad follow-up to the earlier books--I still like the protagonists and the turn-of-the-century Vienna setting. But this one tries to cram too much in--Rorschach blots, "Young Torless," absinthe, Hungarian spies, Mahler, Freud, and the supposed banality of evil. Too much research, and he doesn't write well enough to fully digest it. But still looking forward to more in the series.
I just love these books. This is the 3rd book in Tallis’ Liebermann Papers series. They are wonderfully full of descriptions of early 20th century Vienna – music, architecture, philosophy and food, especially the Viennese pastries.
This is such a good series combining strong plot, effective characterisations and such a well-realised period setting. Tallis' writes well and carries the story along at a good pace. He always takes time to explain the psychoanalytic theory and practices in clear language.
This was slightly different to the previous two in not having such an esoteric plot (spiritualism and secret societies) though did involve international espionage and the closed world of a military academy.
This may have the blandest title of the Liebermann Papers books so far, but it represents a leap forward in the author's plotting. The elegant styling and relevant themes of the previous books are here combined with a more ambitious, less outlandish, multi-stranded story. The themes involve jealousy and suspicion, and part of the story takes place at a creepy military school. There's also some further development of Rheinhardt's department, with his disagreeable colleagues, and a mysterious love...more
Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna. The author tries to cram in too much. Still I liked it well enough to want to read the two other books in the series.
My favorite so far of this series set in Freud's Vienna. Lots of good mystery, classical music, Viennese pastry, psychology and mayhem.
this is another great book in this series that takes place in the early 1900s in Vienna. Freud once again makes an appearance so so do Ink Blot tests. there are two story lines going that are both interesting and suspenseful.
Detective Oskar Reinhardt and his young friend, Dr. Max Lieberman, solve some crimes in a military school in turn of the century Vienna.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The wordplay, the location, the psychoanalysis, the literary references...all delightful.
Not my favorite in the series (this is the 3rd). The detail of the locale and era is amazing (as in the previous books). However - there were parts that were so pretentious I found myself rolling my eyes at what I was reading...it did take away some of the enjoyment.
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Aka F.R. Tallis.
Dr. Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. He has held lecturing posts in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry and King's College, London. He has written self help manuals (How to Stop Worrying, Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions) non-fiction for the general reader (Changing Minds, Hidden Minds, Love Sick), academic text books and o...more
More about Frank Tallis...
Dr. Frank Tallis is a writer and clinical psychologist. He has held lecturing posts in clinical psychology and neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry and King's College, London. He has written self help manuals (How to Stop Worrying, Understanding Obsessions and Compulsions) non-fiction for the general reader (Changing Minds, Hidden Minds, Love Sick), academic text books and o...more
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