From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Murder in Vienna

E.C.R. Lorac

Start date: April 1, 2022

Finish date: April 30, 2022

Discussion: Group reads

Why we're reading this: Winner of the poll for our April group read.
[close] Winner of the poll for our April group read.

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 333 topics — 11,941 comments total

Group reads

* December 2025 group read - Winner!
By Judy · 28 posts · 34 views

last updated Oct 15, 2025 10:39AM

* Oct 25: Murder Included (#1 D.I. Price) by Joanna Cannan
By Susan · 12 posts · 18 views

last updated Oct 25, 2025 03:50AM

showing 7 of 7 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Apr 04, 2022 Anissa rated it liked it

Shelves: british-fiction-uk-ireland, mystery-suspense-crime, 2022

I haven't read tons of Lorac but of those I've read, this one comes in last place.

It has a great setting in Vienna (described beautifully) with MacDonald on vacay. There's a somewhat interesting group of travellers on his plane who figure into the larger story. But in the end, the actual murder mystery plot was very slow and I'm sorry to say, not up to MacDonald's abilities as shown in other books in the series. It took far too long for him to get there and if I'm not counting it as a lack in t ...more

31 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2022 Susan rated it really liked it

I have read a few titles by E.C.R. Lorac now (Edith Caroline Rivett, 1884 - 1959) and have enjoyed them. This is the - staggeringly - 42nd book in her long-running Robert Macdonald series, first published in 1956 and was written in the later years of her career, which ran from the beginning of the 1930's all the way up to the year of her death.

This mystery sees Superintendent Macdonald flying to Austria, to stay with a friend of his, Franz Natzler, a Jewish refugee who had come to London during ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Mar 18, 2022 Susan in NC rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tbr-with-gr-groups, kindle

3.5 stars - I didn’t enjoy this as much as previous Lorac mysteries I’ve read, I think because it took quite a while to get going.

Robert Macdonald of Scotland Yard, one of the author’s most used series detectives, is supposed to be on vacation in Vienna, visiting old friends. The book opens with his flight over, and he casually casts his eye over fellow passengers; during a stopover in Zurich he chats with a few of them, one a previous acquaintance, the other a young woman heading to a job.

At f 3.5 stars - I didn’t enjoy this as much as previous Lorac mysteries I’ve read, I think because it took quite a while to get going.

Robert Macdonald of Scotland Yard, one of the author’s most used series detectives, is supposed to be on vacation in Vienna, visiting old friends. The book opens with his flight over, and he casually casts his eye over fellow passengers; during a stopover in Zurich he chats with a few of them, one a previous acquaintance, the other a young woman heading to a job.

At first, our hero is enjoying peace and sightseeing (indeed, this part is quite a travelogue) and the hospitality of his hosts, an elderly couple who live in a quiet, prosperous part of Vienna. His peace is shattered, however, when the young woman from his flight is found injured and unconscious (by Macdonald and his host’s son) in the woods nearby. She is employed by a retired British diplomat who is further rattled by the death of a houseguest, a famous writer. The old gentleman pulls strings back in London to get Macdonald on the case alongside the Vienna police.

Once Macdonald is involved the pacing picks up, but as he can only provide ideas for investigation - lack of German fluency and jurisdiction - we are left in the dark as he suggests to the Viennese officer assigned to him, and the officer and machinery of the Viennese police carry out the legwork. We do get a glimpse of Reeves, MacDonald’s subordinate in London, who carries on the investigation in London. He also flies over to Vienna in the final chapter for the “big reveal”, or summing up of the rather confusing and elaborate case.

As usual, Macdonald is a treat to tag along with, I always find his interviews with witnesses and suspects interesting. This case is set in the 1950s, well after the War, and I think it’s Lorac’s 42nd Macdonald mystery. I’ve read several, and I don’t feel the books need to be read in order, which is just as well, as they are being reprinted and rereleased out of order. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2022 Carolien rated it liked it

Shelves: 2022, english-mystery

Robert MacDonald is visiting friends in Vienna on holiday. Then a young girl who was on the flight with him from London is found unconscious at the bottom of a set of stairs and another fellow passenger killed in what was made to look like a car accident. And so he his holiday comes to an end and he has to cooperate with local authorities to solve the mystery. Not the best by ECR Lorac, but very evocative in time and place.

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 16, 2022 Jill rated it liked it

Shelves: e-c-r-lorac

MacDonald is on holiday in this book. He books a flight to Vienna (apparently on a Viscount and although this is mentioned a lot, is irrelevant). During the flight he notices a young woman who would like to look out of the window, but is obstructed by a man reading a book who has the window seat. At Zurich the plane lands and the passengers are divided by those who wish to carry with the flight and those heading for Vienna. This young woman attaches herself to MacDonald, as she thinks he looks t ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 06, 2025 Laura Anne rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: travel-planes-trains-autos-boats, mystery, europe

4-star first half, 3-star second half. I very much enjoyed the scene setting: post-war Vienna, plane travel, scenery, architecture. A series of seemingly unrelated mysterious incidents feels perfect for "0ff-duty" Inspector Macdonald to investigate. But in the second half, it loses its jaunty thriller pace and starts to drag as the convoluted story is untangled over several chapters. ...more

Like · see review