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When a cadet dies in mysterious circumstances at a prestigious military academy near Vienna in 1903, Inspector Rheinhardt is called to the scene. Although the death is diagnosed as being from natural causes, there are peculiar lacerations on the boy's body and Rheinhardt suspects foul play. He enlists the help of his psychiatrist friend and ally Dr Max Liebermann, who has problems of his own with his love life. Rheinhardt's superior, Commissioner Brugel, wants the investigation wrapped up as quickly as possible. It is one of the misfortunes of this book that it invites comparisons with others in a couple of areas. One is Freud who is something of the flavour of the day in mysteries given his appearance here and in Jed Rubenfield's THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER. Unfortunately this comparison does not work in Tallis's favour. But first some positives. Any historical depends to some degree on its frills and there are certainly plenty of these in fin de siècle Vienna. Avoid this book if you are hungry; cakes, and food in general, are described in mouth-watering detail. Great attention is paid to architecture and atmosphere, both of which are attractive. It is easy to see why a television adaptation of the series is planned. Classical music fans will delight in the detailed description and discussion of various pieces. But it is the intellectual atmosphere which is most distinctive. Nietzsche and more obviously Freud, who makes two personal appearances (there is another cameo from Mahler), are to the fore here, but there are a host of more obscure references, some cited, others hidden (one such is Thomas Mann who is certainly an influence – and Tallis makes a knowing nod in his direction when he refers to Faustus during a discussion of a violin piece). The danger of this kind of writing in mysteries is that it can appear forced and even pedantic. Rubenfield attacked this head-on by almost bludgeoning the reader with the depth and weight of his knowledge. Tallis is more circumspect but this in turn runs the risk of appearing shallow. Certainly there is little new here about Nietzsche and the possible evils of his influence. FATAL LIES is at its best at its lightest – not just the light patisserie but the jokes. Some of the best of these are of the post-modern sort which play with the difference between then and now. A character remarks: "'You'll be saying that smoking is bad for you next.' Liebermann drew on his cigar. 'Well I must admit, it has been suggested . . . but that can't be true.'" Liebermann is the vehicle for Tallis to integrate psychoanalytic insights into the plot. He is a personable enough protagonist and series readers will no doubt be interested in the developments in his love life which occur in this book. Rheinhardt is, when the period accessories are stripped away, a fairly usual type of 'honest cop' battling with a dim superior who is also his social superior and favours the rival Inspector Von Bulow, of aristocratic stock. However stimulating the intellectual discussion – and some of the discussion of Freud is fascinating and compelling as befits a practising clinical psychologist (Tallis's day job), including the fact that Freud took cocaine in an attempt to cure his own depression – however fancy the frills, unless the writer is among the greats, a mystery will still stand or fall on the basis of its plot. Rubenfield gets away with vast chunks of sometimes ponderous, sometimes tendentious, speculation because THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER has a spell-bindingly brilliant and exceedingly convoluted plot in which the reader is double, triple and probably quadruple-crossed. Unfortunately the plot of FATAL LIES is not of this calibre. It would be more accurate to say plots, since there is a second plot involving spies which comes alive at the very end of the book. But this sub-plot is wholly unintegrated on either a thematic or narrative basis with the main story, and is something of a lacklustre affair. In respect of the main plot the subject of shenanigans at a boarding-school (which is what the main plot amounts to) is one with a long and distinguished history in British mystery fiction, and therefore the book draws the unfortunate comparisons previously referred to. In particular, as the student found dead is from a lower social class than the majority of his fellow pupils, comparison is instantly drawn to Elizabeth George's brilliant treatment of exactly this subject in WELL-SCHOOLED IN MURDER. Tallis's plotting is adequate but never mesmerising and so the book suffers from these very natural comparisons. FATAL LIES is an agreeable, at times informative, read, but the lack of a compelling plot means that it is mainly an affair of cakes, music and intellectual musing; all pleasant in themselves but not the stuff of a great mystery.
Reviewed by Nick Hay, November 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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