Fatal Lies is the third novel in Frank Tallis’ Liebermann Papers series, set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th Century. In this outing, Detective Inspector Rheinhardt is asked to look into the unexpected death of a young student at a nearby military academy, a place where prejudice and sadism are, if not explicitly encouraged, at least not seriously frowned upon by the school authorities. It seems that one such bully has relatives in high places, which creates difficulty for Rheinhardt, and he must turn to his friend, the Jewish psychiatrist Max Liebermann, for help. When a second boy disappears days after the two friends questioned him, our heroes realize that time is quickly running out if they wish to catch a killer…. As with the two previous books in this series, what interests me most about Fatal Lies is the way the author depicts Viennese society in 1903, showing both a rising nationalism amongst some high-powered individuals and an accompanying rise in anti-Semitism in what had been a relatively well assimilated city. As history, it seems pretty accurate, and as a mystery, the book captures the reader’s attention very well. Recommended - but it’s probably best to read the first two novels in the series before this one! ( )

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, the scholarship students and the Jews. Funny how Nietzsche continues to be an excuse for bullies to this day. Again, the roots of fascism are explored.

The solution, however, is more of a surprise than you might think. Just when you think you know the answer, well, you don't. As much as I love figuring out "whodunnit", I like it even more when I am outwitted.

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Enjoyed this a good deal more than the first two and especially the second in the series. Still some far-fetched plotting and jamming-in-the-researched-facts, but in this one I found it to be fun and not annoying. It also definitely helped that I read this while on vacation in Vienna! ( )

C'est avec plaisir que l'on retrouve, dans ce troisième volume, l'inspecteur viennois et son ami psychiatre, aux prises cette fois, au meurtre d'un adolescent dans une école militaire. Machiavélisme, perversité et violence côtoient ici amitié, suspens et "air du temps". ( )

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, but they are stepping into a very troubled atmosphere in the academy, where odd things are occurring and everyone is doing their best to cover things up.

Tallis plies his readers once again with the culinary, musical and literary delights of early 20th-century Vienna, yet manages to interweave all of these with the darkness of international intrigue and the deep and brooding atmosphere of a group of troubled boys. It is a good read, and one that's hard to put down once you get started.

I'd definitely recommend this one to readers of historical mysteries, as well as to those who have started this series and are considering moving through it. ( )