46. – 606.) The Time of Murder at Mayerling by Ann Dukthas - This week the Crime Fiction on a Euro Pass meme hosted by Kerrie at her blog, Mysteries in Paradise, cross the border from Germany to Austria. During our spring trip to Europe Sharon, Michael and I stayed on the Bavarian side of the border at Kirchdorf across the river from Braunau, Austria. On a day trip we visited the remarkable collection of planes, vehicles and motorcycles assembled by the founder of Red Bull at Salzburg at Hangar 7 (a link to the site is http://www.hangar-7.com/). The book I have chosen goes back to the 19th Century when Austria was at the heart of the Austro-German Empire. ****
Nicholas Segalla is a mysterious figure. He is a man who never dies wandering the earth because of some ancient curse. Segalla gives the author Ann Dukthas, which is a pseudonym, manuscripts providing the “truth” concerning history’s mysteries. (It seems I am encountering more pseudonyms than usual this year in Inger Ash Wolfe, Alix Bosco and now Ann Dukthas.)For this book Segalla has delved into the deaths of Prince Rudolph and his teenage lover, Maria Vetsera, in January of 1889 in the Prince’s hunting lodge at Mayerling near Vienna.
The official and historical version is that Prince Rudolph, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, shot Maria and then killed himself in a suicide pact. To gain a Catholic burial for his son Emperor Franz Joseph advises Rome that his son was not in his right mind when the deaths occurred.
The pope, wanting confirmation, requires the emperor allow an envoy from the Pope, Segalla, investigate the deaths. A resentful emperor and his prime minister, Edward Taaffe, seek to restrict the investigation.
Accustomed to working around those who would limit his investigations Segalla skillfully probes the firmly stratified society. The evidence for his consideration has been carefully assembled by the bureaucracy. While the official story is superficially plausible Segalla pulls at the weaknesses and inconsistencies. He searches out witnesses who have not been coached.
Life in the empire for the elite was very focused on their personal relationships and status. The problems of the empire received little attention from them. It is an unsettled time with nationalities stirring throughout the territories. Prince Rudolph differs from much of the aristocracy in considering changes to the empire. It is said he was supportive of Hungarian independence. There are rumours he is interested in being the king of Hungary. Would the leaders of the empire silence him to save the empire?
I found the book alright. It is a high level form of procedural with an unusual investigator. It was interesting to learn about the mystery but the book did not grab me. I think I will read another book in the series to see if I like it better. (Aug. 20/11)
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Ann Dukthas is one of the pseudonyms used by English author, Paul Doherty. His website says he is no longer writing pseudonyms -http://www.paulcdoherty.com/pages/bib/dukthas.html
Very interesting post! I appreciate your review because I have another of this series sitting on my TBR pile (The Prince Lost to Time). It's on the docket for one of my challenges. It's also interesting because I quite sure that I've read another retelling of the Prince Rudolph & Maria story at some point but can't remember by whom. Gonna be wracking my brains on that one till it comes to me. :-) Thanks for stopping by mine!
ReplyDeleteI answered your question on the blog (when The Quality of Mercy was written), but just in case you don't come back...it was written in 2006.
Bev: Thanks for the comment. I look forward to reading your review of The Prince Lost to Time.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post Bill. I looked up Fantastic Fiction and found that Paul Doherty (who is the same age as me) has written under these pseudonyms: Vanessa Alexander, Anna Apostolou, Michael Clynes, Ann Dukthas, C L Grace, Paul Harding.
ReplyDeleteHe has written 4 Nicholas Segalla books.
Paul Doherty has been getting a lot of attention on the crime fiction blogs these days. You can read numerous posts at this blog. I also did a review of one of his gorier books The Godless Man, set in the time of Alexander the Great's war with Persia. I like his series about Brother Athelstan and another that features the Canterbury Tales characters the best. He likes to play around with the locked room motif and impossible crimes in a historical setting. Some of them are down right brilliant, others run-of-the-mill. He certainly is amazingly prolific. I don't think the Dukthas books were very successful, though.
ReplyDeleteKerrie: Thanks for the commment. He has certainly been prolific. I wonder if he has difficult keeping track of all the pseudoynms.
ReplyDeleteJohn: Thank you for all the information. I read your review of The Godless Man. In terms of violence page a minute drama it is about as different a book from The Time of Murder at Mayerling as possible. Doherty has a remarkable ability to write in different styles.
ReplyDeleteBill - Thanks for this review. This one is one I hadn't been familiar with before. I'm sorry that the book didn't completely engage you, although it sounds like an interesting story. Hopefully you will indeed like the next one better.
ReplyDeleteI'd second your comment about Doherty's styles - my favourites of his are the Roger Shallot series (written initially as Michael Clynes) and Mathilde of Westminster, as both of these are in the first person. They add an extra something to the story.
ReplyDeleteI've yet to read any of the Segalla books - not sure they've been reprinted in the UK - but I'll keep an eye out. Doherty does like addressing historical mysteries (for example in his series novel Crown In Darkness) so it'd be interesting to read one where that's the main point of the novel.
As John kindly said, there are an increasing number of reviews of Doherty's books over at my blog, if anyone's interested.
Margot: Thanks for the comment. I found it interesting you were not familiar with the book. It is not often I post a review where you are not familiar with the book.
ReplyDeletePuzzle Doctor: Thanks for the comment. You have an impressive collection of reviews of Doherty. I would like to read another book of his from a different series. Do you have a recommendation?
ReplyDeleteWell, it will depend on what you can find. If you can get your hands on The White Rose Murders (possibly under the pseudonym Michael Clynes but also published as Doherty), I think that's the best I've read to date. For a straight mystery, The Nightingale Gallery (Paul Harding or Paul Doherty) is excellent. For more recent books that are definitely in print, I'd recommend Nightshade - that's the one that got me into the author (in a fairly obsessive way, as you might be able to tell).
ReplyDeletePuzzle Doctor: Thanks for the reply. I am going searching for Paul Doherty.
ReplyDeleteYou're most welcome. Hope you enjoy what you find.
ReplyDeletePuzzle Doctor: I found Nightshade this evening at Westgate Books, my favourite used bookstore in Saskatoon. I expect to read it in the next couple of months.
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