ABOUT THE BOOKEleanor and Franz Fabian arrive from New York to spend Christmas with Franzs mother in her sedate retirement home in the Vienna Woods. Their expectations are low: at best, boredom, at worst, run-of-the-mill family friction. But when the wealthy, charming Herr Graf is found dead in his apartment with an ugly head wound, the Fabians are thrust into a homicide investigation.
Some residents and staff have surprising connections to the dead man, but who would have wanted to kill him? Inspector Bchner tracks down the murderer against a backdrop of Viennese history from the Nazi years to the present day. Witty, suspenseful, lyrical, this is a literary whodunit that will keep you guessing till the last page.
MY THOUGHTS
I love a good mystery and Dorothy James delivers with this page-turning, entertaining suspense! Great character development, wonderful dialogue and creative and clever clues bringing the reader right along on the investigation. James has definitely done her research, the historical details popped to life with her wonderful writing. Taut with suspense, surprising red herrings and characters you'll either love or hate, A Place to Die is a wonderful first book to new series. I can't wait to read the next one!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dorothy James was born in Wales and grew up in the South Wales Valleys. Writer, editor, and translator, she has published short stories as well as books and articles on German and Austrian literature. She has taught at universities in the U.S., England, and Germany, makes her home now in Brooklyn and often spends time in Vienna and Berlin.
She wrote A Place to Die in her attic apartment on the edge of the Vienna Woods. She has travelled far from Wales, but has not lost the Welsh love of playing with language; she writes poems for pleasure as does Chief Inspector Büchner, the whimsical Viennese detective who unravels the first mystery in this new series of novels. http://www.viennamysteries.com/
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of A Place To Die for review purposes only. All thoughts and opinions are expressly my own.
Thanks very much, Wendy, for these great comments, and for presenting the book so well on your blog. A very good last day for the Blog Tour! Happy you enjoyed the book.
ReplyDeleteWendy, thanks again for reviewing Dorothy's book. I'm so glad that as a mystery you found it full of suspense.
ReplyDelete