Ad/PR/Patrocinado. Many thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this ARC of Operation Vienna by Michael Ridpath, book 2 in The Foreign Correspondent series.
Set in Vienna in the early 1930s, Operation Vienna follows historian Archie Laverick, and foreign correspondent Esme Carmichael, who are investigating a supposed suicide. The rich American Howland Witherell, who was in Vienna for psychoanalysis, is found dead in a burnt-out car, and the police declare it to be a suicide, but his psychiatrist and friends refuse to believe that he killed himself.
While in Vienna, Archie pursues his passion for incunabula, rare medieval books, and has to relive his unresolved trauma from the First World War when he meets the attractive war widow Sabine, while the American Esme, who is desperate to establish herself as a foreign correspondent in Europe, learns firsthand about the difficulties of separating duty and friendship as a journalist. And as the mystery of Howland Witherell’s death slowly unfolds, Esme and Archie learn that there is a lot more to the story than the simple suicide they were first presented with.
Operation Vienna is deeply atmospheric with lots of historical and personal details, painting a picture of a busy, polarised city. On one hand Vienna is filled with communists and socialists, while on the other the right-wing Heimwehr are marching in the streets. The acceptance of the new and modern psychoanalysis goes hand in hand with the oppression of Jews, and the city’s coffeehouses seat both intellectual and international culture and bored debauchery.
If you want fast-paced action and plot-driven mystery, this may not be for you. But if you enjoy character-driven mysteries with lots of historical details and descriptive prose, do give this one a try.
Historical mystery
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