Customer Reviews

The Time of Murder at Mayerling

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This is a novel by Paul Doherty writing under the pseudonym of Ann Dukthas. Paul Doherty is the consummate professional when it comes to writing historical mystery novels. I for one do not know how he can be so prolific with his offering of books and yet make sure that each of them is well researched. Whether they be 13th, 14th, or fifteenth century they are always true to the period. He also writes about Ancient Egypt and the Greek period in history of Alexander the Great.

The year 1889, the place Vienna, at the time of the Hapsburgs. The glitter and glamour of the court hides a sinister world of political intrigue and then the world is shocked to the very core by the news that the heir to throne, the handsome Archduke Rudolph has shot is young, aristocratic muster, Maria Vetsera, killing her and then turning the gun on himself at the imperial hunting lodge at Maverling.

The fact that Maria's body is hurridley buried in secret and that the government are keen to suppress any inquiry into the matter start rumours of foul play circulating. Scholar Nicholas Segalla put his own well being at risk to try to uncover the truth behind a spectacular cover up and attempt to expose a murderer with extremely intimate connections to the late Rudolph.

I have not read the other books in this series, but it's difficult for me to see why Segalla would worry about other characters remarking that there have been much earlier records of a Segalla unless he's either immortal or incredibly long-lived. Certainly he doesn't spend any time worrying about how to get back to the future if the jig is up. (If he's so smart, why hasn't he had the good sense to change his name as needed through the centuries?) I wish the author hadn't used the word "teased" when she did -- it was so inappropriate to the situations that I had trouble believing in Segalla. "Jested" would have been a better choice. Part of my problem with this book is that I was raised mostly on Victorian and early 20th century-through World War II books. We didn't have much money and those books were just "old junk" then. I have the styles of those periods engraved in my brain. If a modern author wants me to feel "transported into the past", s/he needs to get the "feel" of the period. For me, Ms. Dukthas failed. Her solution really bothered me because there was no actual bibliography appended. What an author does with the characters s/he invented is his/her own business. If you're going to write a novel based on actual history, I think it only decent to try to portray figures of history as close to life as can be known of them. I know that if I were ever to become involved in what would become a famous unsolved mystery, I'd hate to have someone twist my character to fit his/her theory. I finished FEVER SEASON by Barbara Hambly last night and I appreciated the afterword in which she explained about the historical events used in her book. I'd have felt much better about this story had Ms. Dukthas done the same. However, if you aren't picky about the nuances of the English language and have no scruples toward the possibly unjust blackening of the name of someone who isn't alive to fight back, you should be able to enjoy this novel without the reservations that I have.