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Review
"The cast of this brilliant thriller ... are pure Raymond Chandler ... but the Viennese setting gives it an extra, stylish twist. It's excEllently written and fearsomely gripping." - Kate Saunders, The Times
"Very few novels published in recent years match its daunting panache... The fast-moving, cleverly convoluted plot is brilliantly served by the sustained irony of Ignat Avsey's witty translation... a terrific book, one to read and then urge everyone else to follow suit... a truly clever, rather wonderful book that both plays with and defies genre." - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
"A fascinating snapshot of Vienna between the wars, pacey and entertaining." - Laura Wilson, Guardian
"The action shifts and shimmers in a Vienna that comes to life." - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
About the Author
Alexander Lernet-Holenia was born in Vienna in 1897. He served in the Austro-Hungarian army in the First World War and became a protégé of Rainer Maria Rilke. During his life he wrote poetry, novels, plays and was a successful screenwriter. His uneasy relationship with the National Socialist Party resulted in his removal from prominence in 1944, but after the end of the Second World War, he again became a vital figure in Austrian cultural life. He died in 1976.