The Quiet Twin
A Novel
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Vienna, 1939. Professor Speckstein's dog has been brutally killed, the latest victim in a string of unsolved murders in the area. Speckstein wants answers-but these are uncharitable times, and one must be careful where one probes...
When an unexpected house call leads Doctor Beer to Speckstein's apartment, he finds himself in the bedroom of the professor's flirtatious niece, Zuzka. From her window, the girl gives Beer a view of their apartment block that he has never known. Across the courtyard there is nine-year-old Anneliese, the lonely daughter of an alcoholic. Five windows to the left lives a secretive mime who comes home late at night and keeps something - or someone - precious hidden from view. From the garret drifts the mournful sound of a trumpet player, and a basement door swings closed behind the building's inscrutable janitor.
Does one of these enigmatic neighbors have blood on their hands?
Doctor Beer, who has his own reasons for keeping his private life hidden from public scrutiny, reluctantly becomes embroiled in an enquiry that forces him to face the dark realities of Nazi rule. Thrilling and deftly told, The Quiet Twin explores a dystopian world of social paranoia, mistrust, and fear-and the danger of staying silent.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Vienna during the first weeks of WWII, Vyleta's captivating detective story, told from multiple perspectives, examines the paranoia and mistrust of neighbors during the height of Hitler's regime. Neighborhood physician Dr. Anton Beer, a specialist in nervous disorders and forensics, is asked by his colleague, Dr. Speckstein, to investigate the death and disembowelment of his beloved pet dog. As the mystery of the slain dog deepens, it becomes apparent that the animal's death may be tied to a serial killer in the city, or perhaps something even more sinister. Also central to the plot are Zuzka, Speckstein's hypochondriac niece, who becomes fascinated with a mime living across the courtyard, and Anneliese Grotter, a hunchbacked seven-year-old with an alcoholic father. Anton and the two girls are on the verge of unraveling the mystery when Det. Franz Teuben, a zealous Nazi, begins to investigate the killings. Vyleta (Pavel & I) carefully provides political and historical context, resulting in a plot that takes a while to get going. However, when the pace picks up, readers will appreciate the novel's well-crafted pathos, dark humor, and chills.
