| Description |
336 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Summary |
"At twenty-eight, Hermann Horst is the youngest professor of philosophy to grace the marble corridors and richly paneled lecture halls of Austria--Hungary's esteemed University of Vienna... When a letter arrives from Senior Inspector Orczy Géza of the Budapest Gendarme asking for Hermann's help in a murder investigation, Hermann jumps at the opportunity to put his research into practice. The investigation centers on Schattenturm, Shadow Tower in German, an extravagant Neo-Gothic estate built atop the ruins of a medieval fortress. The body of the estate's gardener was found with an ancient war hammer lodged in the back of his skull, at the center of the swirling maze that surrounds the castle's mausoleum... The current owners of Schattenturm, the Baum family, acquired the castle under unscrupulous circumstances after establishing a coal mine in the town nearby that exploits the locals and robs the countryside of its peace and beauty. The displaced aristocratic owners, the von Voitsbergs, are still very much a factor in the estate's realm. Hundreds of years of ownership and rule over the area are not easily forgotten, nor has the loss of their dark romantic home been amicably accepted. A handful of long-term servants know everyone's secrets and are willing to take them to the grave, though not necessarily to their own. What lies beneath the black stones of Schattenturm, from the catacombs of the von Voitsberg crypt to terrible acts kept secret for decades, has destroyed lives. The secrets uncovered and the nature of the victim will shake Hermann and the readers, forcing them to question the morality of murder itself and whether some crimes should ever be forgiven"--Back cover. |
| Subject |
College teachers -- Fiction.
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Detective and mystery stories.
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Murder -- Investigation -- Fiction.
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Castles -- Fiction.
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Social classes -- Fiction.
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Hungary -- Fiction.
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| Genre/Form |
Detective and mystery fiction.
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| ISBN |
9781955810227 (paperback) |
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1955810222 (paperback) |
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