The Mahler Mayhem

<p>During a performance of Beethoven’s <em>Fidelio</em> at the Vienna State Opera there is an explosion in the foyer just off the auditorium. Auguste Rodin’s famous 1909 bronze bust of composer/conductor Gustav Mahler has been blown up and a hate-filled note has been left at the scene demanding that there be “no more Jews defiling our culture.” Retired art historian/musicologist Megan Crespi in Vienna to lecture is at the performance with her former student the renowned cellist Egga Streicher and is asked by her friend Chief of Police Erich Decker to help in tracking down the culprit. Soon copy-cat vandalism of Jewish monuments around the city breaks out. Things come to a horrendous climax during a performance of Mahler’s great Second Symphony the “Resurrection” symphony but is it the only surprise awaiting Megan Crespi’s dangerous investigation? Includes Readers Guide.</p>