From the man who brought us the Omar Yussef series comes Mozart’s Last Aria, Matt Rees’ take on the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.  Where the play (and later film) ‘Amadeus’ sought to pin the blame for Mozart’s death on his contemporary, Antonio Salieri, Rees instead involves the great composer in a much more shadowy intrigue, taking in the Masons, the Illuminati and Central European power struggles.

After Mozart’s prediction of his own death tragically comes true, his widow writes a letter to his sister, Nannerl, outlining her concerns.  Desperate for answers and justice, Nannerl immediately departs for Vienna to begin an investigation.Rees does a fine job in painting Vienna as the Hollywood of the 18th Century.  On the surface, Vienna is a beautiful city, rich in culture, but beneath the veneer lies a nest of vipers.  Viennese society is avaricious, venal, torn apart by clandestine plots and the political machinations of the elite.

Into all this was thrown Mozart, cast here as a somewhat naïve figure.  While all the book takes place after his death, because of the reverent reports of the cast he is the strongest character by far.  Warmly referred to as Wolfgang by every character, Mozart is shown as a supremely gifted but flawed human.  A Masonic initiate, he is earnest in his enthusiasm for the values of the Enlightenment, but is utterly guileless, a grave trait indeed for one so immersed in internecine Viennese feuds.  Rees also avoids the trap of canonising Mozart, instead reminding the reader he could be as vain and blunt as anyone on his day.

While the character of Mozart is treated with the greatest of respect, still more admiration is shown for his work.  Rees lovingly and lengthily describes each nuance of Mozart’s compositions; as a love letter to Salzburg’s greatest export, Mozart’s Last Aria is deeply passionate. Rees does, however, employ a great deal of musical terminology; not a major concern for connoisseurs, but for a reviewer unable to tell a treble clef from a trumpet, several paragraphs would as well have been written in Greek.

As an investigator, Nannerl makes hard work for Rees.  As a lone, unaccompanied woman in a highly patriarchal society, she is unable to realistically interrogate those involved, and given the era (she pre-dates the comparable Miss Marple by nearly 150 years), there is limited scope for scientific analysis.  Indeed, virtually all of the devices used in contemporary mysteries are unavailable to Nannerl.  As a result, suspects all but fall over themselves to reveal information, and the investigation does not seem a difficult one, lacking the feeling of steady progression which is so vital in mysteries.  Instead, the protagonist fumbles in the metaphorical darkness for clues, before an ending arrives which accordingly feels abrupt and premature.

Similarly, several themes are touched upon but not delved into in great detail.  The struggle between the Age of Enlightenment and the forces of religion is always a mouth-watering concept for this reviewer, but in Mozart’s Last Aria it gets a cursory nod, appearing largely to inform the characters of two opposing men of rank.  Likewise the empowerment of women is mentioned, but even with a female protagonist, is never explored in any serious detail.

As an homage to the towering genius of Mozart, Mozart’s Last Aria is a triumph.  Its formal prose gives a strong ring of authenticity to the period, and the book reminds us that behind the music was a mere mortal man.  As a mystery however, the book struggles with a touching but cumbersome protagonist, and robs the reader of the sequential triumphs that constitute the most satisfying crime tales.  Classical music aficionados should dive in without hesitation; crime fiction buffs are advised to check out Rees’ Yussef series before investing in this offering.

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