Stewart, Mary. Airs Above the Ground. William Morrow & Company, Inc. 1965.
Reason read: Vienna’s National Day is in October.
It all begins when an old school chum asks Vanessa March to travel to Vienna as a chaperone for her seventeen year old son. Tim Lacy won’t stop nagging his mother to see his father in Austria. Coincidentally, Vanessa has just spotted her husband of two years on a news broadcast about a circus fire in Vienna. Lewis was supposed to be in Stockholm, Sweden. Curious about the young woman Lewis had his arm around in the newsclip, Vanessa agrees to travel with Tim. Together they make a wonderful pair of liars. Tim told his mother that his father was meeting him in Vienna and Vanessa said she was going to Austria for a planned meet up with her husband. Nothing could have been further from the truth for either of them. Tim and his father fell out of touch some time ago. Vanessa suspects her husband of lying to her, but doesn’t understand why. Neither father nor husband know of Tim and Vanessa’s arrival.
Vienna proves to be an adventure for Tim and Vanessa. Upon finding the circus Vanessa learns of an elderly horse in desperate need of surgery. She happens to be a surgical veterinarian who had given up her career to get married. While befriending several members of the troupe, Vanessa and Tim find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Turns out, the lame horse is a prized Lipizzaner disguised as an old piebald. By the way, readers will get a history of the Lipizzaner Stallions, but not in a didactic way that is dry and boring. Tim’s knowledge of the Lipizzaner culture is beautiful for someone so young. Confessional: I searched for videos demonstrating the Schulen uber der Erde.
Second confessional: I was wary of Sandor Balog from the beginning and I was convinced the muttering parrot would hold the key to solving the case.
As an aside, I had to giggle when Tim mentioned Archie Goodwin being his favorite amateur detective. Since I am hip deep in the Rex Stout canon, it was like having a new friend tell you about their favorite hairdresser who happens to be your best friend.
Those crazy Europeans! I can’t imagine having supper at 11pm.
Favorite lines or moments, “She dimpled at him” (p 57). Charming!
Author fact: Mary Stewart’s photograph makes her look like she is just about ready to hail a waiter for a second cup of coffee.
Book trivia: I have to admit Airs Above the Ground served as a wealth of knowledge for me. I didn’t know what “airs above the ground” meant (it is a move the L stallions perform); I didn’t know you could not walk by a horse that is lying down without it getting to its feet; the use of a car horn is forbidden in Austria unless it is an absolute emergency; there is always one bay in the Lipizzaner show.
Music: Offenbach, Suppe, Strauss, Schubert, the Rosenkavalier, Mendelssohn’s “Hear My Prayer,” and Boccherini.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the very simple chapter called “Vienna” (p). Incidentally, this is the first book I am reading for this chapter!
