This superbly factual account of the life and death of Austria's Prince Rudolph reads like a fast-paced thriller. The colorful and controversial Prince--the last and most talented of the Hapsburg line--was discovered dead on January 30, 1889, in the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling. Beside him, also dead, lay his mistress, the beautiful young Baroness Mary Vetsera. What happened that day remains a mystery that has evoked endless speculation and countless dramatic re-creations--none more engrossing and entertaining than Barkeley's vivid telling.