The Road to Mayerling: Life and Death of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria by Richard Barkley is a thought-provoking non-fiction historical book that explores the life and the tragic murder-suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his mistress Baroness Marie von Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge in 1889.
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.