Fatal Links draws exclusively on source evidence of letters and eye-witness reports and, while she was not privy to subsequent medical analysis of Beethoven's hair, her conclusions - that he showed symptoms of lead or arsenic poisoning - accord well with the result of the chemical analysis. In her second, and more substantial, biographical study of the composer, Altman investigates and refutes the claims of Maynard Solomon for the identification of the woman who Beethoven, in an undated letter found among his effects, referred to as his ``Immortal Beloved'' (Unsterbliche Geliebte), while building a thorough case--using Solomon's own criteria--for Anna-Marie Erd*dy as the putative recipient of the letter.
Altman
Anna-Marie Erd*dy