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J. Sydney Jones

The summer of 1898 finds Austria terrorized by a killer who the press calls "Vienna's Jack the Ripper." Four bodies have already been found, but when the painter Gustav Klimt's female model becomes the fifth victim, the police finger him as the culprit. The artist has already scandalized Viennese society with his erotically charged modern paintings. Who better to take the blame for the crimes that have plagued the city?

This is, however, far from an open-and-shut case. Klimt's lawyer, Karl Werthen, has an ace up his sleeve. Dr. Hans Gross, the renowned father of criminology, has agreed to assist him in investigating the murders. Together, Gross and Werthen must not only clear Klimt's name but also follow the trail of a killer that will lead them in the most surprising of directions. By uncovering the cause of the crimes that have shaken the city, the two men may risk damaging Vienna more than the murders did themselves.

Written by an acclaimed expert on Vienna and its history, The Empty Mirror introduces a new series of stunning historical mysteries that reveals the culture and curiosities of this fascinating fin de siècle metropolis.

Minotaur Books

The Viennese Mysteries

The Empty Mirror: A Mystery

“Jones vividly evokes 1900 Vienna … in his splendid third whodunit featuring attorney Karl Werthen and criminologist Hanns Gross. ” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Vienna, 1900. Lawyer Karl Werthen is puzzling over the suicide of a local councilman when he is assigned by Karl Wittgenstein, a powerful industrialist with many enemies, to find his recently missing son, Hans. Werthen quickly discovers that the young man appears to be alive and well in another country. But when a friend of Hans—a journalist who wrote a number of articles claiming the councilman who committed suicide was corrupt—is found dead, also from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Werthen fears that sinister forces are at work …

“Jones uses mystery fiction to resurrect beautiful, historic Vienna. ” —Kirkus Reviews

Severn House

The Silence

An intriguing novel of suspense that “recreates the beau monde of vintage Vienna with verisimilitude and consummate style” (Kirkus Reviews).

Vienna, 1901. With the police seemingly indifferent to the murder of a nineteen-year-old prostitute known as Mitzi, brothel-keeper Frau Mutzenbacher turns to lawyer Karl Werthen to find out what happened and bring her killer to justice. Yet the more he discovers about the mysterious Mitzi, with her secret past and impressive roster of clients, the more questions Werthen’s investigation throws up.

At the same time, Werthen undertakes a second commission: to find out who viciously assaulted playwright Arthur Schnitzler. Schnitzler believes his latest controversial play might have been the motive for the attack—but is there more to it than that?

As he navigates the highs and lows of Viennese society in dogged pursuit of the truth, Werthen finds himself drawn into a conspiracy of espionage and affairs of state.

“Top-notch detecting and characterizations bolster the intricate plot” (Publishers Weekly) of this superb fourth book in the Viennese Mystery series that is “not as widely known as it ought to be, [but] well worth a look” (Booklist).

The Keeper of Hands