The summer of 1898 finds Austria terrorized by a killer whom the press calls “Vienna’s Jack the Ripper.†When the painter Gustav Klimt’s female model becomes the fifth victim, the police finger him as the culprit. Dr. Hanns Gross, the renowned father of criminology, agrees to assist Klimt's lawyer, Karl Werthen, 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.
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.