Requiem in Vienna

A lawyer in 1899 Vienna hunts for a killer stalking the opera house and Gustav Mahler in this historical mystery from the author of The Empty Mirror.

“What Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for Victorian London and Caleb Carr did for old New York, Sydney Jones does for historic Vienna.” —Karen Harper, New York Times–bestselling author of the Queen Elizabeth I mystery series

At first it seemed like a series of accidents plagued Vienna’s Court Opera. But after a singer is killed during rehearsals of a new production, the evidence suggests something much more dangerous. Someone is trying to murder the famed conductor and composer Gustav Mahler. Worse, Mahler might not be the first musical genius to be dispatched by this unknown killer.

Alma Schindler, one of Mahler’s many would-be mistresses, asks the lawyer and aspiring private investigator Karl Werthen to help stop the attacks. With his new wife, Berthe, and his old friend, the criminologist Hanns Gross, Werthen delves into Vienna’s rich society of musicians to discover the identity of the person who has targeted one of Austria’s best-known artists.

Set during the peak of Vienna’s cultural renaissance and featuring some of the city’s most colorful residents, Requiem in Vienna is a perfect historical fiction. Rich in description and populated by vivid characters, this is a mystery that will leave readers guessing until the very last moment.

“Smoothly blends a compelling period whodunit with bountiful cultural and social details.” —Publishers Weekly

“This is a rich, beautifully written historical mystery, with a unique setting and a compelling lead. The author’s use of real people—Mahler, Gross, and painter Gustav Klimt among them—gives the book the feel of actual history, and his careful re-creation of the Viennese setting transports us to the place and time. A first-class historical mystery that builds on the promise of its predecessor.” —Booklist (starred review)