Viennese Mystery Series

“What Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did for Victorian London and Caleb Carr did for old New York, J. Sydney Jones does for historic Vienna.”

-Karen Harper, New York Times bestselling author

The Keeper of Hands

The fourth installment in the Viennese Mystery series is now available in the UK and will be published in the U.S. in June, 2013:

Vienna, 1901. With the police seemingly indifferent to the murder of a 19-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.

The Silence

The eagerly awaited third volume in the critically acclaimed Viennese Mystery series is now available.

Included in Kirkus Reviews
“10 Thrillers to Watch for This Fall” list:
“[Jones uses] mystery fiction to resurrect beautiful, historic Vienna.” (August 30, 2011)

Starred review from Publishers Weekly:

“Jones vividly evokes 1900 Vienna under the leadership of its notorious anti-Semitic mayor, Karl Lueger, in his splendid third whodunit featuring attorney Karl Werthen and criminologist Hanns Gross (after 2010’s Requiem in Vienna). .. Jones poses a challenging puzzle for his savvy investigator while subtly portraying the growing threat to Europe’s Jews.”

Starred review from Library Journal:

“Young lawyer Karl Werthen loves taking on private investigations, so he is eager to pursue the disappearance of a member of the illustrious Wittgenstein family. Concurrently, a Vienna councilman is found shot in his office, an apparent suicide. Working his missing-person case, Werthen interviews a gay freelance journalist who knows young Wittgenstein and, interestingly, has also been writing inflammatory articles about council activities. The missing man is soon found, but the journalist is murdered. Afraid that his interview triggered the man’s death, Werthen feels morally compelled to identify the killer. But what exactly is he looking at: a sex scandal or financial greed? It is a tangled web that now ensnares Werthen, and the next murder hits too close to home. Verdict Ultimately, this fin de siècle mystery is all very Sherlock Holmes. Populated with such real-life luminaries as artist Gustav Klimt, Jones’s third historical series title (after The Empty Mirror) is an intricately plotted, gracefully written, and totally immersive read. Recommended for Stefanie Pintoff, Laurie R. King, and Philip Gooden fans.”

Praise from Kirkus Reviews:

“Jones’ measured, stately prose is perfectly in tune with his period setting and his hero’s intense intellectual curiosity. … His intricate plot unfolds with suspense and style.”

Vienna, 1900. Lawyer and private inquiries agent Karl Werthen is puzzling over the high-profile suicide of a city councilman–former client, next in line to Vienna’s powerful Mayor Karl Lueger, and the last man Werthen would think capable of suicide. Werthen, however, has little time to ponder, as he is summoned by wealthy industrialist Karl Wittgenstein (father of the future philosopher Ludwig) to find his oldest son, Hans, who has gone missing.

Werthen soon discovers the whereabouts of the musically-minded Hans, and the case appears to be solved. But appearances are deceiving, and a simple missing person’s case soon leads back to the councilman’s suicide. Werthen—once again ably assisted by his wife, Berthe, and real-life father of criminology, Dr. Hanns Gross—journeys into a sinister web of deceit and violence that threatens not only his life, but also the very heart of the city and the empire.

Hardcover (2010) St. Martin’s Minotaur:

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German edition of The Empty Mirror published 2010

Requiem in Vienna

The eagerly awaited second volume in the critically acclaimed Viennese Mystery series is now available.

The composer Gustav Mahler is at the heart of this intriguing and compelling mystery/thriller set in Vienna 1900.

“Sophisticated entertainment of a very high caliber.”
—Kirkus Reviews (*starred review)

“A first-class historical mystery.”
—Booklist (*starred review)

“A compelling period whodunit with bountiful cultural and social details.”
—Publishers Weekly

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“[An] absorbing whodunit [that] succeeds both as a mystery and as a fascinating portrait of a traditional society in ferment.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Empty Mirror

Paperback (2010) St. Martin’s MinotaurBuy the book:

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The highly praised first volume of the Viennese Mystery series is now available in paperback.

Fin de siècle Vienna comes to vibrant life in this colorful historical thriller featuring the artist Gustav Klimt.

“…Jones delivers a meaty historical that bodes well for further adventures..”
—Publishers Weekly (*starred review)

“This one bears watching.”
—Booklist

“Jones keeps his mystery moving along with a good deal of skill, but the greatest interest of the novel lies in its glimpses of the political passions and bizarre occurrences of the era…. In recent years, fin-de-siecle Vienna has shown signs of becoming to literary thrillers what 1940s Los Angeles is to noir. The Empty Mirror, a colorful story that neatly combines fact and fiction, suggests why.”
—Patrick Anderson, review in Washington Post

“Jones … deftly melds fact with fiction in a novel that will appeal to mystery aficionados as well as history buffs”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

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