The Empty Mirror [Hardcover]

 

 

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As the young Liesel Landtauer hurries along the darkened, cobbled streets of Vienna, angry and full of self-recrimination, the City is reeling from the newspaper reports of a mad killer on the loose, dumping bodies in the Prater amusement park in the second district in the shadow of the giant Ferris wheel. The esteemed criminologist Hanns Gross and Professor Karl Werthen are thrust into the investigation when the noted and notorious artist Gustav Klimt, suddenly bursts into Werthen's home, exasperated that he, "the bete noire of Viennese paintings," has in fact become a possible suspect. Although Liesel did in fact posed nude for Klimt the day she was murdered, the artist denies any involvement in her demise.

Werthen is convinced that there is little question that Klimt is actually culpable of this latest outrage. But Klimt's flaw is his scandalous notoriety and his penchant for pretty young women, frequently putting his already soured reputation in jeopardy. It is the large and florid Gross, who surprises Werthen with the news that he has indeed seen the corpse of the fourth victim and that there are certain mutilations on the body. All victims have in fact had their nose sliced off, cut with a single clean swipe and there's a small clean cut through flesh, and sinew of the neck. The blood is also drained and all five victims appear to have "squeezed as dry as a shirt on laundry day."

This is a period in history when Austria was rife with anti-Semitism. Certainly the disfigurement of the nose is linked to some ritual slayings, perhaps Jewish ritual slayings. The instrument used was probably a scalpel or a cut-throat razor, which also lends to the argument of a trained doctor or physician having a hand in these killings. However grisly, both Gross and Werthen are convinced that the murders are representative of something far more sinister, something that is perhaps connected to the worlds of aristocracy and privilege. Reaching right into the rarefied world of the Hapsburgs it is where the waters are eventually muddied and where diversions and false leads keep Gross and Werthen constantly off track.

As the warm wind blows off the Alps, even the steadiest of men become unnerved. When Herr Frosch, once in service as the personal valet of the Crown Prince Rudolf, is found murdered, the myriad of facts point towards the tragic events that once rocked the court and all of Austria in 1889 and played out at in the candle-lit rooms of the Mayerling country estate almost a decade ago. In a tale where anarchy and terrorism compete with syphilis-ridden royalty, Werthen and Gross race to unravel the deepening mystery even as their own lives are linked to Rudolf's apparent suicide and the life and death of his young mistress, Marie Vestera.

With Austria on the cusp of change, the action in this novel plays out amidst an aggressive Franz Josef who holds steadfast to his rule even as unrest permeates and the country seems to seethe with anger and the effects of class inequality, the old world clashing with the new along with the birth of a new type of cold-blooded killer. A history lesson on 19th century Austria as much as it is a work of fiction, The Empty Mirror often feels overly ambitious, the mystery itself a little convoluted with its constant red-herrings and false leads. Although Werthen and Gross are engaging heroes, at times the plot suffers from a lack of suspense. Although the details of Viennese society are undoubtedly fascinating, it is these details that periodically allow the narrative to stall. Certainly while engaging in a battle to uncover the truth, Werthen and Gross are colorful protagonists, remaining committed to each another despite the long odds, their respective talents and friendship feeding their success in finding the eventual mastermind behind the killings. Mike Leonard January 09.

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