Vienna, 1893. Leopold von Herzfeldt arrives in the city with the hope of enlightening the local police department with some new, cutting edge crime solving forensics. Unfortunately, things don't work out as he had hoped. While Leo does become involved in the investigation of a very high profile case, a few missteps soon put him on the wrong side of his superiors. The case also introduces him to a local gravedigger, a unique individual with unprecedented, yet bizarre, knowledge of the dead. Leo and his only other friend, a comely police telephone operator, think they have things figured out, when they discover that nothing is as they thought. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author does an excellent job with time and place. He has done this before, most notably with his "Hangman's Daughter" series. I found the characters to be done well, it's interesting and it's fun. It hits on many genres - historical, police procedural, mystery, a little humor, a little romance - it has it all.