The Girl and the Gravedigger

Well-to-do policeman Leo Herzfeldt investigates a string of grisly murders in 19th-century Vienna in Pötzch’s lively sequel to The Gravedigger’s Almanac. In 1892, venerated Egyptologist Alfons Strössner discovers an unplundered tomb while lost in the desert. After sand collapses around him, he’s rescued by three colleagues, and they unearth the treasure together. Two years later, two of those colleagues have died under suspicious circumstances. When Strössner’s body is found inside a sarcophagus in Vienna’s Museum of Art History with emeralds pressed into his eye sockets, it looks like murder. As Leo investigates, more killings plague Vienna, including a mauled zookeeper and dismembered male prostitutes. Battling antisemitism and skepticism of his scientific methods from police colleagues, Leo enlists the investigative help of his love interest Julia Wolf and eccentric gravedigger Augustin Rothmayer, setting the stage for an entertaining if far-fetched climax. Other elements may also test the reader’s patience, including contrived romantic troubles between Leo and Julia, but this is still a supremely enjoyable, well-researched adventure. Readers will have fun. (Feb.)