Luzern Photograph

An infamous nineteenth-century photograph is the key to a modern murder mystery in this ';clever psychological thriller' from the Edgar Award winner (Library Journal, starred review). In 1882, the young Lou Andreas-Salomewriter, psychoanalyst and femme fataleappears with Friedrich Nietzsche and another man in a bizarre photograph taken in Luzern, Switzerland. Over thirty years later, an art student in Freud's Vienna presents Lou Salome with his own drawing based on the infamous photograph. In present-day California, performance artist Tess Berenson learns that the previous occupant of her downtown Oakland loft was a professional dominatrix named Chantalwho apparently left in a hurry. Instantly fascinated, Tess's curiosity only intensifies when Chantal's body is discovered in the trunk of a stolen car at Oakland airport. Embarking on an obsessive investigation, Tess discovers a link between Chantal and the original Luzern photograph. But as she gets closer to the shocking truth, Tess finds that she too is in jeopardy... ';Edgar winner Bayer continues his romance with psychoanalysis with a riff on Lou Andreas-Salome's persona as analyst and femme fatale... Nazis, sadomasochism, and psychoanalysis always provide a heady mix, and a little murder thrown in pushes Bayer's latest into the radioactive zone.' Kirkus Reviews ';Bayer chillingly and skillfully depicts the divide between good and evil. Suggest to Thomas Harris and Michael Connelly devotees.'Library Journal(starred review) ';[A] crafty whodunit... Bayer keeps the suspense high as he artfully toggles among story lines and thoughtfully develops his characters' Publishers Weekly