In 1911 Paris, Detective Alphonse Bertillon, renowned for pioneering crime-scene investigation techniques, is called upon to solve one of the most notorious crimes to hit the city: the theft of the "Mona Lisa" from the Louvre. The Hooblers present the true story of that case.

Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, a married couple, are the authors of The Monsters, a chronicle of the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Their novel, In Darkness, Death, won a 2005 Edgar Award. They live in New York City.