The Alienist

The Alienist is a novel from 1994 (ISBN 0-553-57299-7), written by Caleb Carr.

The book centers around the alienist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, of mixed Hungarian-/German origin, and his companions who attempt to resolve a case of serial murder of child prostitutes, using, for the time setting, modern methods including dactylography, pathology and a sort of pre-profiling.

It is set in 1896 New York and was inspired by the works of Wilkie Collins.

The sequel to this book is The Angel of Darkness.