"While on honeymoon in Vienna in June, 1998, Gerald Daniel Blanchard, an accomplished thief, happened upon the greatest challenge of his life when he spotted the last remaining "Sisi Star." Named after its former owner, Empress Elisabeth, the ten-pointed diamond and pearl star was originally one of 27 that Sisi wore in her extravagantly long hair. Despite the multi-layered security system protecting the pricess jewel, Blanchard decided then and there to steal it. The star remained missing for nine years until a team of Canadian police investigators launched a joint task force to bring down a criminal organization that had robbed banks, stores and ordinary citizens on several continents. When their chief suspect offered to reveal the whereabouts of the Sisi Star, the investigators realized they were dealing with no ordinary thief. But no one involved in the case fully understood the history of the star, its ties to obsession, suicide and assassination."-- Provided by publisher.