The Interpretation of Murder (Freud, #1)

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The Interpretation of Murder (Freud #1)

3.45 of 5 stars 3.45 · rating details · 6,113 ratings · 816 reviews

In this historical thriller, Sigmund Freud is drawn into the mind of a sadistic killer who is savagely attacking Manhattan's wealthiest heiresses
Inspired by Sigmund Freud's only visit to America, The Interpretation of Murder is an intricate tale of murder and the mind's most dangerous mysteries. It unfurls on a sweltering August evening in 1909 as Freud disembarks from the...more

Paperback, 533 pages

Published 2007 by Headline Review (first published 2006)

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Sep 04, 2009 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: hamletian, real-people-fake-stories, table, littry-fiction

im pretty neutral about this book. it was a fine sortof historical mystery with all the requisite elements like red herrings and dubious intentions and misread signals and girls tied up and whipped, but... eh. and im torn, because it is a perennial table book, but i think i might have to regulate its inclusion from now on, because in my opinion, it is all right but no great shakes. maybe people who are really into freud would like it more than i. this is me being too early for class and writing...more

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Feb 15, 2009 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mysteries

Sigmund Freud, along with his protege Carl Jung, arrives in New York for a series of lectures at Clark University in Massachusetts. A young woman is murdered, apparently by a serial killer. Another young woman, Nora Acton, is suffering from amnesia after another attack by the same criminal. Dr. Stratham Younger, a high society Freud acolyte, undertakes a psychoanalysis of Nora, in the hopes of unraveling the mystery.

I wanted to like The Interpretation of Murder. I really did. It had an intrigui...more Sigmund Freud, along with his protege Carl Jung, arrives in New York for a series of lectures at Clark University in Massachusetts. A young woman is murdered, apparently by a serial killer. Another young woman, Nora Acton, is suffering from amnesia after another attack by the same criminal. Dr. Stratham Younger, a high society Freud acolyte, undertakes a psychoanalysis of Nora, in the hopes of unraveling the mystery.

I wanted to like The Interpretation of Murder. I really did. It had an intriguing premise: a murder mystery, set in 1909 New York City, with Freud, Jung, and Ferenczi as characters. (I realize this description is probably more or less congruent with some people's vision of Hell, but it's right up my alley.) But if there's anything worse than a mystery that isn't especially clever, it's a mystery that thinks it's clever when it isn't, and this mystery is nowhere near as clever as author Jed Rubenfeld thinks it is.

Rubenfeld has ambition, but unfortunately, doesn't have the writing chops to keep up with it. The reader forges ahead, puzzled, as Rubenfeld throws out approximately one zillion plot lines, none of which seems to have much to do with the other. Freud, Jung, and Ferenczi arrive and talk a lot about various psychoanalytic theories and analysands. Younger psychoanalyzes Nora (Hey! Doesn't Nora rhyme with "Dora"? My word, I think it does! What a coincidence) and talks a lot about his family life and his fascination with Hamlet, in more or less equal measure. We learn a lot about the history of turn of the century New York and the dynasties that ran it. Then a sinister series of anonymous letters threatens to ruin Freud's reputation. Harry Thaw, confined in an insane asylum in New Jersey after murdering architect Stanford White, receives mysterious visitors wearing signet rings. And so forth.

Unfortunately, Rubenfeld isn't a skillful enough novelist to craft these plot lines into something coherent, so the reader is given, well, a series of plot lines that eventually lurch to an end. (In fact, I'm still at a bit of a loss as to what Freud and Jung were doing there at all.) Add to this sorry mess a host of clunky dialog, points of view that shift clumsily (sometimes in the span of two paragraphs), and a lot of pedestrian writing, and you're left with nothing more than a run-of-the-mill mystery doing its best to masquerade as something far more sophisticated than it actually is.

I gave this novel two stars instead of one simply because the book's premise was enough to keep me turning the pages until the end (and also because Rubenfeld is obviously no fan of Jung, which makes him okay in my book).
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Jul 01, 2012 Arun Divakar rated it 2 of 5 stars

Quite a long period of time had passed since I read a whodunit. It was more of an impulse that made me pick up this book while walking the shelves at the library. I remember reading the blurb on the back page and thinking back to Caleb Carr's Alienist and then deciding on giving this one a try.

It is an extremely light and breezy read. I was juggling three books at the same time and could only get to this by late Friday and even then could finish it by a Sunday evening. Contrary to my own prej...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Coy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Coy by: Kenneth

When I sit down to what I hope will be a great meal, I look forward to the side dishes, but it's the main course that is central. Don't get me wrong, I love potatoes, but give me the steak! Interpretation of Murder is a side dish and not a potato side dish, more like peas or carrots or something.

Reading the author's notes at the end of the book gave me a better appreciation of the novel. I respect that it was well-researched, but to borrow from the same analogy, I like a little history with my s...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Kitty rated it 5 of 5 stars

I did not just like this book, I LOVED it. And on so many levels. I found it clever, informative, well written and even humorous at times. The characters were interesting and I was kept guessing even when I pretty much decided I knew what was going on. This was really a page turner, especially when they were down in the caisson. I could so visualize that. This is my new "You gotta read this book" recommendation. The Freud, Jung and Shakespeare inclusions was an added bonus. Loved the early 1900...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Jen rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book's summary is a bit misleading in terms of Freud's overall role in the events of the book. In any case, I still really liked the story.

The main character of the book (there actually are two, but since his story is told in the first person, I'll label him as the lead,)is a young psychiatrist who is an avid follower of Sigmund Freud. He is charged with hosting Freud and several of his followers in New York before bringing him to Boston for a lecture at the university he teaches at.

During...more This book's summary is a bit misleading in terms of Freud's overall role in the events of the book. In any case, I still really liked the story.

The main character of the book (there actually are two, but since his story is told in the first person, I'll label him as the lead,)is a young psychiatrist who is an avid follower of Sigmund Freud. He is charged with hosting Freud and several of his followers in New York before bringing him to Boston for a lecture at the university he teaches at.

During this time in NY, Freud is called to assist in a case involving a young society girl who was attacked in her house and is suffering amnesia. Since his stay is temporary, he has the young psychiatrist take on the case.

The second storyline involves the murder of another young woman and a young detective is assigned to work with the city coroner to solve the murder. The two stories intersect as it seems the attacker of both women is the same guy.

Freud's involvement in either of these cases is limited to a few pieces of advice, but a separate thread throughout the book involves an attempt to discredit Freud and his theories before his lecture.

I enjoyed the setting of the book, as well as the characters. I wasn't bothered by the tone of the book, switching from 1st to 3rd person, in the least, as many times it was like 2 separate stories. This book is fast paced and has a cast of many characters that keeps the story moving along. It's part detective novel and part musings on Freudian theory and what his stay in America might have been like.

My only real complaint about the book was that I was unclear of what the deal with Carl Jung was supposed to be. I felt like the story was leading up for him in some way, but died out at the end. I'm not familiar enough with the subject to know if this was the author's fictional guess as to his relationship with Freud or if the guy was actually a bit crazy. I felt that storyline could have been given a better conclusion.

One other thing, maybe someone can answer this; I don't know if it was my copy of the book or what, but on page 264, when the detective and Dr. Younger are going down the elevator shaft to the caisson, part of the dialogue seems to skip and I was left wondering what I missed. Younger tells the detective about a young patient who exhibited sexual feelings for her father, to which the detective is disgusted. Then Younger reply's "Well, I-" and is interrupted by, I assume the detective saying "Katie bar the door." The doctor yells "all right" and then apologizes to the detective and then goes on to muse whether his father would have lost control like that. I completely missed where this part of the dialogue came from; and I want to say there were a couple of other parts of the books where I got confused as to the conversation thread. Nothing big to affect my rating, just thought it seemed weird.(less)

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Aug 02, 2010 Rowland Bismark rated it 4 of 5 stars

SWEET GREEN HELL

Her entire body glistened in the unbearable August heat. Her long legs were bare, as were her arms. Her elegant shoulders were nearly bare as well. The girl’s consciousness was fading. She tried to speak. There was a question she had to ask. It was there; it was gone. Then she had it again. ‘My name,’ she whispered. ‘What is my name?’

"... So, is Nora still a victim when she is empowered by a sympathetic listener?"

Feel like there's class conflict in the book: psychoanalysis versus...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Meghan Cooper rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

This book was difficult and slow to read. I liked the whole idea of the story, but I did't feel like I connected with any of the characters in the story. When the author started a new chapter and brought in a different character with it, I kept not even knowing who they were talking about. I had to go back and refresh my memory of who was who. To be honest the characters descriptions were really bad. The author did his best to add tension to the whole book but half the time this tension just wou...more

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Dec 17, 2008 Aretha rated it 2 of 5 stars

Very disappointing...last time i listen to blimin' Richard and Judy!!!

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Feb 12, 2009 Anita rated it 4 of 5 stars

This novel is about a murder mystery of Elizabeth Riverford, a young socialite in the impressive Balmoral Hotel, Manhattan and the reputedly accurate recounting of a visit made by Dr Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to New York in 1909 to speak at American Universities in an age when psychoanalysis is in it's infancy.

Although not directly involved in the murder, Dr Freud offers advice to the budding psychoanalyst, Dr Stratham Younger, as to how to treat one of the murderer's surviving victims. The yo...more This novel is about a murder mystery of Elizabeth Riverford, a young socialite in the impressive Balmoral Hotel, Manhattan and the reputedly accurate recounting of a visit made by Dr Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to New York in 1909 to speak at American Universities in an age when psychoanalysis is in it's infancy.

Although not directly involved in the murder, Dr Freud offers advice to the budding psychoanalyst, Dr Stratham Younger, as to how to treat one of the murderer's surviving victims. The young lady, Nora Acton, has lost her voice and cannot remember the details of her attack, but her injuries are remarkably similar to the murder. Dr Younger finds himself becoming increasingly attracted to the lovely Nora, whose inner thoughts are darker than even Younger can sometimes cope with and involve sexual perversions, convoluted twists and turns and even lies.

The detective investigating the murder takes a leading role in the narrative too, which makes this story multi-dimensional and deals with both ends of society, including the union problems of sweatshop workers.

Mr Rubenfeld's account of what New York looked, smelled and felt like during the turn the the century when skyscrapers started to rise out of the busy streets was absolutely fascinating. Added to that the fact Dr Younger was also a nephew of Mamie Styvesant Fish and is invited to one of her socialite parties, gives us yet another dimension to this story which I found particularly compelling.
Added to the mix of characters are the wealthy industrialist who thinks he is completely beyond the law, together with the Mayor who is in his pocket, a well meaning but inadequate coroner and various city workers who are out for themselves and for whom the truth is a distant concept they have no aspiration for.

Carl Jung is portrayed as having serious personality order of his own which degenerates into downright insanity, but the amiable Dr Freud seems unaffected by his raw ambition and seems to want to protect the man. Freud himself also has a physiologically weak bladder, which I felt didn't add much to the story but I'm sure the author had a reason for it.

I found the descriptions of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the terrible conditions the workers lived, and died in fascinating. As well as the Caroline Astor/Mrs Vanderbilt feud, Gramercy Park and the houses of the wealthy it served, the onset of mechanical taxicabs in New York – green ones not yellow, was so atmospheric I could see it.
This story lots to offer to mystery lovers as well as devotees of old New York and the followers of Freud and Jung.

My only criticism of the story would be that the author pontificates at length on the meaning of Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' speech and his procrastination in killing his uncle and has complicated theories which I couldn't help feeling had no place in this story other than to pad out an already very long book – over 200,000 words.

I would heartily recommend it for all the reasons I stated earlier and felt my skimming through the 'Hamlet' parts didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book at all.
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Sep 19, 2007 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Alienist lovers

Shelves: book-club-picks

First off, in my defense, I took such a long time to read this book for a reason. I only read at the gym. And lately, I have become rather, bouncy, while on the elliptical machine. When I'm bouncy, I can't read because I get seasick. So at first I'm doing ok on the machine, reading away, really into the book, and then suddenly, a bout of bounciness strikes, and I'm forced to close the book and put on my ipod. But tonight I persevered and pushed through said bounciness and kicked this book's ass!...more

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Mar 30, 2010 Mazel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

1909. Freud, accompagné de Ferenczi et Jung, ses disciples, débarque dans l'effervescente New York. Venu donner une série de conférences, il est accueilli par Younger, jeune médecin qui lui fait découvrir la ville en pleine construction, les bas-fonds de Chinatown et les hôtels particuliers de Gramercy Park.

Une visite d'autant plus mémorable que le psychanalyste viennois prend part à une enquête surprenante : le cadavre d'une jeune fille torturée et étranglée vient d'être retrouvé.

Nora Acton,...more

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Dec 05, 2007 minnie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Is it possible to be totally gripped and bored rigid at the same time ? That’s how I was for most of this book, the writing style I found stilted at first but the murder plot kept me going. Ultimately this was a bit of a let down as the plot was so convoluted, all the loose ends were tied up ‘Columbo’ style at the end. The best character was detective Littlemore, he was the only one I had any feeling for, in fact Littlemore and Younger as a detective duo were great. This book is to Psychoanalysi...more

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Mar 11, 2009 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

The premise of this historical first novel is that Sigmund Freud visited America in 1909 to deliver a famous series of lectures (all true). This was his only visit to America, and supposedly he did not form a favorable opinion of the country. The author imagines that while visiting, Freud and his party get involved in a murder investigation, using the still relatively young discipline of psychoanalysis to investigate the crime. Using actual historical figures in literature is a tricky business,...more The premise of this historical first novel is that Sigmund Freud visited America in 1909 to deliver a famous series of lectures (all true). This was his only visit to America, and supposedly he did not form a favorable opinion of the country. The author imagines that while visiting, Freud and his party get involved in a murder investigation, using the still relatively young discipline of psychoanalysis to investigate the crime. Using actual historical figures in literature is a tricky business, especially when a great deal is known about them. The author wisely uses Freud sparingly, as an advisor to his protagonist, who is a young American psychoanalyst. As Freud's party (which includes his protege Carl Jung) arrives in New York, there is a sensational murder of a young socialist. Another woman was found alive, but with no memory of the attack. As the young psychologist begins to work with this woman, with the guidance of Freud, we get a glimpse of the working methods of early psychologists, including Freud's then very controversial ideas that all adult neuroses have their roots in inappropriate sexual feelings, i.e. his Oedipal Complex theory.

The books narration alternates between the first person narration of psychologist Stratham Younger, and the third person, which is a suppressions jarring technique. Suspects to the sadistic attacks pile up, most promisingly a viscous but wealthy business man who supposedly beats his wife and was obsessed with the victim. But there are far too many others, including even the mentally unbalanced Carl Jung who gets very strange treatment here. All of the suspects and misdirections that the author strews about are ultimately distracting. I was dodging red herrings like I was in the middle of a Seattle fish market! The period detail is good, especially in the authors description of the building of the Manhattan Bridge. There is also an interesting running sidebar about the psychology of Hamlet and the meaning of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. Still, it could not make up for the lack of strong narration and the too convenient solution to the mystery. If a reader wants to read something like Carr's The Alienist, they would be better served by Anne Perry or Iain Pears, or better yet, re-reading The Alienist.(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Phoebe rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What a disappointment! I really thought I'd like this because initially it looked like it might be a blend of history, psychology, literature, & criminal investigation. Those things did provide some satisfaction, but at times it read as if the author had simply copy/pasted his college papers on Freud or Hamlet into the text, resulting in a dry, disjointed lack of continuity.

Mostly what ruined this story was the unnecessarily detailed descriptions of the sadistic sexual assaults, described in...more

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Mar 09, 2013 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was the second book in a row that I read to have a cover blurb comparing it to Caleb Carr's The Alienist; the other was Harold Schechter's Nevermore, about Edgar Allan Poe and Davy Crockett ratiocinating together. In this instance the comparison is a little more apt, since the detection is set early in the 20th century and involves not just one but a bunch of mentalists -- in this instance psychoanalysts, among them Freud, Jung and Ferenczi, visiting the US so that Freud could deliver a ser...more This was the second book in a row that I read to have a cover blurb comparing it to Caleb Carr's The Alienist; the other was Harold Schechter's Nevermore, about Edgar Allan Poe and Davy Crockett ratiocinating together. In this instance the comparison is a little more apt, since the detection is set early in the 20th century and involves not just one but a bunch of mentalists -- in this instance psychoanalysts, among them Freud, Jung and Ferenczi, visiting the US so that Freud could deliver a series of lectures and receive an honorary degree. Foremost among these men, in terms of the novel, is the youthful, tyro US psychoanalyst Dr Stratham Younger; it is he who, with ambitious young NYPD detective James Littlemore, solves the case of a young woman found seemingly murdered by a sexual sadist in a doughty Upper West Side apartment block, with a second, similar but fortunately not lethal attack on another young woman soon after in a house adjacent to Gramercy Park. That survivor, Nora Acton, becomes Younger's primary love interest, even as he recognizes that what's going on is, at least on her part, merely transference.

The tale's carried along often with Younger as first-person narrator, often in traditional novelistic third person, and sometimes in the form of highly entertaining third-person infodump, filling in historical and/or psychoanalytic details. In any of these three modes, the text's enormously readable and the mystery engrossing; more accurately, it's the unraveling of the mystery, with layers of understanding of the truth of it being gradually revealed, that engrosses, for the mystery itself is not what it seemed at the outset. In parallel there's an unveiling of the true depths of Nora Acton's personality, through both Younger's stumbling psychoanalytic efforts and his direct romantic interest, that's equally involving. As background we have two linked sets of politicking going on, one concerning the administration of NYC, the other being rooted in the antagonism of traditional US mentalists toward the upstart Viennese discipline with its focus on matters better swept under the carpet.

Unfortunately, the explanation of what's really been going on comes as something of an anticlimax, since it piles implausibility upon implausibility; the fact that it has to be fleshed out to fill perhaps thirty or forty pages in an attempt to stop us throwing the book at the wall in outright disbelief is an indication of the problem. Luckily Rubenfeld's prose was still sufficiently smooth to keep me reading, but it meant that I came away from the book with a far less favourable opinion of it than I'd have thought possible an hour earlier. But it's a sign of the book's strength otherwise that I was genuinely disappointed to discover from the notes at the back that both Stratham Younger and Jimmy Littlemore were, unlike Freud, Jung and the rest (whose roles are fairly minor), entirely fictional characters; they were both that well created on the page.

Rubenfeld has published a follow-up, The Death Instinct, and I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

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Jul 21, 2012 Abdul rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: random

The Interpretation of murder is a story shrouded in mystery, ill will, and love. It's about an up-and-coming detective pairing with a band of infamous psychiatrists and psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. This book is not your usual crime novel; it's synopsis does not do it justice.

My initial reaction from reading this piece of literature was pure fascination. This novel has a multitude of stories within it; the plot divides into a number of miniature plots, each working to hook...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Sheena Lambert rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love a good murder mystery, and throw in a bit of love interest and a semi-factual background and you've written the perfect book for me. But this book wasn't perfect.

The premise of a murder investigation happening under the watchful eyes of Sigmund Freud is a great one, and worked really well. The fact that there is a lot of fact behind this novel makes it intriguing, and the well-described setting of turn-of-the-century New York added to my enjoyment of the read.

However, I found the murder...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Holmes rated it 4 of 5 stars

As a thriller, the book is passable. The plot is quick enough, the characters intriguing enough, the twists and turns surprising enough. But as a detective novel, it is laughable. A good detective novel should make you want to solve the mystery along with the protagonist, and should also leave you ahh-ing and wow-ing when the "master detective" explains his brilliant deductions at the end. But no, this book has the opposite effect on me. The more it is explained at the end, the more incredulity...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Sameen Borker rated it 2 of 5 stars

The book began thus: “There is no mystery to happiness…” Well, there is no mystery in the book either. Except the reasons for even writing one that is so shallow in places where it should have been deep.

The book begins on an extravagant note to anyone who has read the back cover of the book. The abstract of the book sounds grand, makes it appealing and makes you wish you’d get through it in no time. But, alas, the story fizzles out just like the carbon dioxide of a just-opened soda bottle.

And so...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Brenna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one was pure entertainment. When I read the description of this novel, I knew I was going to have to read it: a murder mystery involving Sigmund Freud! And the fun and intriguing background to the novel: Freud visited the United States just once, in 1909, to deliver some lectures at a New England university. When he left, he said many disparaging things about the U.S., and never returned. So the premise for this novel: something awful must have happened during Freud’s visit that gave him su...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Ian Mapp rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 29, 2012 Karen maslen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Experienced readers of crime and thrillers tend to stifle a yawn these days when they encounter a mountain of hype about a new book or author. But the fevered word of mouth that has been generated by Jed Rubenfeld's The Interpretation of Murder is, for once, justified. This is a remarkably ambitious book, taking on a powerful suspenseful narrative, assiduously researched historical detail and a brilliant evocation of time and character. It's not surprising that the book has already been sold in...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

1909; it is Freud' only visit to New York (hated it); psychotherapy has just been introduced. We are all familiar with Freud idealog that all girls lust after their daddies and all boys lust after their mothers no doubt ensuring huge weird curiosity among high school and college students. He is accompanied by protoge Carl Jung whose life work was to bring the "inner space" (unconscious) to consciousness. Jung also was a huge dream interpreter and dreamer, mystic, and witnesses the occasional vis...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Author Jed Rubenfeld (who happens to be husband of the infamous Tiger Mom, Amy Chua) wrote his senior thesis at Princeton on Sigmund Freud and studied Shakespeare at Julliard. (This is all per the author bio in the book). In The Interpretation of Murder, Rubenfeld mixes these two topics to create a 1900's murder mystery in New York City revolving around a real life mystery involving Freud. Apparently, in 1909, Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis and its theory of oedipal complexes, spent a...more Author Jed Rubenfeld (who happens to be husband of the infamous Tiger Mom, Amy Chua) wrote his senior thesis at Princeton on Sigmund Freud and studied Shakespeare at Julliard. (This is all per the author bio in the book). In The Interpretation of Murder, Rubenfeld mixes these two topics to create a 1900's murder mystery in New York City revolving around a real life mystery involving Freud. Apparently, in 1909, Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis and its theory of oedipal complexes, spent a week in America. He never returned, and he henceforth referred to Americans as savages and criminals. Rubenfeld imagines what could have occurred and mixes fact and fiction into an atmospheric tale of murder and psychoanalysis.

On the day that Freud arrives in America along with his colleagues Carl Jung and Sandor Ferenczi, a woman is murdered at the Balmoral hotel in Manhattan. Not long after, another young woman, Nora Acton, is attacked in a similar manner but manages to survive. But her loss of voice and momentary amnesia prevents her from telling who the attacker was. The narrator, Stratham Younger, an American follower of Freud takes on Ms. Acton as a psychoanalytic patient so he can cure her "hysteria" to ultimately help solve the muder.

There really was a lot that went into this book, and I can really appreciate that.. Despite having to study Freud, Jung, and Ferenczi to some extent in school, I really don't know much about them. Knowing who they are and what they were about but not knowing so many other details made the reading slightly frustrating only because I didn't know what was fiction and what wasn't. I suppose it's not really any different than any other historical fiction, but maybe other books that are placed further back in history and who are so much further removed from my knowledge don't matter as much to me. I don't know. But anyway, it was neat to read about the psychoanalysts' view on the events that occurred in the book. Apparently, the character of Nora is based on the actual case study of a client Freud called Dora. The psychoanalysis provided for Nora in the book is actually that of the one Freud really did on Dora... and it's out there! Thanks goodness we have come further than that in the mental health field!

The mystery kept me involved throughout the book but then it became a little confusing for me in the end. There was a "feel" to this story that I don't know what to call. There must be a word or genre to describe it... you know the movie, Clue? It had that feel to me where each of the characters had their own little quirks. There were many characters all sort of running about in the story. And at the end when the mystery is solved, it's incredibly long and complex and the few characters involved basically explain how the whole thing went down. I don't actually prefer mystery novels like that, so the only other gripes I had with this book would be related to that.

Otherwise, I was definitely intrigued by the characters, and I liked the way Rubenfeld incorporated the analysis of Hamlet as well. In many ways, though this was an entertaining mystery, it was also a thought provoking book. I'm so glad the author included a lengthy author's note at the end to explain what, in fact, was truth and not. He also provided follow up information regarding the characters in the book. In addition to the psychoanalysts, many of the other characters were real as well!

Overall, there were things I liked and didn't like about the book so it gets an okay rating from me in terms of story. In terms of writing and research done by author, it was fantastic.

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

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Jan 22, 2012 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing

Wow! I finished this, and wrote the review below, on the day I started it.

Books based on historical figures can fall into two camps: having so much speculation and fiction that one cannot always relate it to the person from the history books or their work (sorry Ms Gregory, but I think your Henry VIII is a bit like this), or making such an effort to base their conversation on things the person actually said that the dialogue becomes stilted or the person comes across as a pompous oaf, rather too...more

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Nov 03, 2011 trav rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, finished-in-2011, read-but-unowned

This was a good vacation read. Nothing fancy, just solid writing, fantastic period detail and good pacing. The story never slowed down, not even on the parts that I didn't really enjoy.

I enjoy a good who-done-it. And this has a very satisfying twist to it and a great "reveal" of the why, when, where, etc.

The hook of the book is that Sigmund Freud himself has been called in to help solve some murders in New York City. The story is based on enough fact to make it really enjoyable. Much like some o...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Charlotte Bird rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting, for sure. It took me a while to figure out the plot twist, which is always a good thing. However, it gets a bit too bogged down in information. Some of the descriptions, such as the one on the Manhatton Bridge, were long enough to make me doze off. The characters arn't especially memorable. Nora is an annoying nitwit, Clara comes across as a brazen twat from the outset and Stratham Younger is uninteresting in the extreme. Whilst there are a few cutting observations on the high socie...more Interesting, for sure. It took me a while to figure out the plot twist, which is always a good thing. However, it gets a bit too bogged down in information. Some of the descriptions, such as the one on the Manhatton Bridge, were long enough to make me doze off. The characters arn't especially memorable. Nora is an annoying nitwit, Clara comes across as a brazen twat from the outset and Stratham Younger is uninteresting in the extreme. Whilst there are a few cutting observations on the high society of the time, it lacks any wit or satire, which as a fan of good old Oscar Wilde , left me disappointed. There is also a tendancy to wander off on an insane tangent, often during Younger's interminable monologues. These often focus on Shakespeare, specifically Hamlett. The book would have been a third less the size if all the pondering over the 'mystery' of Hamlett and what 'to be or not to be' really means had been cut out with a merciful scalpal. Seriously, one paragraph on that was enough.

The Psychological aspects of the book were interesting. Freud's interpretations of the acts don't fit for me, but then they won't to anyone who doesn't credit Freud and his sexual aetiology. Obviously it is fitting that the characters themselves intepret according to the Oedipal Complex, and in fairness it is not necessarilly presented as correct; more an 'interpretation' like the title suggests. A fair few of Younger's later ramblings even address the notion that Freud's theories are actually wrong. The character proposes a mirror image theory, wherein it is the parent who is jealous of the child, which is cetainly an interesting notion.

So, a fairly decent read, especially for a first novel. Rubenfeld definately has a skill for a good mystery plot and I would certainly read any future publications by him. It just gets far too bogged down in details unnecessary to the plot. Rather than recommending this to die-hard crime fans, I would more suggest it for those with an interest in the history of Psychology, as that was certainly the most interesting bit for me.(less)

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Jun 21, 2011 Dana rated it 3 of 5 stars

A young socialite has been strangled. The following night another young woman, Nora Acton is found bound and seriously wounded. She is unable to speak and does not recall her attack at all.

Dr Sigmund Freud and his followers including, Carl Jung have come to visit New York in 1909 to speak at American Universities. Dr. Freud is asked to help Nora but because his visit is temporary he asks his host, psychoanalyst, Dr Stratham Younger, to treat her. Dr Younger finds himself becoming increasingly at...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Lourdes Fernandez Venard rated it 4 of 5 stars

In the book’s beginning, the author tells us the story is loosely based on Sigmund Freud’s real-life visit to the United States, where he was invited to speak at Clark University. The author says something traumatic happened to Freud during his visit; afterward, he referred to Americans as savages and blamed them for his lifelong ailments, many of which he had before his trip. Using that, the author spins a fictional murder case. A young heiress is found bound and strangled in a New York City pe...more

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About Jed Rubenfeld

Jed Rubenfeld a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University and magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School is the author of the hystorical and psychoanalytical novel Intepretation of Murder.

His experience in both Shakespearean Plays and his thesis on Sigmond Frued helped him to make an anlytical yet fictional work; Intepretation of Murder.

A master in the field of Law, he has proved himsel...more

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Freedom and Time: A Theory of Constitutional Self-Government

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“Disgust is so reassuring; it feels like a moral proof.” — 9 people liked it

“Wrong way to think about it. Don't try to figure it out all at once.” — 4 people liked it

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