Rating: 
Summary: The Fig Eater
Review: This is the stupidest book I have ever read. Totally pointless and boring.
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK
Review: What a waste of the authors time and effort. The concept and research involved in this novel drew me in but eventually I got bored and skimmed large sections. Although there were various lines I was following with enough interest to finish the book I was dismayed at the eventual outcome, which had nothing to do with any of these lines and was totally lame. It made the earlier parts of the book pointless.
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTING BOOK BECAUSE OF UNRESOLVED LOOSE ENDS
Review: Publisher's Weekly got it wrong with its claim of atmospheric suspense. The murder mystery began with a strong opening and then quickly became a plodding chore to read. The principle reason for the change was that there were just too many loose ends. The author provided three potentially interesting tidbits that provided a real opportunity for exploration and yet there was no follow through. The most obvious missing threat was the figs themselves. The reader is left wondering why this very essential part the novel simply disappeared. This was also true of the uniquely introduced subplots of the thumb and syphllis.
The theme of the book had real potential but the delivery was disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: The Fig Eater
Review: A combination of suspense thriller, historical fiction,
who-done-it, this beautifully written and well-researched
novel will place readers in turn of the century Vienna
into a world of murder, folklore and the forensic
science of the day. I have seldom read such a literary
book that has all the page-turner qualities of a modern
suspense thriller, yet evokes its historical
setting so compellingly. I hope Jody Shields writes
more fiction like this!
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Summary: Freud would be proud
Review: Having read "Dora, An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria" the case study "The Fig Eater" is based upon, I found myself enjoying "The Fig Eater" immensely. I understood the complex relationships from having read Freud's work and it made the novel more complex and vivid. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I not read "Dora," because the story of the murder itself isn't that impressive or revolutionary, and I've read better books about Europe in the late 1800's and early 1900's ("Embers" is a must read). If you enjoyed "The Fig Eater," take the time to read "Dora." Each enhances the enjoyment of the other, and makes both interesting and provocative.
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Summary: What About Syphillis, the Fig, and the Thumb?
Review: The Fig Eater by Jody Shields was a fascinating journey through Vienna. The details provided a good visual picture of the city, the characters, the method of crime investigation, and daily life of the period. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. But.....the ending did not deliver. Things that were fascinating such as the search and discovery of both the fig tree and thumb stolen from Dora's corpse were left unresolved.
The title clearly implied that the "fig" was an important element of the plot - it was dropped......who excavated the body and stole the thumb. Clearly the implied murderer was not drawn as a gentlemen capable of getting his hands dirty. So, was it Jofsez the gypsy? How did syphillis figure in? The story seemed to imply that it was going somewhere with the disease. Ultimately, I was disappointed in this book which started out great, held my interest, and fell flat and left me feeling dissatisfied.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but plodding
Review: This book got a lot of advance publicity, and it was based on the hype that I purchased the book in hardcover. I wouldn't advise other readers to do the same. It's an interesting book, an attempt to describe the state of criminal investigation during the Victorian Era, and the advent of psychological profiling. However, there were long stretches of writing, whole pages sometimes, that just went on and on and on - and I skimmed.
Life during the Victorian years proceeded at a more leisurely pace than it does in our own era, but lordy, does the writing about it have to be just as slow?
I think not.
Rating: 
Summary: A historical fiction lover¿s feast!
Review: All I can say about this book can be summed up in one word: WOW! I was so impressed with The Fig Eater; I can't believe I let it sit on my bookshelf untouched for so long. Everything about it was wonderful: the suspensful storyline, historical setting, and the obviously researched details in the writing. My only regret is that there aren't any more books by this amazing, talented author.The Fig Eater opens with a puzzling murder. Eighteen-year-old Dora is found dead in an Austrian city park with no clues as to who did it or why. The Inspector in brought in for the investigation, and the suspensful journey begins. The rest of the novel details the protocol for an investigation and what evidence in uncovered along the way. But not only do we get involved in the official side of things, readers are treated to the amateur sleuthing of the Inspector's wife, Erzebet, and her secret desire to find out what happened to poor Dora. The Fig Eater opens up a world of an early 20th century crime investigation; Gypsy talismans, superstitions, and rituals; and sexual secrets. I loved everything about this book. I was on the edge of my seat most of the time, waiting for the outcome to come to light. Jody Shields is an incredible author -- her writing is richly detailed and exquisitely rendered. The 1910 Viennese landscape created an atmosphere that was very much 3-D for me, which, in my opinion, is very rare. Kudos to Jody, and a desperate plea from me: write more soon!
Rating:
Summary: The Fig Eater
Review: I was very consumed by the reading of this book. I was compelled to read as the interesting story unfolded. There were Holmes-like crime solving techniques and old fashioned investigating that made it a very engrossing book. However, I have yet to decide if the book was worth it in the end. There are a number of details that are completely unresolved and that are thrown in and given enough attention to in the formulation of the plot to warrent an explanation. As in real crime solving, there are many clues that are followed but that lead nowhere, which is entirely believable. However, there are some fundamental superstitious clues left behind at the scene of the crime that are never tied up. I would have liked to have some resolution to their inclusion in the book in the first place if they were not going to be relevant.
Rating:
Summary: Missing pieces...but still very good..
Review: I must state for the record, that this book will grab you from the very first page and keep you there to the very last, and never once satisfy you fully. I enjoyed it only because I was waiting throughout the entire book for the clues and the puzzle to be put together... I was satisfied, but never the way the first paragraph promised me.
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