Rating: 
Summary: Who Gives A Fig?!?!?!
Review: As someone who loves mysteries, and adored "The Alienist" particularly, this book was a huge disappointment to me. There were too many loose ends which Shields deliberately left undone. It was pretty mystifying wondering why Shields chose to weave the story together the way she did...it's not a satisfying way to construct a novel at all. I re-read the last few pages over and over again wondering at first "Did I miss something here?"However, the way Shields evoked Vienna made me want to visit. She has a real talent for bringing a place to life even though most of her characters seem pretty wooden and aren't filled out enough. It also made me want to read more about Freud's "Dora" which was a more interesting character then the sketched out murder victim in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Sinking into 1910 Vienna
Review: This is not a book that everyone will like or persevere through. There are several reasons I like it. When I finish a book, I ask myself "Am I glad i read this book" or "I wish I hadn't picked it up." I did enjoy the book.. I have always been fascinated by the turn of the century in Europe. The author really settles the reader into the Vienna of 1910: the sounds, music, food (espeicially the food), the people and their traits, the city itself. She even provides a map. The book is a mysery, one that evolves in a very gradual, languorous manner. Two people are trying the discover the murderer, the Inspector and his Hungarian wife. He is very methodical, mindful, sifting through every bit of evidence using the latest thinking of the criminologists of his time. She is impulsive, imaginative, emotional and very much a believer in "signs" and in the folklore and divinations of her Hungarian culture. This dual track of solving the crime I found fascinating. The novel has an almost dreamy quality about it. The reader may feels her is floating on a drifting barge immersed in the life and time and beliefs of 1910 Vienna. The book's evocation of atmosphere and characters interested me at least as much as the mystery. ( I usually don't try to figure out mystery.) As for the ending, it is one of those that leaves the reader a little mystified. Something I like.
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to throw it against the wall too
Review: After I bought the book, not secondhand unfortunately, I went online and saw your reviews. I just glanced at the star rating and decided not to read the text of the reviews until I was finished. I was rapt through much of the book but the story did not tie together and what was the purpose of the fig after all the focus? I was so disappointed when I finished the book. My expectations were higher.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: Extremely disjointed and full of incomplete thoughts.
This book had an interesting premise though.
Rating:
Summary: Intriquing beginning, disappointing ending
Review: The plot of this book seemed interesting and unique to me, so I decided to purchase it (second-hand, thankfully) and give it a read. At first I was caught up with the discovery of the body of a young woman murdered and the beginnings of a murder investigation. Beyond that everything went off-kilter.
The characters are not developed fully and I could not identify with any of them. I felt as though a string of eccentrics were passing by a window and I was simply watching the movements. I truly didn't care about any of these people or if Dora's murder was ever solved.
The author leaves entirely too many ends unraveled. She brings up interesting tidbits, enticing the reader to believe these are important clues, only to leave them without any resolution. I can respect an author attempting to put the reader off onto another trail, but some of these clues are so obscure as to leave the reader questioning why it was even brought up in the first place.
As far as a "who done it", it is far too simple to solve. I had the "mystery" uncovered roughly mid-way through the book, but because I am usually so dense with these things, I kept reading hoping it would turn out to be some one else. When it was the person I believed it to be, I was totally dissatisfied. The joy of reading a murder mystery is to have some one revealed who a reader never expected.
I have to admit that the auther did a great job of describing Vienna at the turn of last century and that did hold my interest. Also, the excerpts from an old police crime "how to" book was somewhat interesting. It is for these two things that I'm giving this 2 stars. Outside of that, maybe 1 star.
Save your money and pass this one by.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: To compare this book to The Alienist is a crime, no pun intended. I am in agreement with the other readers who thought this book needed an editor, or a better editor. So many great things could have been done with this material. There were so many loose ends that went unresolved. When I finished the book, I threw it against the wall.
Rating: 
Summary: A fascinating look at 1910's Vienna
Review: This is a moody and slow moving tale, highlighting much research on early 20th century police work, gypsies and their superstitions and, of course, Freud's famous first case of "Dora". Dora, in this telling, is the murder victim, found in Volksgarten Park near the Imperial Palace. The story details the meticulous work of the police inspector leading the investigation but the leading character is his wife, Erszebet. She takes every opportunity to read his case notes and to investigate on her own, with the help of an English governess, Wally. The story is lush with the heady atmosphere of early Vienna, rich Hungarian food, fortune telling, the coming war and layered over it the bible of detective work of that era, the police manual, System der Krimlalistik by Hans Gross. The manual is interestingly modern and surprisingly aware of the psychological aspects of crime. The methodology and forensics of detective work are still very much in their infancy, though. Particularly the photography of the era was not only primitive but also dangerous.
The story is atmospheric and almost dreamy, on occasion but also never fails to hint and sometime skirts around sexual perversions and diseases. It is interesting how the author sometimes subtly and often overtly, highlights the prejudices against women and minorities of that period. It could be argued that we have not progressed much farther in that regard in the ensuing 94 years.
I read this book because I am very much a mystery fan and expected that the book would fall into that category. The novel fails on some levels to be a satisfying mystery novel but suceeds extremely well as an evocative picture of another era.
Rating:
Summary: Who Gives A Fig?!?!?!
Review: As someone who loves mysteries, and adored "The Alienist" particularly, this book was a huge disappointment to me. There were too many loose ends which Shields deliberately left undone. It was pretty mystifying wondering why Shields chose to weave the story together the way she did...it's not a satisfying way to construct a novel at all. I re-read the last few pages over and over again wondering at first "Did I miss something here?" However, the way Shields evoked Vienna made me want to visit. She has a real talent for bringing a place to life even though most of her characters seem pretty wooden and aren't filled out enough. It also made me want to read more about Freud's "Dora" which was a more interesting character then the sketched out murder victim in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: not a cozy mystery
Review: I have owned this book for years but it just never begged me to read it. Having run out of things to read around the house, I reluctantly picked it up, and was not disappointed. I was soon engrossed in this book and it's fascinating details of early forensic science, which were not belabored (in my opinion) but simply explained and quite ingenious considering what they had to work with at the time. I was also fascinated by the eccentricities of the main female character who has many superstitions and customs in rigorous accordance to her Hungarian gypsy upbringing, and yet she is also very instinctive and intuitive and this helps her to move toward solving this crime. And it was good to see a woman so independent and strong in a society that was very oppressive to women. She is moody and not apologetic about it. She is resentful of the way society treats women, but she has been clever enough to choose a husband for herself who respects her very much, in every way, and whom she also loves. However, I did not like the ending, and was sorry that such a brilliant book ended in this rather abrupt and somewhat disappointing way. However, it's not the ultimate conclusion that was disappointing, just the way it was written. So, I could not let the quick ending take too much away from the very interesting journey of reading this book. I take away only one star for the ending. I respect the opinion of others and this is a somewhat unusual book. But I think a book is good if it keeps you wanting to see what's around the next corner, and if you care enough to want to know what will happen to your favorite characters, and The Fig Eater fits this bill for me.
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