The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder tells the story of Sigmund Freud (the famous Psychoanalyst) and his first and only trip to America. Freud said that he had experienced a traumatic event there, and his opinion of America was not the same afterwards. It is this trauma that Rubenfeld plays out. And what a dramatic one it is.

If you're interesting in an American version of a Sherlock Holmes style Murder Mystery featuring Freud and his theories then this is the book for you.

But if you're not interested in Psychology I suggest you don't read it. Even I, a student partially studying psychology and fascinated by Freud and his odd ideas, found some theoretical conversations a little hard to chew.

Book Cover.

This book covers a little bit of everything: from Relationships and Love to New York history, and then to medicine and therapies, and then to Shakespeare's Hamlet? But most of all covering the murder mystery themes of crime and detection.

I found this book to be a little slow at the beginning, and a little too fast with the whole explanation of what had happened at the end, but that is usually how murder mysteries pan out anyway. The part where usually Sherlock Holmes would remind us of small things that his clever mind had picked up. Except the protagonist is more likeable than Mr Holmes.

The story, however, was told wonderfully. I'd say it was very, very clever. Of course having read this book before, I was not surprised at the twists and turns it was making, but originally remember being slightly shocked and very much enjoyed fitting all of the pieces together in my head.

So, owing to the fact that I enjoyed it, but that I expect quite a lot of people may not, I'm giving this book 3 and a half stars.

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The wikipedia page for The Interpretation of Murder can be found HERE.