I thought it was an outstanding book. I could not put it down till I was finished. Makes me want to pack with mules in the outback. What a Gal and her Sister too. Way-to-go Jody. Just wonderful. Thanks

Have you ever dreamed of getting on a horse and just hitting the trail? Especially if you've ever owned your own horse, you'll love sharing the author's experiences. Lots of down to earth and funny stories of Miss Foss' and her sister's life and travels; i highly recommend this book to anyone who shares a love of horses and adventure.

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.

My Mother lent me this book to read, commenting as she did it that the book was "definitely unusual." I'm inclined to agree. While it's basically a mystery novel, most of the time it reads as historical fiction; thoroughly researched and exquisite in detail. Set in early 20th century Vienna, Shields has fictionalized the story of Dora, a case study by Freud, and turned it into a mystery novel that has two crime solvers--with very different approaches-- trying to solve the mystery. The book centers around Erszebet, a Hungarian woman married to the Viennese Inspector in charge of solving Dora's murder. She is consumed with the idea that a fig found in the dead girl's stomach holds the key to solving the crime. Erszebet's investigative techniques run a thin line between superstition and witchcraft, while her Inspector husband tirelessly tries to bring the Vienna police force into the 20th century. Early on, Erszebet enlists the help of a young English governess, Wally, who is definitely under her spell, as is Erszebet's nameless husband. I too found myself spellbound, and although it ran a little slow in the second half, I read it through to the last page--I confess I had to read the ending twice because I found it confusing. Overall it was a good read, and I'm not likely to forget Erszebet anytime soon.

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.