Browsing the Bookshelves

The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

I enjoyed reading The Interpretation of Murder but for all the wrong reasons. Rubenfield writes reasonably well and the atmosphere he evokes of turn of the century high society in New York is engaging even if it’s one-dimensional. The interweaving of the (historically inaccurate) break up between Freud and Jung is interesting and the application of psycho-analysis to otherwise straightforward detective fiction is just about enough to make it stand out from the crowd. But all these good points are side issues – or at least should be – to really strong detective fiction, and it’s this aspect of the novel which lets it down. The plot is utterly unbelievable, the development too slow-weighted down by far too much discussion of Hamlet-and the end is like something out of a b-rate comic whose editor finds he has to cut the last 4 pages.

The high point of the novel for me was the interesting take on the relationship, albeit contracted, between Freud and Jung. Surely there was enough material there alone for a good, short novel? But it’s dealt with within a few pages, randomly dotted across the course of other devious, often pointless, plot turns. And the character of Detective Litttlemore is enjoyable, but he’s left a carbon cut out while attention is given to far less interesting and less plot-dependent characters.

If you like your thrillers intermingled with history, try Michael Frayn’s Headlong instead.