Have recently finished this wonderful page-turner on the recommendation of the Richard & Judy Book Club. I really enjoyed it; I'm facinated with all things in connection with New York having recently made my first trip to this adrenalin packed city. When will we see your second novel; I personally can't wait, out strips CSI New York any day.

Dear Jed,

Thank you for a most entertaining read. The book is truly fantastic. Its begging to be made into a movie!!
The plot, the twists and the style of writing is spell-binding.

Regards,

Rishi Zaveri

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this book and am recommending it to people every-where.

Like a previous post I would love to see a series with Younger and Littlemore working together.

One question: when including actual people as characters in a fictional work do you have to gain permission from the estate of the person or does the fictional nature of the story make that un-necessary?

Looking forward to future works, all the best from the UK.

Congratulations! I really enjoyed the book: plot, historical setting revealing that research was really thouroughly conducted, strong and lovable characters. A real page-turner that I wished would last longer.

Read it at a sitting on my day off. Thought-provoking and apparently meticulously researched so was struck to be told the age of majority in New York in 1909 was only 18. Was this really so?

A very compelling read with brilliant referencing to psychological theories, Shakespeare's Hamlet and the history of New York. I thank you for I will be checking up on my Shakespearian plays and Psychological theories of Freund to make sure you're not making it all up. I couldn't put the book down once half way through as the twists and turns started to appear which I really didn't expect! Bravo.

After hearing the reviews of this book on Richard & Judy i went out and purchased it immediately.
I found it fascinating and couldnt wait to get home each day to read it.
Cant wait for the next book to come out.

Not usually one to read mysteries, this has changed my mind, it's brilliantly written, facinating and gripping. Couldn't put it down. A masterpiece!!

Ask Jed questions about this book in our live chat at 6pm Wednesday 31st January (GMT).

Absolutely loved this book, a gripping mystery with an interesting psychological slant, and I found the description of New York at the beginning of the C20 fascinating.

A quite brilliant work.
And for me all the more remarkable for being written by a member of my former profession, not one noted for the literary merits of its devotees.
May not make the author a sqillionaire, although I trust it does, but it ought to give Mr Grisham and his mechanical clones a lot to worry about.

When will your next novel be coming out? Mysteries written during this particular time period are fascinating. Now we have Caleb Carr and you..how lucky we are...thank you for a most enjoyable read.

The best book I have read for ages. Remember all those books that promise a twist on every page and then don't live up to the promise? Well here's one that comes darn close to that twist on every page. Absolutely brilliant. I loved it. It should become a best seller.
But...
It's probably a little too intellectual to outsell the potboilers.

What fun! I particularly enjoyed your photo trick, having been in the business. And the Shakespeare and classical references were appreciated. Question: on page 352 - How did Nora get the burn mark - were both Hugel and Banwell in her room for the second attack?
Hugel did not complete his plan, and Nora feigned loss of memory? Yet she was also having an out of body experience due to chloroform when she was burned by Banwell?
I lost the thread....
I am happy to have a copy with a signed bookplate - I hope I get it back - because I definitely will be passing it around!
kj

Enjoyed it immensely.
When is the movie coming out and who will play Freud?

I love books that are educational as well as suspenseful! A great mystery. I was sorry to finish reading this book. Are you working on another one? I hope so, and I can't wait!

"...love is a crisis of the soul."
This book is poetry and Homeric myth. The plot serves as a vehicle but drives the imagination like a Porsche.
Clara's beauty being made so real, her nature later revealed as a woman swallowed whole in country matters, makes her disturbingly familiar.

ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT...
I listened to this book! The story sucked me in holding my attention until I had heard every last word! The narrator Kirby Heyborne did an amazing job with all the voices and truely helped me to understand the character through their accents.
If you don't like to read... Listen to it!

One of the best books mystery books I have read in several months. Reading late at night, I could not believe what happened to Littlemore. Did not get back to the book until the following evening. I thought about that incident the entire next day and ran to the book as soon as I got home.

I loved it. Took me only two days to read. Well-written, intriguing, and definately worth the time it takes to read. It kept me guessing until the very end.
I enjoyed how much explanation there was on Freud's work, when it applied. Some books write about things, and you have to go look them up yourself. But not this book.
How much of the rethinking of Freud's Hamlet analysis, and Oedipal complex theory, did you concieve on your own?

A wonderful intertwining of historical fact and Mr. Rubenfeld's splendid enrichments. Having spent many pleasant hours enjoying the book, I found myself driven to the internet to research the background stories. Thank you for a great time. "Sometimes a catarrh is just a catarrh." What a hoot!

I loved it. Reminded me of The Alienist (obviously) and Devil in the White City. But one NY question: Early on, there was reference to a restaurant, I think, at 53rd and 5th with a view of the Park. What Park?

Thoroughly enjoyed it and like another poster I intend to re-read it immediately.
Another book I'm reminded of from a few years back is Caleb Carr's The Alienist. Similar painstaking research to New York end of the 19th century, similar public dismissal of Psychology and forensics, and similarly unputdownable.

Received my book two weeks ago. I found it an interesting read. The trivia about New York City was mind boggling. I can imagine the research involved.
The murder and psychiatric aspects kept you guessing.
This is a book I will recommend to all my friends.

Your book is terrific! I wish you much success with your future in writing, by all accounts it should be bright!

Echoing a previous post, I have been in analysis for several years and found the insights in the book to be excellent. However, Younger's reinterpretation of the Oedipal complex didn't work for me because the reversal of the father-son Oedipal hostility would make it impossible for the son to resolve his castration anxiety since the source of the anxiety would be inside his actual father, unless of course, the son killed the actual father and ended the projection. I am certain I have resolved cases of castration anxiety through analysis, and yet my actual father still lives (though I'm sure he claims I'm simply killing him slowly by becoming an artist).

As you likely get dozens of questions everyday on psychoanalytic points such as this, I won't elaborate further. My words would be better spent congratulating you once again on a brilliant and entertaining novel and sending best wishes for your success!

Thank you for this absolutely delicious novel! Write another.

Just finished the book...I loved it!

THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER is fantastic! This was the first time I have ever immediately reread a book to be sure I hadn't missed anything. The second read was as interesting and pleasurable as the first.

As a person who spent several years in analysis, I have to wonder if you were able to gain all the necessary insight for the book through study and research or whether you benefitted from a personal psychoanalytic experience.

Are you willing to share the answer with the readers? Thanks...

I knew the author had researched his topic well when he (correctly) made the remark about Waldorf salad. But I have to point out that G. Stanley Hall would never have turned down Freud's lectures because he feared public reaction. Hall was an original -- a wild man -- who wrote and spoke about sexual issues in a way that few in his time did.

Wow. What a book. Great characters, history and plot twists and wonderful writing. Thought I had it figured out many times, but even to the end you got me. Thanks

I'm an artist and have an e-newsleter where I talk about all kind of things, including literature. I'll be sure to add you to the top of "What to read Next!"

By the way, what is next? I would love to see a series with Littlemore and Younger in cahoots.

Again thanks for 3 sleeplesss nights. ( I stretched it out)
Mike Savage
Westwood, KS

P.S. Visit my site and check-it out:www.sav-art.com

Great story, great plot, altogether an exhillarating read. I hope, however, Professor Rubenfleld will consult Brenda Maddox's recent biography of Ernest Jones in order to correct the biographical detail with respect to the latter's appearance - good looking and slender, not chinless or at all stout; and age - Jones was 27 in 1906 not 40. Jones, not Freud, should also be credited with the first public lecture in the USA on psychoanalysis given in May 1906 to the American Therapeutic Society in New Haven.