The Fig Eater by Jody Shields 311pages

In 1910 Vienna, a police inspector and his Hungarian wife independently investigate the mysterious murder of a young woman, whose "last meal" consisted of a single fig. Dora was a bit of a hypochondriac and a member of a dysfunctional bourgeois family. He uses cutting edge scientific and forensic techniques from the period which obviously seem archaic if not rather ridiculous to today's viewers of C.S.I.. His Hungarian wife, Erszebet, applies otherworldly techniques, gypsy lore and undercover sleuthing to achieve the same end.The exotic locale and historical perspective make this mystery richly textured and unlike the cookie cutter plots of many popular mystery series. I would recommend this highly to fans of the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson who enjoy a sophisticated, thought provoking crime novel.