Possessions
All similarities betweenPossessionsand your average hard-boiled  detective novel end with the headless corpse that shows up at the beginning of Julia  Kristeva's novel. Kristeva, you see, is not your average writer of detective fiction. She is  a psychoanalyst and linguistic theorist, the author of books on both language and  depression--two themes she weaves through this intellectual mystery. The tale begins  with Gloria Harrison, a translator who is murdered and decapitated after a dinner party.  Enter Stephanie Delacour, an old friend of the victim and a journalist with a nose for  murder. Though Kristeva has provided all the necessary components for a standard  mystery--a victim, several suspects, and a detective--she seems far more interested in  exploring the psychological issues surrounding her characters than the crime itself. The  pages ofPossessionsare filled with reflections on motherhood, depression,  semiotics, and more. So if you're looking for a mystery novel that will stimulate your  brain rather than your adrenaline production,Possessionsis a good place to start.