An Instance of the Fingerpost - Hardcover

Iain Pears

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573220825 ISBN 13: 9781573220828

Publisher: Riverhead Books, 1998

Synopsis

We are in Oxford in the 1660s - a time, and place, of great intellectual, scientific, religious and political ferment. Robert Grove, a fellow of New College is found dead in suspicious circumstances. A young woman is accused of his murder. We hear about the events surrounding his death from four witnesses: Marco da Cola, a Venetian Catholic intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; Jack Prescott, the son of a supposed traitor to the Royalist cause determined to vindicate his father; John Wallis, chief cryptographer to both Cromwell and Charles II, a mathematician, theologican and inveterate plotter; and Anthony Wood, the famous Oxford antiquary. Each witness tells their version of what happened. Only one reveals the extraordinary truth. "An Instance of the Fingerpost" is a magnificent "tour de force" an utterly compelling historical mystery story with a plot that twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing until the very last page. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

About this title

Review:

An Instance of the Fingerpost is that rarest of all possible literary beasts--a mystery powered as much by ideas as by suspects, autopsies and smoking guns. Hefty, intricately plotted, and intellectually ambitious, Fingerpost has drawn the inevitable comparisons to Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose; and, for once, the comparison is apt.

The year is 1663, and the setting is Oxford, England, during the height of Restoration political intrigue. When Dr Robert Grove is found dead in his Oxford room, hands clenched and face frozen in a rictus of pain, all the signs point to poison. Rashomon- like, the narrative circles around Grove's murder as four different characters give their version of events: Marco da Cola, a visiting Italian physician--or so he would like the reader to believe; Jack Prestcott, the son of a traitor who fled the country to avoid execution; Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician and cryptographer with a predilection for conspiracy theories; and Anthony Wood, a mild- mannered Oxford antiquarian whose tale proves to be the book's "instance of the fingerpost" (the quote comes from the philosopher Bacon, who, while asserting that all evidence is ultimately fallible, allows for "one instance of a fingerpost that points in one direction only, and allows of no other possibility").

Like The Name of the Rose, this is one whodunit in which the principal mystery is the nature of truth itself. Along the way, Pears displays a keen eye for period details as diverse as the early days of medicine, the convoluted politics of the English Civil War, and the newfangled fashion for wigs. Yet Pears never loses sight of his characters, who manage to be both utterly authentic denizens of the 17th century and utterly authentic human beings. As a mystery, An Instance of the Fingerpost is entertainment of the most intelligent sort; as a novel of ideas, it proves equally satisfying.

Review:

"Enthralling". -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"May well be the best 'historical mystery' ever written."--"The Sunday Boston Globe"
"Ingenious."--"The Philadelphia Inquirer"
"[A] crafty, utterly mesmerizing intellectual thriller...Don't miss it." --"The Washington Post Book World"
"If you liked Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose," you should run to buy Iain Pears's lavishly erudite historical mystery." --"The New York Times"
"Fascinating...quite extraordinary...elevates the murder mystery to the category of high art." --"Los Angeles"
"Extraordinary...this thriller brings not merely a huge cast of characters but a whole century vividly to life." --"Newsweek"
"[A] novel that will have you sitting up all night and calling in sick the next day. It's that hard to put down." --"Houston Chronicle"
"Enthralling." --"San Francisco Chronicle Book Review"

May well be the best historical mystery ever written. The Sunday Boston Globe
Ingenious. The Philadelphia Inquirer
[A] crafty, utterly mesmerizing intellectual thriller Don t miss it. The Washington Post Book World
If you liked Umberto Eco s The Name of the Rose, you should run to buy Iain Pears s lavishly erudite historical mystery. The New York Times
Fascinating quite extraordinary elevates the murder mystery to the category of high art. Los Angeles
Extraordinary this thriller brings not merely a huge cast of characters but a whole century vividly to life. Newsweek
[A] novel that will have you sitting up all night and calling in sick the next day. It s that hard to put down. Houston Chronicle
Enthralling. San Francisco Chronicle Book Review"

-May well be the best 'historical mystery' ever written.---The Sunday Boston Globe
-Ingenious.---The Philadelphia Inquirer
-[A] crafty, utterly mesmerizing intellectual thriller...Don't miss it.- --The Washington Post Book World
-If you liked Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, you should run to buy Iain Pears's lavishly erudite historical mystery.- --The New York Times
-Fascinating...quite extraordinary...elevates the murder mystery to the category of high art.- --Los Angeles
-Extraordinary...this thriller brings not merely a huge cast of characters but a whole century vividly to life.- --Newsweek
-[A] novel that will have you sitting up all night and calling in sick the next day. It's that hard to put down.- --Houston Chronicle
-Enthralling.- --San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1573220825
• ISBN 13: 9781573220828
• Binding: Hardcover