Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost (USA 2000)

From the Publisher:
A New York Times Notable Book
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 lain 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 Times Book Review

"It is 1663, and England is wracked with intrigue and civil strife. When an Oxford don is murdered, it seems at first that the incident can have nothing to do with great matters of church and state. Who poured the arsenic into the victim's brandy? The evidence points to Sarah Blundy, a servant girl... She confesses to the crime and is sentenced to be hanged.
      "Yet, little is as it seems in this gripping novel, which dramatizes the ways in which witnesses can see the same events yet remember them falsely. Each of four narrators -- a Venetian medical student, a young man intent on proving his late father innocent of treason, a cryptographer and an archivist-fingers a different culprit... an erudite and entertaining tour de force." -- People

"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

Named one of the New York Public Library's Books to Remember from 1998

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost. Riverhead Books, ISBN: 1573227951 (April, 2000), 691 p., $14.95.

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost (USA 1999)

From the Publisher:
[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 lain 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 Times Book Review

"It is 1663, and England is wracked with intrigue and civil strife. When an Oxford don is murdered, it seems at first that the incident can have nothing to do with great matters of church and state. Who poured the arsenic into the victim's brandy? The evidence points to Sarah Blundy, a servant girl... She confesses to the crime and is sentenced to be hanged.
      "Yet, little is as it seems in this gripping novel, which dramatizes the ways in which witnesses can see the same events yet remember them falsely. Each of four narrators -- a Venetian medical student, a young man intent on proving his late father innocent of treason, a cryptographer and an archivist-fingers a different culprit... an erudite and entertaining tour de force." -- People

"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

A Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost. Berkley Books, ISBN: 0425167720 (March, 1999), 735 p., $7.99.

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost (UK 1998)

From the Publisher:
'Anyone who reads this will want to tell their friends about it... This is a novel that combines the simple pleasures of Agatha Christie with the intellectual subtlety of Umberto Eco... don't let it pass by unread' -- Sunday Times

'The kind of book which has you reading it by torchlight under the bedclothes. An historical detective story set to rival The Name of the Rose, it provides the rare pleasure of combining an intricate plot with insight into the political intrigues of Restoration England' -- The Times

'Pears brings to life a vibrant 17th-century world... a tour de force' -- Daily Telegraph

'A deeply scholarly thriller, but with the learning worn lightly and all the elements of the plot clicking together smoothly' -- Independent

'Pears' novel interweaves the grand narratives and the personal tragedies of history with a slippery thriller of audacious ingenuity' -- Independent on Sunday

'Brilliantly researched and imagined... a remarkable achievement' -- Sunday Telegraph

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost. Vintage Books, ISBN: 009975181X (September, 1998), 698 p., £6.99.

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost (USA 1998)

From the Publisher:
"A major literary event." -- Booklost (starred)
We are in England in the 1660s. Charles II has been restored to the throne following years of civil war and Oliver Cromwell's short lived republic. Oxford is the intellectual seat of the country, a place of great scientific, religious, and political ferment. A fellow of New College is found dead in suspicious circumstances. A young woman is accused of his murder.

We hear the story of the death from four witnesses: an Italian physician intent on claim ing credit for the invention of blood transfusion; the son of an alleged Royalist traitor; a master cryptographer who has worked for both Cromwell and the king; and a renowned Oxford antiquarian. Each tells his own version of what happened. Only one reveals the extra- ordinary truth.

An Instance of the Fingerpost is an ingenious tour de force: an utterly compelling historical mystery with a plot that twists and turns and keeps the reader guessing until the very last page.

"A murder mystery set in Oxford in the seventeenth century... it boldly takes up a period that might be considered the apex of English literary culture... A whopping good read of Dickensian breadth. Deftly plotted, briskly written... Pears has brass and talent to spare." -- Newsweek

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost. Riverhead Books, ISBN: 1573220825 (March, 1998), 691 p., $27.00.

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost (UK 1997)

From the Publisher:
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 Venet ian Catholic intent on claiming credit for the invention of blood transfusion; Jack Prestcott, 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, theologian 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.

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost. Jonathan Cape, ISBN: 0224044664 (September, 1997), 698 p., £16.99.