I mostly enjoyed this book, and it is certainly interesting to see how the four disparate accounts fit together in the end. There is an awful lot of information to keep straight, and at the same time I got tired of reading about the same story over and over again (despite the differences). A neat mystery, but one I was ready to be done with. ( )

"The Idols of the Theatre have got into the human Mind from the different Tenets of Philosophers and the perverted Laws of Demonstration. All Philosophies hitherto have been so many Stage Plays, having shewn nothing but fictitious and theatrical Worlds." - Francis Bacon

Four characters in turn tell of the same seditious events surrounding the Restoration of the Monarchy in seventeenth century England. A man is murdered and woman is hanged for the crime, but each retelling reveals more layers of truth, turning the plot on its head over and over. On the face of it, it's a mystery story of exceeding complexity, relying on the seductive power of the unreliable narrator(s) and an oppressive, world-worn, historical atmosphere that totally convinces. The oppositions of the Anabaptists and the Royal Society, of Cromwell and King Charles, the ideas of Descartes and Bacon, give the setting real depth. The details of the scholarship however are lightly worn, even with the presentation of real people as cameo characters, which I often find leaves authors prone to caricature. But not here.

There is also something to be said of it as a novel of ideas in its own right. The discussions of the nature of knowledge, scientific and religious, and the purpose of historical writing are woven in to the story with skill, and never appear clunky or bolted on. But as with the other Pears novel I have read, The Dream of Scipio, it is the subtleties of the emotional relationships which leave the most lasting impression. All round he shows lightness of touch in what could be worked up into very heavy subject matter indeed. A clever and rewarding novel.

Immensely enjoyable in a deep intellectual sort of way. Very reminiscent of John Fowles' A Maggot. Really doesn't matter how it ends - you just enjoy having been dropped into this world. ( )

Against the backdrop of the political and social turmoil associated with the English Restoration in the 1660s, Iain Pears presents a mystery drama, viewed through the eyes of four different players. The jovial Italian traveller da Cola begins, then the passionate Prestcott desperate to clear his father's name, the self-important philosopher Dr Wallis, and lastly the enigmatic historian Anthony Wood. But nothing is ever as it seems in this book of twist and counter twist, where fate and consequence inexorably tie a murder and its judicial resolution to court intrigue and the most dangerous of secrets.

There is a fascinating history lesson buried in among the red herrings with famous 17th century "enlightened" scientists playing bit parts to give this intriguing whodunnit a rich and dense backdrop. The murder is solved by the four different players in turn - each successive explanation contradicts the previous "truths", undermines the credibility of the previous narrator and really challenges the accuracy of historical perspectives in general. The plot clicks nicely in to place with 'the instance of the fingerpost', Bacon's term for the true account. The revelation in the final part of the story was masterful.

This tale can also be viewed as four mini-autobiographies. Although each one concentrates largely on the period surrounding the murder, you learn an awful amount about the period in which the book is set. All four sections are fascinating, with something for everyone.

This is a dark theme but Pears has great fun and is in playful form. From da Cola's concealment, through Prescott's madness, Wallis' darkness and eventually Wood's love, this novel is a tour de force of how it should be done. There is comedy, intrigue, romance, philosophy and a host of good characters - spies, scholars, madmen, medics, revolutionaries and clerics and the period atmosphere is excellent. ( )

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.