An Instance of the Fingerpost

One of the very best historical novels ever written – Tom Holland
The kind of book that 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 *
Pear’s novel interweaves the grand narratives and the personal tragedies of history with a slippery thriller of audacious ingenuity * Independent on Sunday *
A deeply scholarly thriller, but with the learning worn lightly and all the elements of the plot clicking together smoothly * Independent *
The best fiction I have read in a long time * Times Literary Supplement, Books of the Year *
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 *
A fictional tour de force which combines erudition with mystery
Brilliantly researched and imagined…a remarkable achievement * Sunday Telegraph *

Iain Pears was born in 1955. He is the author of seven detective novels, a book of art history and countless articles on artistic, financial and historical subjects, and five novels: An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Dream of Scipio, The Portrait, Stone’s Fall, and Arcadia.

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