An Instance of the Fingerpost

An Instance of the Fingerpost (1997) is a historical mystery novel written by Iain Pears.

The story is set in 1663 at and around Oxford University, where lecturer Robert Grove is found poisoned. The narration is provided by the accounts of four of his contemporaries as they relate their actions and the events surrounding the murder, 20 years after it happened.


 * All Women Are Lustful: Anthony Wood says this outright in his account, but this is really the belief underlying all the characters' attitudes towards Sarah. (Except maybe Wallis, who doesn't really seem to care one way or the other about her morals as long as she can be used in his elaborate plot to foil an imaginary assassination attempt.)
 * As the Good Book Says...: Dr. Wallis uses excerpts from The Bible quite liberally. There is also a scene in which two men make a contest out of throwing quotes at each other.
 * Clear My Name
 * Dead Person Impersonation:
 * Eloquent in My Native Tongue: Marco da Cola, a Venetian, also eloquent in Latin
 * Evil Jesuit
 * Historical Fiction
 * Historical Domain Character: Unsurprisingly considering the genre there are quite a few: Of the four viewpoint characters mathematician John Wallis, historian Anthony Wood were actual people. A third, Jack Prescott, is in part based on the life of Richard Willis. A dramatis personae at the end of the book lists the more important recurring historic characters.
 * Literary Allusion Title: The title, as well as short epigraphs for each part of the narration, is taken from Francis Bacon's Novum Organum Scientarum.
 * Messianic Archetype:
 * Miscarriage of Justice: Sarah Blundy
 * Mistaken for Spies: Dr. Wallis believes Marco da Cola to be a spy/assassin.
 * My Girl Is Not a Slut: All of the narrators have pretty unenlightened attitudes towards Sarah because they think she is promiscuous
 * Perfect Poison: (averted) The poison used is a rather large amount of arsenic and what the reader is told of the victim's death doesn't suggest a lack of dramatic physical reactions. The physicians performing the autopsy find residues fairly easy, too.
 * Plea Bargain: The guilty plea earns a 'merciful' death by hanging, before being burned (in contrast to just the latter).
 * Rape as Drama
 * The House of Stuart: The narrative takes place during the early years of Charles II's reign.
 * The Mole: Jack Prescott's narration relates much of his attempts to clear his father, who is assumed to have betrayed his fellow members of the Sealed Knot to Oliver Cromwell.
 * The Rashomon
 * The Scarpia Ultimatum: Sarah thinks that Marco intends this when treating her mother and commenting that he will take his pay later . (She had good reason to think this way, since the last guy who did her a favor and told her to worry about payment later really did expect sex in return.)
 * The Spymaster: John Thurloe
 * Unreliable Narrator: All four of them, though for different reasons.