num_pages: 698
description: 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.
language: English
title: An Instance of the Fingerpost
titlecomplete: An Instance of the Fingerpost
genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery, British Literature, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Novels, Historical Fiction, Crime
ratings_count: 25086
places: England, Oxford University, Oxford, England, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, Oxfordshire, England
awards: awardedAt: 915177600000
name: Martin Beck Award
publisher: Vintage