An Instance of the Fingerpost

Why it’s on the list: A murder in Restoration Oxford told four times by four narrators, each of whom believes he has the whole story. Set in the world of the early Royal Society — Boyle, Locke, Wren circle around the plot — so the period’s argument about what counts as evidence is the novel’s actual subject.

Where I heard about it

• Replies to @moseskagan — named in the answers to his question “What historical fiction should I read next? (Bonus points for something involving building or trade, rather than violence)” (the thread, April 2025). The full list of replies is on What historical fiction should I… (tweet).

Connections

• Republic of Letters — the early Royal Society milieu the novel is set inside.
• Isaac Newton — a contemporary of the natural philosophers who populate the book.
• Historical Fiction — the genre the thread was asking about.
• What historical fiction should I… (tweet) — the thread this recommendation came from.