March Mystery Madness - Book Review: An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
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- čas přidán 24. 03. 2020
- #MarchMysteryMadness #booktube
My review of The Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears.
Books mentioned:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Conan Doyle
An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears
/ janellehoos
'An Instance of the Fingerpost' has always caught my eye. Maybe one of these days. The time period is also of interest to me as one of my favorite movies from the 40s is 'Forever Amber' with Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde, the Restoration with George Sanders as Charles II. A romance, it includes the London fire and the plague time. It was made from the book 'Forever Amber' by Kathleen Winsor (1944) which was widely banned when it was published. Also, a few Booktubers have been reading the 'Cromwell Trilogy' by Hilary Mantel Jan-Mar this year: 'Wolf Hall', 'Bring Up the Bodies' and 'The Mirror and the Light' (just published). Also, I love the Sherlock Holmes story 'The Musgrave Ritual' that involves this time period.
I have Forever Amber - I found it at book sale a while ago but haven't read it yet. Why was it banned?
@@TooFondofBooksJH Amber uses her beauty to social climb in order to gain the love of a man with whom she is obsessed, so it would have been risque for the day. But women had so little recourse. You have to hand it to her for her resolve. I found the movie on CZcams (1947) if you want to watch. It is fairly long and in beautiful color. As a matter of fact, I just started watching it and will revisit it over the next few days. It has a sad ending (actually it had two endings shot by the studio). I wish that it had a sequel as I envision Amber not being ultimately thwarted. Also, the story shows how Virginia was settled by the English as a colony, which ties in with the Rita Mae Brown series, the state the author is so historically proud.
@@thestudiointhelibrary1387 That's so interesting! Another book to put on my list of books to read sooner than later!
Today I am reading 'Tail Gait' by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown (a Mrs. Murphy Mystery). First line: Lieutenant Charles West slipped through the heavy woods with a handful of his men, all selected marksmen, part of Captain Alexander Fraser's 34th Regiment". Fifth word: uniform. This has a duel timeline involving the Revolutionary War of the US and present day in the life of Mary Minor Haristeen, all her friends both human and animal. A lot of Virginia history, football, historical preservation, and the usual work around the farm.
Sounds interesting! I haven't read anything by Rita Mae Brown.
@@TooFondofBooksJH There is the cutest movie that was made by Disney from the first couple of books of this series 'Murder She Purred' with Ricki Lake, if you can find it. The books are a bit more grisly sometimes than the movie, but it is a comfort watch. I love this series because of the community that is built by characters who have grown up together and how relationships change as they do. The animals are wonderful. Mary Minor Haristeen is such a hard worker, especially in the first books. I hope you give them a try and enjoy them as much as I do. The best.
This sounds like an amazing book!
It is! I hope you can get a copy of it and give it a try.
Currently about 70 pages from the end. Great stuff. It demands close reading so as not to get one's Woods and Wallises/Mordaunt and Morlands, etc mixed up. I've been constantly looking stuff up in history books too. Much of the science is covered in Philip Ball's Curiosity, which I'm glad I'd already read. Thanks for the review!
Yes, it does demand close reading. I like historical fiction/mystery that drives you to history/science books!
I've read this book several times and love it. I've also read Iain Pears's other books and like them but his art history mysteries are my favorites after this one, which is one of my favorite books ever (after the Dune series 😊)
I really like the Art history series too! I'm collecting them and only need 1 more. I haven't read any other Iain Pears but I would like too.