Rating: 
Summary: Shallow and ignorant here.
Review: Sorry, I love historical novels and mysteries, but three quarters into Jack Prescotts story, I found myself relegating this one to the maybe to be read later pile. Interesting? Yes. Well written? Very. Did it transport me to another time and place? Well, yeah...the next day I went to the bookstore to find something more fun to read. Just seemed like a chore to finish this one. So sue me already.
Rating: 
Summary: An intellectual and emotional whirlwind
Review: Any avid reader of mystery novels shuns the predictable, the dull, the forgettable. This book is none of those things. It draws you into a complex shady world, an unfamiliar England recovering from a Civil War where nothing is as it seems. Religious conflict has made a deep rift in English society which still festers. Into this setting steps the florid foreigner, a Venetian gentlemen who sets out his account of events. Three Englishmen respond in missives which clearly show their own biases. The truth, if there is such a thing, is difficult to pin down. This novel is a brave and wonderful read. It was completely gripping - I could not rest until it was finished and cannot stop thinking about it since. Excellent.
Rating:
Summary: I can't magine better historical fiction
Review: This book enthralled me from beginning to end. Don't believe the reviewers who say you have to have knowledge of the English Civil War to comprehend this novel. I had none, but was still able to follow the story. For readers unfamiliar with some of the characters, I would recommend researching them as you go along- Pears really makes this fascinating time and place come alive, and you'll want to do your own research to learn more about Locke, Boyle et al. Unfortunately I can only give this book 5 stars, but I could never recommend anything higher.
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book Slowly -- If You Can
Review: I loved this book, and really disagree with the people below who didn't like it. At the same time I wanted to read slowly and savor all the wonderful details, I was reading as fast as I could (staying up until 1 AM on work nights as well) because I found the plot and characters so absorbing. The history is fascinating -- I was especially intrigued with 17th century medicine (such as it was) -- and the characters engaging, if not always likeable. If you're looking for a traditional mystery, this probably isn't it, but if you like a Rashomon-type of story, this is a great lesson in how different people can see the "truth" very differently.
Rating:
Summary: A Thrilling Read
Review: A good historical mystery is supposed to transport you to a time and a place only seen in textbooks or on The Learning Channel. Great historical mysteries make you feel like you can't escape from the world...not only is the mystery confounding you, but it becomes difficult to tell where and when you are. This book does this and more...one story told from four different perspectives, each one more interesting than the previous, written so well that the question that begs to be answered is not who was right, but rather, why the others could be wrong. Anyone who likes a good yarn, a tantalizing mystery, and some time traveling should grab this book!
Rating:
Summary: Intellectually stimulating, historically fascinating...
Review: Although my tastes generally lean toward the traditional whodunit, I thought this book was brilliant - both for its intrigue and its history. Pears gives depth, emotion, and liveliness to such historical faces as Wren, Boyle, Lower and the whole of Cromwellian England. I will forever look at the Royal Society in a different light! Pears tells his tale with four perspectives - and makes us realize how much "the truth" eludes us all.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick With It - You Will Be Rewarded
Review: An intricate plot, a complex historical background and well-drawn characters mark this novel set in 17th century England, the age of Cromwell. The first 100 pages or so seem quite slow, but the pace picks up and the plot thickens and thickens and thickens. The story is told by four narrators with vastly different perspectives. A fine effort set in an interesting period. I found this to be a more interesting work than The Name of the Rose.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely NOT a whodunit--by the end, it's "who cares?"
Review: Well. I finished this book this morning and was very disappointed in the final section. I enjoy mysteries that can actually be figured out and have logical explanations; when I read, I enjoy a world of rational events. This would be a good book for someone who was just reading to read, it's full of detail and historical characters, and it would be good for someone who enjoyed reading about RELIGION! I didn't know it was going to have a religious foundation, which I wish someone would have told me before I was only 100 pages or so from the end! Too ambitious, too convoluted, and not worth the title "mystery." Good general historical fiction, and tons and tons of immersion, although sometimes the details do intrude a little.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Name of the Rose" it is not!
Review: Drawn to "Incident.." by its bold comparisons to one of my favorite books, "The Name of the Rose", I was very soon disappointed by its differences. While "Name" gave us characters to sympathize with with, "Incident" gives us none. More often than not, the story became as bogged in the mud of details. Inarguably, considerable knowledge of the English civil war is needed to follow the distinct storylines of each of the main actors in this historical drama. Like a prism, the color of the story changes depending on the angle from which it is viewed. Unfortunately, the colors of the people of the story are almost unanimously dull. If you are searching for history-based drama and sympathetic characters, read "Name of the Rose', Jakes' "Kent Family Chronicles" ("The Bastard", "The Americans", etc) or "North and South", or, more desparately, selected books by Jeffrey Archer; leave "Incident at the Fingerpost" on the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Complete
Review: What a great book! So many books today rush to the finish without tying all the knots. This was like a symphony - interesting beginning, great development, bigger than life theme, but best of all a satisfying, intelligent ending. The idea of the "different angle" tale has been employed countless times but rarely with this effect. I especially enjoyed the weaving of the historical with the plausible. This time period is rarely presented although it's influence on our lives is immeasurable in terms of religion, government, and science. After a few pages the author has settled the reader into the 17th century with all its squalor, superstition and budding discovery. A traitor, a murder, a hanging, and a revolution all coincide in this long saga. If you like the Alienist or NAME Of the Rose, hurry and order it from Amazon today.
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