Stone's Fall: Book summary and reviews of Stone's Fall by Iain Pears

Stone's Fall Summary

In his most dazzling novel since the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller An Instance of the Fingerpost, Iain Pears tells the story of John Stone, financier and arms dealer, a man so wealthy that in the years before World War One he was able to manipulate markets, industries, and indeed entire countries and continents.

A panoramic novel with a riveting mystery at its heart, Stone’s Fall is a quest to discover how and why John Stone dies, falling out of a window at his London home.

Chronologically, it moves backwards–from London in 1909 to Paris in 1890, and finally to Venice in 1867 – and in the process the quest to uncover the truth plays out against the backdrop of the evolution of high-stakes international finance, Europe’s first great age of espionage, and the start of the twentieth century’s arms race.

Like Fingerpost, Stone’s Fall is an intricately plotted and richly satisfying puzzle–an erudite work of history and fiction that feels utterly true and oddly timely–and marks the triumphant return of one of the world’s great storytellers.

Stone's Fall Reviews

"British author Pears matches the brilliance of his bestselling An Instance of the Fingerpost with this intricate historical novel." - Publishers Weekly

"Starred Review. Classy crime fiction, delightfully written, with few straight lines in sight." - Kirkus Reviews

"Starred Review. [I]n the best sense of the word an old-fashioned novel, populated with vital characters and bursting at the seams with narrative vigor. Highly recommended." - Library Journal

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Iain Pears Author Biography

Iain Pears has worked as an art historian, a television consultant, and a journalist in England, France, Italy, and the United States. He is the author of the highly praised Art History Mysteries, the novel An Instance of the Fingerpost, a book of art history, and countless articles on artistic, financial, and historical subjects. He lives in Oxford, England.

Name Pronunciation
Iain Pears: Like Ian (ee-un)

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