Buried Above Ground by Mike Ripley – Review

I must admit to feeling crestfallen when Mike Ripley ended his Albert Campion continuation series. Ripley developed Margery Allingham’s classic detective character with a new sense of style, wit and ingenuity. So I was delighted to see that Ripley is back with a new novel Buried Above Ground, and having finally said a fond farewell to Albert Campion, Ripley has now turned his incisive wit to the murky world of authors, publishing and copyright issues.

Duncan Torrens was the author of mid-list mystery fiction. Since his death, Torrens’ work has long gone out of print. But then a blogger turns up determined to start a Torrens revival, but will his research into this forgotten author dig up dark secrets best left forgotten? Buried Above Ground is told from the perspective of five unreliable narrators – the Librarian, the Reader, the Publisher, the Editor and the Writer, Torrens himself. Everyone is out for themselves and trying to deny the others the potential windfall that might come from getting Torrens’ books republished. It all adds to an darkly intriguing novel laced with acerbic wit. I found the character of the obsessive blogger Jacon a bit close to home! But there’s no denying this is an absorbing and accurate portrayal of the contemporary literati. Highly recommended.

Buried Above Ground is published by Severn House.