The Unburied

With The Unburied, however, he takes us back into the drawing room...literally. Much of this book involves fireside conversation over sherry or port, and much of it moves at a pace that would make writers such as Dickens and George Eliot proud.

At first glance, The Unburied seems to be no more than a ghost story, and it is certainly atmospheric, filled as it is with all the spookiness and gloom one usually finds only in the Gothic form of the genre. Palliser, however, deviates somewhat from a standard thriller as he leads us down first one unexpected path, then another.

The book centers on the character of Dr. Edward Courtine, an academic who has come to the English town of Thurchester to visit an old acquaintance. Courtine gradually learns the details of a murder at the local cathedral more than two centuries earlier and of a ghost that some still believe to haunt the area. Courtine, however, hasn't come to Thurchester to hunt ghosts; he has come to look for a lost book about Alfred the Great. So great is his preoccupation with his search, in fact, that he overlooks what the reader can see quite clearly: all of the townsfolk are acting as if they had something to hide.

It is at this point that the unexpected paths make their first appearance. Unexpected paths, red herrings, false clues, the reader really doesn't know what to make of this story. Is the centuries old murder the book's focal point or is it, instead, the murder that has just been committed? Perhaps it both.

Palliser cleverly uses a recently revealed manuscript as a framing device and proceeds to tell his tale in the first-person, with Courtine as the narrator. The story is rewoven many times and readers who fail to pay attention will find themselves at a loss.

The Unburied unfolds in a typically slow Victorian fashion as Courtine embarks on a personal journey, addressing old wounds and looking towards a newly bright future. There is a lot of exposition is this book, but that is all to the good and Palliser has succeeded in creating one of those dark, brooding and intensely atmospheric Victorian novels that he, himself, loves so very much. Some readers, however, may find this frustrating. The Quincunx balanced its nineteenth century setting with a sense of urgency about the plot; The Unburied takes its time as gaslights, fog, architecture and landscape come to be regarded almost as characters in their own right.

By the time we near the end of this amazing book, we begin to wonder if this is a story of murders long ago or ghosts that still walk. Or is it even more? Is it an exploration of the things that can, and often do, haunt a man internally? The answer is something that each reader will have to decide for himself, for this is certainly an ambitious work.

The Unburied is a book for mystery lovers and for non-mystery lovers alike. Anyone who enjoys a well-constructed novel written with meticulous care and detail will find this book time well spent.


"It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." WSC   November 23, 2002
Francis J. Mcinerney (Commonwealth)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

The title of this review was borrowed from Sir Winston Spencer Churchill. I use the quotation here, as I believe it describes this book beautifully. This book is my first introduction to the work of Mr. Palliser who, as an author, was unknown to me prior to this volume. I actually bought the novel based upon a quote on the jacket that referred to Mr. Palliser unburying the memory of author Wilkie Collins as well as others not named.

Mr. Collins is credited by some for creating the mystery novel, and is known for such works as "The Moonstone" and "The Woman In White". He was a friend of Charles Dickens and they published a literary paper together for a time. Some scholars suggest that the book Mr. Dickens was writing, but died before finishing; "The Mystery Of Edwin Drood" was influenced by Mr. Collins.

This is one of the top 10 books of this genre I have ever read. I actually bought the Author's previous book "The Quincunx" before I had reached the mid-point of "The Unburied". If, as some have written, the book prior to this was even better, I look forward to it being astonishing. If it proves only as good as this book, I would be thrilled.

The book has an interesting structure with an unusual note at the beginning and end. I will say no more than that. Between those notes is a mystery of the highest caliber. Characters whose names are reminiscent and are a tribute to Dickens are employed by Palliser, not simply badly copied. A plot that while complex, can also be followed, but the reader must pay careful attention. Paper and pen to diagram relationships amongst the players does not hurt, it also allows you to continue hypothesizing when reading is impractical. For those who like naming the conspirators or detailing the crime before the book reveals its secrets, just as objects and people, both living and dead, throughout the book do, will, I believe find this tale wonderfully frustrating. It keeps its secrets until the end, but there is more.

Every time you are tempted to think aha! I got it; a few pages later will have you questioning how you ever could have had such a solution. And the Author does not use simplistic literary tricks, the information is there, the reader has to find it. This Author pays tribute to his readers by challenging them to match wits, as opposed to handing down a cliché or a re-write of a familiar tale. Mr. Palliser makes you work, he makes you think, he offers bits of information that are false leads unless you catch them before being duped, and admitting for the 10th time your aha! was really another trap, presumption led you to.

The book is like the wind and the Author the wind's master, your hat or paper are blown from you, and each time it pauses and you reach for it, away it flies once more. When you finally grasp it you stand to find you have been lead into a labyrinth, and the task you thought was complete has just begun. Get this prize of a book, you will not be disappointed.

I am off to start The Quincunx!