The Unburied [Hardcover]

Charles Palliser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 1999

A riveting historical murder-mystery by the bestselling author of The Quincunx.

There are three separate tales interwoven in this novel-three tales that could be called ghost stories, for their mysteries can never be resolved, the victims and the perpetrators never laid to rest.

Dr. Courtine, an unworldly academic, is invited to spend the days before Christmas with an old friend. Twenty years have passed since Courtine and Austin last met, and the invitation to Austin's home in the cathedral close of Thurchester is a welcome one. When Courtine arrives, Austin tells him a tale of deadly rivalry and murder two centuries old. The mystery captures Courtine's donnish imagination, as it is intended to do.

Courtine also plans to pursue his research into another unresolved and older mystery in the labyrinthine cathedral library. If he can track down an elusive eleventh-century manuscript, he hopes to dispose of a deadly rival of his own. Doubly distracted, Courtine becomes unwittingly enmeshed in the sequence of terrible events that follows his arrival, and he becomes witness to a murder that seems never to have been committed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Though putatively a mystery set (mostly) in the Victorian age, Charles Palliser's The Unburied has more in common with Umberto Eco than Arthur Conan Doyle. Like The Name of the Rose, this novel is set in a scholarly community and features a lost manuscript as the McGuffin of choice. And here, too, the mystery is not really what the book is about at all. Palliser's tale centers on Edward Courtine, a Cambridge don with a bee in his bonnet about Alfred the Great. It doesn't take a great medievalist to figure out that Courtine has allowed emotion to cloud his reason concerning the Saxon monarch: his version of Alfred's life and character is so forgiving as to be downright suspicious.

When it is suggested that a source dear to his heart may in fact be fraudulent, he accuses his critics of cowardice. According to Courtine, those revisionist scoundrels doubt the veracity of his beloved source "because their own self-serving cynicism is reproached by the portrait of the king that Grimbald offers. You see, his account confirms how extraordinarily brave and resourceful and learned Alfred was, and what a generous and much-loved man." Now Courtine has come to the cathedral town of Thurcester because he believes Grimbald's original manuscript may be in the cathedral library--a manuscript that he hopes will validate his own version of the great king's reign.

Palliser takes his time setting up his story, seeding it with clues that more often than not lead to dead ends. We learn, for example, that Courtine was once married, that his wife ran off with another man, and that he blames his school pal Austin Fickling for the rupture in his marital bliss. Dark doings at the cathedral are also hinted at, with quite a lot of space devoted to a murder that occurred centuries earlier. Meanwhile, ecclesiastical renovations turn up some unpleasant surprises--and as yet another murder ensues, Courtine is swept up in less scholarly pursuits. As the hapless academic (a Watson without a Holmes) pursues one red herring after another, it becomes apparent that Courtine's psyche is the real mystery on hand. History, he discovers, can obscure as much as it elucidates. All these years, his obsession with an idealized past has provided an excellent refuge from the realities of his present. In the end, what he uncovers is the secret of himself--and the reader of The Unburied is treated to a fine ghost story, in which the ghosts are quite literally all in the mind. --Alix Wilber

From Library Journal

Palliser has created another tour de force of intricate plotting and darkly Victorian atmosphere. As with the best-selling The Quincunx, the reader is compulsively absorbed by tantalizing partial truths and vague foreshadowings, though coincidence plays a less intrusive role here. On a visit to an old school friend in Thurchester, England, professional historian Courtine looks forward to doing research in the cathedral library and renewing ties; he does not expect to become embroiled in a controversy surrounding a centuries-old mystery, nor does he anticipate being a major witness to a gruesome murder. Palliser brilliantly portrays the vicious rivalries particular to self-contained religious and educational institutionsArivalries that have been repeating themselves for 250 years since the horrific death of Canon Treasurer William Burgoyne and the mysterious disappearance of the Cathedral Mason Gambrill. This riveting story is as much psychological thriller as it is mystery. Highly recommended.
-ACynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First US edition (November 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374280355
• ISBN-13: 978-0374280352
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,152,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." WSC, December 4, 1999

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Unburied (Hardcover)

The title of this review was borrowed from Sir Winston 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 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 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 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 were 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 a tribute to Dickens, not simply badly copied. A plot that while complex can 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 it's 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 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 into. 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 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!

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dickens revisited, December 6, 1999

By 

Alan D Collins - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Unburied (Hardcover)

Charles Palliser once again scores with a crisply written English and stylishly legal/murder 'who done it'!

Thrusting the reader into the 19th century, Palliser's haunting prose is vivid and enthralling.

This is not a book for those who do not like twists and turns, although this book is easier than Pallisers masterpiece, The Quincunx (which I have read 5 times at last count!).

Palliser uses intriguing techniques to tell his story - an editors Foreward followed at the end by an editors Afterword, in which the mystery is more clearly defined. There is a ghost-story, tales of King Alfred, and even a fairy tale thrown in for good (or should I say bad?) measure. It's a wonderful mix!

In this book, you can feel the English countryside - its fogs and mists and rains and gloom-laden scenery; its strange mixture of suspicious and creepy characters. It is a quintessentially English novel - every page evokes emotions; I found myself drifting off into the English countryside I once knew well so vivid are the descriptions.

This is a book to be read in one sitting, preferably beginning late afternoon, settling into a cozy chair by a roaring log fire, glass of red wine to hand. As darkness descends, and, with luck, the rains begin and the winds rattle the windowframes, the added atmosphere will add to the excellent story-telling.

Savor the wonderful language. It is a pleasure. Its the English language that should be - like Mervyn Peake and J R R Tolkien.

Enjoy! And, for those who have not read The Quincunx I urge you to rush to read it. The Quincunx is truly sensational!

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not easy, but ultimately satisfying, September 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unburied (Paperback)

Several years ago I had the great pleasure of reading Charles Palliser's magum opus, the Quincunx. As a long devotee of Dickens, I found this great book to be a wonderful re-creation of the world of Dickens. When the Unburied was published, I immediately bought it. Twice I was able to make my way to about page 100, but for various reasons never made it beyond that point. It simply didn't pull me all the way in and I let myself be drawn to other books and other demands of life.

Ten days ago I decided that I was going to finish the book, come hell or high water. I'm glad I did because it's a very good novel. Once I made it to page 150 I was hooked and finished the book in a large gulp.

This novel requires patience and an ability to keep a lot of facts and clues straight. There is a multi-leveled story set in the Victorian times involving a murder, a literary mystery about King Alfred, a recounting of cathedral politics in the 17th century, a fairy tale, and several other sub-plots.

In the end, the read is well worth the effort. Palliser is particularly good at creating atmosphere ( in this case dark, foggy and wet) and in fleshing out memorable characters.

But this isn't a book for those who want a quick, easy read. However, if you're willing to invest some effort, I recommend the book.